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About this tool
Estimate export time from timeline length, resolution, frame rate, codec, effects load and machine class.
The Video Render Time Estimator predicts how long an export will run by counting the work involved — width x height x frame rate x timeline seconds gives the pixels the machine must process — and dividing it by a throughput figure for your machine class, then scaling by codec, effects and source-format cost. The baseline is calibrated so a mid-range desktop with a modern GPU exports a plain 1080p30 H.264 timeline at about three times real time, which is where most editing benchmarks sit. It is for editors and producers who need to know whether a delivery will make a deadline before committing to the render.
Open Video Render Time Estimator on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Upload or drag in the file you want to work with.
Adjust the settings and preview the result.
Download the finished file to your device.
Work scales with resolution, frame rate and length rather than a single vague speed multiplier.
Codec, effects load and source decode are shown as individual multipliers so you can see what to change.
One table shows the same timeline on a laptop, a mid-range desktop and a workstation.
On a mid-range desktop with a modern GPU, a 10-minute 3840x2160 30 fps timeline with light grading and long-GOP source exports in roughly 24 minutes using a hardware H.264 encoder. The same timeline is about four times slower on an integrated-graphics laptop and about half the time on a current high-end GPU.
Hardware encoders such as NVENC, Intel Quick Sync and the Apple Media Engine are fixed-function silicon that only does one job, so they run roughly six to twelve times faster than the same codec on general-purpose CPU cores. CPU encoders like x264 and x265 spend that time on wider motion search and better rate control, which buys a few percent of quality at the same bitrate.
Yes. Cuts-only timelines cost roughly the transcode alone, a light grade with titles adds about 40%, and stabilisation, noise reduction or motion graphics can quadruple the time because those effects re-process every pixel of every frame before the encoder sees it. Pre-rendering the heaviest sections usually costs less overall than re-exporting the sequence twice.
Use one pass with constant quality (CRF) or constant bitrate for almost everything — it is roughly half the render time. Two-pass encoding only helps when you must hit an exact file size or a broadcast bitrate spec, because the first pass exists purely to gather statistics for the second.
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