Selecting a portion of a timeline

If you want to export only part of a movie, use the Range Select tool to select the range you want to export.

If you want to export the entire timeline, make sure you don't have a range selected.

Exporting

Click the share button and choose "Export File (default)...

What video codec should I use?

TL; DR: For most projects, exporting in Apple Pro Res 422 will look great.

This will result in a nearly lossless file which you can then encode into a smaller, more compressed file in a different codec for whatever you need.

For projects where the difference between 99% and 99.5% perfection is important, I would recommend saving your original Pro Res exported files to a local hard drive or cloud storage. Then, in the future, you will be able to re-encode from these original exports to any new codecs that are introduced.

What about the higher quality Pro Res codecs, like 422 HQ, 4444 or 4444 XQ?

If you've done a lot of color grading, imported some high quality animations, or applied some sophisticated filters (like FilmStyles), your Pro Res export will preserve a tiny bit more quality if you use 422 HQ (instead of plain 422).

If you are going to be delivering video mainly to TVs, it could be worth the approximately 75% larger file size to export in 422 HQ, though except for subtle dark gradients, I would bet hardly anyone would be able to tell the difference, even on a high end TV.

An an export format, the 4444 and 4444 XQ codecs will be overkill except with projects that will be projected on theater screens. (Those codecs are mainly meant for post-production uses, like importing 3D CGI with an alpha channel into FCPX.

But today. most video is delivered over the internet, and in this case, the visual quality of your project is vastly more dependent on how you encode it for final delivery than whether you use Pro Res 422 or 422 HQ for your archive file.

(Actually, far more important to the quality of your project is lighting and cinematography, but that's a topic for another article!)

What about the Uncompressed formats?

Unless the client is demanding it for some reason, there's really no reason to use Uncompressed. Pro Res delivers virtually the same quality at a fraction of the file size. Go 422 HQ if it helps you sleep better!

What about a mezz file?

I'm glad you asked! "Mezz" (mezzanine) video files are much smaller than Pro Res files, and for 98% of video projects, it makes more sense to archive mezz files than Pro Res, because they take up far less space.

It would be great if you could export mezz files directly from FCPX, but unfortunately the H.264 implementation in FCPX is substandard and you will end up with huge files of lower quality. It's much better to export a Pro Res file from FCPX, and then use another tool (like Purple Magic) to encode your mezz files.

Bottom line: just choose Pro Res 422 or 422 HQ, be happy and get on with your life!

While exporting

If you click Cmd + 9 before exporting, you'll see the Background Tasks floating window showing a progress report. You'll also see an indicator in the top left corner showing exporting activity.

Though you can continue to work in FCPX while exporting, it slows down the process to the extent that it's better just to enjoy a tasty beverage (or meal, depending on the length of your timeline and the speed of your computer).