Why is Compressor so slow at exporting HEVC?

I use Compressor to deliver HDR content in HEVC, and I’m confused by exports taking an unreasonable time to finish: for example, a 3-minute-long 4K project took about an hour to export on my top-tier Intel-based iMac.


While Compressor was processing that single job, I was able to export the same project in ProRes 422 (also with Compressor, run in parallel with the HEVC export)—which took no longer than three minutes—and then re-encode it in HEVC using HandBrake—which finished in under two minutes. In HandBrake, I selected the H.265 codec implementation based on Apple’s VideoToolbox framework, and set the same bitrate as in Compressor.


Could someone hint at the reason behind such a huge difference in performance?

Posted on Mar 24, 2023 2:02 PM

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Mar 24, 2023 2:32 PM in response to YakovM

I don't know why it's as slow as that, or why Handbrake is so quick. It probably has to do with the specs of the system and what codecs are available in hardware. Current systems can do three minutes of 4K to 10-bit HEVC with a Compressor setting from FCP in less tahan a minute, leaving aside any rendering. It can do the three minutes to ProRes HQ in under 30 seconds.

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Why is Compressor so slow at exporting HEVC?

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