.. meta::
:description: Kdenlive Tips & Tricks - Render Profile Parameters and How to Read Them
:keywords: KDE, Kdenlive, render, parameter, documentation, user manual, video editor, open source, free, help, learn, render, render profile, render parameter
.. metadata-placeholder
:authors: - Annew (https://userbase.kde.org/User:Annew)
- Claus Christensen
- Yuri Chornoivan
- Ttguy (https://userbase.kde.org/User:Ttguy)
- Bushuev (https://userbase.kde.org/User:Bushuev)
- Jack (https://userbase.kde.org/User:Jack)
- Roger (https://userbase.kde.org/User:Roger)
- Eugen Mohr
- Bernd Jordan (https://discuss.kde.org/u/berndmj)
:license: Creative Commons License SA 4.0
.. |ffmpeg_project| raw:: html
ffmpeg project
.. |ffmpeg_options| raw:: html
ffmpeg options
.. |mlt_presets| raw:: html
MLT Presets
.. _render_profile_parameters:
Render Profile Parameters Explained
===================================
.. .. versionchanged:: 22.04
.. |image_1| image:: /images/tips_and_tricks/render_parameters_1.webp
:width: 200px
.. |image_2| image:: /images/tips_and_tricks/render_parameters_2.webp
:width: 200px
.. |image_3| image:: /images/tips_and_tricks/render_parameters_3.webp
:width: 200px
|image_1| |image_2| |image_3|
Property Presets
----------------
Kdenlive now makes use of *property presets* delivered by the **melt** project (see |mlt_presets|). These presets are referenced by the *properties=* syntax. In the example illustrated, the render profile is referencing *lossless/H.264*. This refers to a property preset found in file H.264 found on the system at
:Windows: :file:`C:\\Program Files\\kdenlive\\share\\mlt\\presets\\consumer\\avformat\\lossless`
:Linux: :file:`/usr/share/mlt/presets/consumer/avformat/lossless`
On a default install, all the ** referenced in the render settings in Kdenlive will be referring to presets found in
:Windows: :file:`C:\\Program Files\\kdenlive\\share\\mlt\\presets\\consumer\\avformat\\`
:Linux: :file:`/usr/share/mlt/presets/consumer/avformat/`
You reference presets found in subdirectories of this folder using a ``/`` syntax as shown in the example above.
.. code-block:: cfg
:emphasize-lines: 1
properties=lossless/H.264
g=120
crf=%quality
ab=%audiobitrate+'k'
The preset files found at :file:`/usr/share/mlt/presets/consumer/avformat/` and :file:`C:\\Program Files\\kdenlive\\share\\mlt\\presets\\consumer\\avformat\\`, respectively, are simple text files that contain the *melt* parameters that define the rendering. An example is shown below. These are the same parameters that were used in earlier versions of Kdenlive.
Contents of :file:`lossless/H.264`:
.. code-block:: cfg
f=mp4
acodec=aac
ab=384k
vcodec=libx264
intra=1
vb=0
g=0
bf=0
preset=medium
qscale=1
qp=0
coder=ac
meta.preset.extension=mp4
meta.preset.note=Intra-frame only, lossless compressed MPEG-4 AVC with AAC audio
.. not sure why this section is here:
Scanning Dropdown
-----------------
.. image:: /images/glossary/render_dialog_21-08_scanning.png
:alt: Scanning dropdown of the render dialog
:align: left
This option controls the frame scanning setting the rendered file will have.
Options are *Force Progressive*, *Force Interlaced* and *Auto*.
:menuselection:`Auto` causes the rendered file to take the scanning settings that are defined in the :ref:`project_settings`. Use the other options to override the setting defined in the project settings.
How to Read Them
----------------
Essentially, the parameters are instructions for ffmpeg which is used for encoding the video and audio streams. Hence it should not come as a surprise that the parameters are well documented by the |ffmpeg_project|.
In the example above the parameters are:
.. code-block:: cfg
f=mp4
acodec=aac
ab=384k
vcodec=libx264
intra=1
vb=0
g=0
bf=0
preset=medium
qscale=1
qp=0
coder=ac
Another example for DVD output:
.. code-block:: cfg
f=dvd
vcodec=mpeg2video
acodec=mp2
b=5000k
maxrate=8000k
minrate=0
bufsize=1835008
mux_packet_s=2048
mux_rate=10080000
ab=192k
ar=48000
s=720x576
g=15
me_range=63
trellis=1
profile=dv_pal_wide
pass=2
Looking up the |ffmpeg_options| translates these parameters as follows:
Main option is:
.. code:: cfg
-f fmt force format
Video options are:
.. code:: cfg
-vcodec codec force video codec ('copy' to copy stream)
-pass n select the pass number (1 or 2)
-b bitrate set bitrate (in bits/s)
-vb bitrate set video bitrate (in bits/s)
-s size set frame size (WxH or abbreviation)
-me_range limit motion vectors range (1023 for DivX player)
-trellis rate-distortion optimal quantization
Audio options are:
.. code-block:: cfg
-acodec codec force audio codec ('copy' to copy stream)
-ab bitrate set audio bitrate (in bits/s)
-ar rate set audio sampling rate (in Hz)
The AVCodecContext AVOptions include:
.. code-block:: cfg
-b set bitrate (in bits/s)
-maxrate set max video bitrate tolerance (in bits/s)
-minrate set min video bitrate tolerance (in bits/s)
-g set the group of picture size
All the render profile options are documented in the **ffmpeg** documentation.
See also |mlt_presets| for more details on the MLT preset property.