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789Final Cut Pro User Guide
Manage render files in Final Cut Pro
By default, rendering happens in the background in Final Cut Pro, but you can also
manually start rendering for a project or a portion of a project.
Render files are stored in your Final Cut Pro library or in an external location you define.
See Set storage locations in Final Cut Pro.
Over time, render files can accumulate and take up storage space. Unused render files can
also accumulate when you do any of the following:
• Make changes to a project timeline
• Update Final Cut Pro, macOS, or third-party plug-ins
• Move a library between computers with different versions of macOS
If you want to free up storage space, you can delete unused render files in selected events.
You can also delete all render files for projects, events, or libraries. Original media files are
not deleted, so you can always regenerate render files from the original media.
Note: The Delete Generated Files commands delete render, optimized, and proxy files only.
See
Create optimized and proxy files in Final Cut Pro.
Render all or part of a project
In Final Cut Pro, do one of the following:
• Render a portion of your project: In the timeline, select the clip or clips that you want to
render, then choose Modify > Render Selection (or press Control-R).
Note: The selection must be a clip selection, not a range selection. See Select one or
more clips and Select a range.
• Render all portions of your project that need rendering: Choose Modify > Render All (or
press Control-Shift-R).
Final Cut Pro renders the portions of the project that you defined and removes the
corresponding dotted render indicator. You can view the progress of rendering in the
Background Tasks window.
Delete clip render files
1. Select one or more clips in the Final Cut Pro browser.
2. Choose File > Delete Generated Clip Files.
3. In the window that appears, select Delete Render Files and click OK.
Delete project render files
1. Select one or more projects in the Final Cut Pro browser.
2. Choose File > Delete Generated Project Files.
3. In the window that appears, select Delete Render Files and click OK.