Rendering and export
Also known as: video export, rendering, render settings
The final step of editing, where the software calculates every frame of the timeline and encodes it into one playable file, such as an H.264 MP4.
Updated
What it means
Rendering is the process of calculating the finished frames: every cut, transition, color adjustment, title and speed change is computed into actual pixels. Exporting is writing those frames to a file with a chosen codec, resolution and Bitrate. In most editors the two happen together when you press Export or, in DaVinci Resolve, Render on the Deliver page.
Many editors also render during the edit, creating preview files so heavy effects play back smoothly on the timeline. Those previews are temporary; the export is the deliverable you upload or share. Export settings decide how much quality survives when a platform compresses the video again.
How it works in practice
A safe all-round export is an MP4 in H.264 at the same resolution and frame rate as the source: for 1080p at 30 fps, roughly 15 to 20 Mbps; for 4K at 30 fps, roughly 45 to 60 Mbps, with higher frame rates needing more. YouTube publishes its own recommended upload bitrates. H.265 gives similar quality at around half the file size, but some older devices cannot play it.
How long an export takes depends on the timeline. A ten-minute 4K edit with optical-flow slow motion and heavy grading can take far longer than its running time on a laptop, while a simple 1080p edit with straight cuts can export faster than real time thanks to hardware encoders such as NVENC on Nvidia cards or Apple VideoToolbox.
What to watch out for
Mismatched settings are the classic problem. Exporting 60 fps footage on a 30 fps timeline throws away the smoothness, and exporting a 1080p timeline at 4K adds file size without adding detail. Match the timeline to your main camera before editing, not at export.
Re-exporting the same video again and again - for example downloading it from one social platform and uploading it to another - stacks compression artifacts each time, so keep a high-quality master file. Also check the export on the target device: a 10-bit HDR file can look washed out on screens that do not support it, and a vertical crop made afterwards may cut off the action.
How RawClip handles it
With RawClip, rendering and export happen on the service side. Once the AI has built the edit, the finished highlight is rendered and delivered as MP4 in both 4K and 1080p through a private, time-limited download link. Raw footage is deleted as soon as the render is done, so keep your originals.