What are dropped frames, About render status bars – Apple Final Cut Express 4 User Manual
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Identifying Which Effects Can Play Back in Real Time
The real-time status of effects can be identified in several places:
 Timeline and audio clip item render status bars
 Tooltips in render status bars
 Filter and transition names in boldface type
About Render Status Bars
The presence of a colored status bar in the Timeline indicates that a clip requires some
kind of processing. There are two render status bars above the Timeline ruler. The
upper one is for video and the lower for audio. These render bars indicate which
segments of a sequence will play in real time, the quality of playback, and which
segments require rendering.
What Are Dropped Frames?
Dropped frames are frames that are unintentionally skipped during playback, either
because the hard disk cannot keep up with the video data rate or because the
computer processor cannot perform all of the applied effects in time. Some real-time
playback modes allow dropped frames, while others require rendering to avoid
dropped frames.
Dropped frames during editing are usually tolerable. However, during output,
dropped frames are almost always unacceptable.
Status bars appear near
the top of the Timeline.