Prepare renders for video and social media
PIXEL SCALE enlarges a finished render by ×2, ×3, ×4 or ×6, turning each pixel into a solid square block. At ×1 the render keeps its size. The blocks help dither and other detail one pixel wide come through when a video file is encoded and when a site compresses an upload again. The setting is in EXPORT RENDER, in the EXPORT TURNTABLE sheet and under EXPORT LOOP in Loop Studio.
Enlarging before encoding
An MP4 from Orbit holds H.264 video. It keeps the brightness of each pixel but stores color only once for each square of 2 × 2 pixels. The dither of the older render looks is a pattern of single pixels in different colors, so at ×1 the encoder averages much of it away before the file leaves the Mac. A video site then compresses the upload a second time. Enlarging the video afterwards, in an editor or on the site, cannot bring back color that the first encoding threw out.
PIXEL SCALE enlarges the picture before that first encoding. Orbit renders each frame at the preset's size, applies the look and then copies every pixel into a block of 2 × 2, 3 × 3 or more. From ×2 up, each block is large enough to keep its color through the encoding, and the site receives a larger file in which each detail is several pixels wide. The enlargement copies pixels without blending them, so the edges of the blocks stay hard.
Set the scale for a still
- Click EXPORT RENDER, near the right end of the toolbar, and choose a size under SIZE.
Click a scale beside PIXEL SCALE, such as ×3.
The chip is highlighted, and SAVES AT followed by the enlarged size appears beside the chips, such as SAVES AT 1920 × 1440 for 640 × 480.
Click RENDER, then SAVE IMAGE when the picture is complete.
The render and the picture in the sheet stay at the size under SIZE. Orbit enlarges the image as it writes the file, so the scale adds no render time.
PNG, JPEG and TIFF all use the scale. Orbit remembers it for the next still, including after a restart, so set it back to ×1 for a picture that should keep its rendered size. For the rest of the sheet, see Render and save an image.
Set the scale for a turntable or loop
In the EXPORT TURNTABLE sheet, click a scale beside PIXEL SCALE, under the list of presets. In Loop Studio, the chips are under EXPORT LOOP in the PLAYBACK column. Choose the scale before you start the export.
The turntable sheet states the size it will encode, as in "Encodes at 3840 × 2160. Each render pixel becomes a 2 × 2 block." Both places go back to ×1, the turntable sheet each time it opens and Loop Studio when you return to it, so check the scale before each export. A scaled MP4 is encoded at a higher bit rate, and the file is larger than an unscaled one.
PNG FRAMES ignores the scale in both places and saves one image pixel for each render pixel. The frames are meant as a master copy at the render's own size, and enlarging them later by a whole number, without smoothing, in another application gives the same blocks that PIXEL SCALE would. MP4 and GIF presets use the scale. Each export has its own page, Export a turntable and Export a loop.
The 8192 pixel limit
No side of the enlarged picture can be larger than 8192 pixels. The Mac's video encoder stops near that width, and a still that large would take several gigabytes of memory to prepare. The limit is measured on the longest side of the render.
| Longest side of the render | Largest scale |
|---|---|
| Up to 1365 pixels | ×6 |
| 1366 to 2048 pixels, such as 1920 × 1080 | ×4 |
| 2049 to 2730 pixels, such as 2560 × 1440 | ×3 |
| 2731 to 4096 pixels, such as 3840 × 2160 | ×2 |
| Above 4096 pixels | ×1 only |
In EXPORT RENDER and the EXPORT TURNTABLE sheet, a scale past the limit is dimmed and cannot be clicked, and its tooltip reads "Over 8192 px per side at this size." In Loop Studio every chip can be clicked, and a preset that would pass the limit shows CAPPED with the scale it will use. At ×6, MP4 1080p (1920 × 1080) shows CAPPED ×4 and is encoded at ×4.
Starting points
Sites change the sizes they accept and the way they compress, so treat these as settings to try first and check the result after uploading.
| Destination | Try | Size of the file |
|---|---|---|
| A widescreen video on a video site such as YouTube | MP4 1080p (1920 × 1080) at ×2 | 3840 × 2160 |
| A 4:3 video in the shape of older screens | MP4 480 SD (640 × 480) at ×3 | 1920 × 1440 |
| A square video for a social media feed | MP4 1080² (1080 × 1080) at ×2 | 2160 × 2160 |
| A still picture for a post | 640 × 480 in EXPORT RENDER at ×3 | 1920 × 1440 |
| A master copy to edit later | PNG FRAMES, or a PNG still at ×1 | The render size |
At ×1 with an MP4 or GIF preset, the hint under the turntable chips suggests ×3 or more for YouTube uploads, and the smaller presets need that much to reach a similar size. In the free version the two marks are drawn onto the render before the enlargement, so they grow with the picture; The free and full versions describes them.
Related: The video looks blurry or blocky after upload, Export settings.