How do I export a movie?

There are multiple ways to export a movie from Harmony. This article will show you how to use the Export to Video dialog box to export a movie. If you would like to render using the Write node instead, please see How do I export a movie using the Write node? 

Step 1: Export a movie from the Export to Video dialog box

The following steps will walk you through how to do a quick movie render through the Export menu.

1. In the Top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
2. The Export to Video dialog box appears:

3. At the top in the Output section, choose a video format from the dropdown menu:
   • QuickTime Movie (*.mov): Apple QuickTime format
   • H.264/MPEG-4 (*.mov): A simple movie format that is supported by most web browsers
   • QuickTime ProRes Movie (*.mov): An Apple QuickTime format that supports multiple codecs
   • Windows Media Video (*.wmv): Can only be exported on a Windows system

4. Under the Output File field, type a name for your movie, and then click the Browse button to choose the location your movie will save to.

5. Click the Save button when you’ve chosen a file location and you will be returned to the Export Movie dialog box.
6. In the Display Source section, choose the Display from the dropdown menu. If you have no custom displays, this will use the default ‘Display’, which is auto generated when a scene is created.  

7. Under the Export Range section choose one of the following:
   • All: Renders all of the frames in the scene length
   • Frames: Lets you choose a specific start and end frame

8. In the Resolution section, choose a movie resolution from the dropdown menu:
   • Same as Scene Resolution: Will be the same size as the resolution set in the scene settings
   • 3/4, 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 of Scene Resolution: Depending on your selection, choosing one of these will export the scene at a specific fraction of the size of the original resolution.
   • Custom: Input numbers to export at a custom size of your choosing.

9. In the Colour Space section, choose a colour space option from the dropdown menu.  See About Colour Space Management for more information.

10. In the Options section, click on the Movie Options button if there are additional settings you need to configure.

11. When you’re done, click the OK button.
12. A progress bar will appear. When it closes, the movie has finished exporting. 

Q&A 

Question 1: 

When I try to export I get a dialog box asking if I want to replace my files?

Answers: 

1. If you have one file location you’re saving the files to, double check that you’ve chosen a unique filename for each version before running the render.
2. If it's a Harmony scene file that multiple people have used and the default location is still set to be the ‘frames’ subfolder, a render might have been run at some point. If there only needs to be one version, click on the Overwrite button. If you need multiple iterations, close the window and adjust the filename, or choose a different file path for each version before running the render.

Question 2: 

Why am I getting an error when I try to render a QuickTime movie?

Answers: 

1. Apple QuickTime must be installed on Windows in order for Harmony to export specific QuickTime codecs. Install QuickTime and see if the issue resolves.
2. Double check the codec settings in the export settings are compatible with your system.
3. The file settings might be too large. Try adjusting the compression settings to be lower.

Question 3:

Why am I being prompted to install a codec when I try to run the render?

Answer:

If you select H.264/MPEG-4 (*.mov) as your movie file format, the very first time you export you will be prompted to download the OpenH264 library from Cisco. Click the Yes button when prompted, and Harmony will automatically download the library, then export the movie. You will only need to do this once.