Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1300)

Chapter 23 Using RT Extreme 513
III
About Unlimited Real-Time Playback
If you’d rather lower the playback quality of your video to increase the number of real-
time effects that can be played back, you can select the Unlimited RT mode. In this
mode, Final Cut Pro attempts to play as many frames as possible, even when the effects
in your sequence exceed the processing power of your computer. Real-time effects that
can play back without dropping frames still appear with green, dark green, or yellow
render bars as appropriate. However, when the number of effects exceed your
computer’s processing power, an orange render bar appears, indicating that real-time
playback will occur, but that frames might be dropped during playback in this part of
your sequence.
Playback performance using Unlimited RT varies greatly depending on the effects in
your sequence, the codec and data rate of your media, and the capabilities of your
system. Some segments of your sequence may play back without dropping any frames,
while other sections may rarely update frames. For example, an embedded LiveType
clip may update frames infrequently.
This mode is useful when you are editing or doing effects because it allows you to play
your sequence without rendering. For example, you can use Unlimited RT to play
portions of a sequence that might otherwise not play, such as an embedded LiveType
project, a standard definition clip scaled within a high definition sequence, or multiple
video layers composited together.
Orange video render bars
indicate Unlimited RT playback.