Rendering in hitfilm pro 2017

Rendering in hitfilm pro 2017

The Rendering settings in hitfilm pro 2017  affect the quality at which your project is rendered. In general, higher settings create higher quality results, at the expense of slower performance. You may want to adjust

some of these settings periodically while working on a project, using lower settings while working to

increase productivity, then switching to higher settings to evaluate quality, or for your final export.

You can also set default values for these settings in the General tab of the HitFilm Options

(Preferences on Mac).

Color Bit Depth: HitFilm can operate in 8-bit integer, 16-bit float, or 32-bit float modes.

8-bit integer is limited to 8 bits per channel, restricting colors between 0-255 values. 8-bit integer

will render more quickly than 16-bit float.

16-bit float allows for increased dynamic range, retaining detail in highlights and shadows. 16-bit

float will take longer to calculate and render, but produces higher quality results.

32-bit float allows for very high dynamic range, retaining maximum detail in highlights and

shadows. This is particularly useful during grading or when designing visually extreme effects.

32-bit float will take longer to calculate and render, but produces the highest quality results.

You can change the color bit depth at any point in a project. One option is to carry out most of

your work using the 8-bit integer mode, so you can work more quickly, then switch to 16-bit or

32-bit float for the final render.

Antialiasing Mode: Antialiasing is used to reduce 'aliasing' on diagonal lines during rendering.

Antialiasing is always used during the final export and can be turned on and off while working

inside HitFilm.

HitFilm Pro supports multiple antialiasing methods. The number and types of available methods

will depend on your computer's video card. The further down the list of available options the

bigger the performance impact and the finer the rendering quality.

More information on CSAA (external resource).

More information on MSAA (external resource).

Reflection Map size: The quality of 3D model reflections can be controlled using the reflection

map. Larger reflection maps will create higher quality reflections at the cost of performance.

Note the difference in the images below. The first image has a reflection map resolution of just

256, which is too low for anything other than long distance shots:

Compare it to this version, which uses a reflection map resolution of 1024:

 The reflection in the second image is much more defined. The default setting of 512 works well
for most projects, but you may want to increase the reflection map size for close-ups or projects
where visual fidelity is the priority. You can set the Reflection Map size to any value up to 4096
pixels.
Shadow Map Size: This performs a similar function to the reflection map size, but for rendered
3D shadows. The default shadow resolution of 2048 pixels is suitable for many projects but can be
adjusted to suit your specific needs.
A lower resolution, such as 512, will create lower quality shadows with more visible edges.
However, performance will be improved so for long distance shots this may be a good trade-off.
Conversely, increasing the shadow map to 4096 pixels will create a higher quality shadow at the
expense of performance.
You can change the shadow map at any point during a project, so one approach is to use a
small shadow map while working on your project, then increase it to the required resolution prior

to final export.
Maximum 3D Model Map size: 3D models usually include texture files. HitFilm supports diffuse,
specular, normal and bump textures, each of which exists as a separate image file. Given that
models can also include multiple materials, each with four available texture slots, the memory
usage can become intensive if a model makes use of multiple textures.
Some GPUs are unable to handle several 4K textures at full resolution, and even if your GPU is
powerful enough it will still experience a performance impact.
This setting provides an easy way to manage texture files without needing to manually resize
the textures outside of HitFilm. That maximum 3D model map size puts an upper cap on the
resolution of all 3D model textures. Any textures larger than the maximum will be automatically
downscaled to the maximum value. If your model uses multiple 6K textures, this is a convenient
way to easily downscale them to 2K on the fly.
As this can be adjusted at any time, this is a highly efficient way to control quality and
performance. While animating your models and setting up your scene you may not need high
quality textures, so reducing the maximum to 512 can yield a major performance boost; you can
then raise the max to 4096 prior to exporting.
Note that textures smaller than the maximum 3D model map size will not be affected.
Also take a look at the Introducing the Viewer chapter for information on managing performance
while working on projects.