Export settings explained

Export as

MP4 or GIF. MP4 for everything except the case covered in Exporting a GIF.

Frame rate

24, 30 or 60 FPS.

30 is the sensible default. 60 is worth it for a demonstration full of fast movement and smooth scrolling, and it makes the file bigger. 24 is a film convention that gains you nothing on a screen recording.

A GIF is capped at 25 frames a second whatever you choose here.

Output size

720p, 1080p, 4K or Original. The row underneath shows the actual pixel dimensions you are about to write, which is the number to read rather than the label.

1080p is right for almost everything. 720p halves the file for a video that will be watched in a small player. 4K is for a recording made on a 4K screen where the detail genuinely matters, and it is four times the work.

Quality

Studio, Social, Web and Web (low), with a line under the row saying what each is for.

This is the first knob to reach for when a file is too big. Dropping from Studio to Social on a screen recording usually costs nothing you can see, because flat interface colours compress well.

Motion blur

On or off for the whole export. Off is faster. On looks better. See Motion blur.

Camera apart

Only appears when the project has a camera. See Exporting the camera separately.

Renderer

Auto, GPU or CPU.

Auto takes the graphics card when there is a real one and the processor when there is not, and the note under the row names the adapter it found. Both paths draw the same picture; the GPU path is many times faster.

Force CPU only if you suspect the graphics driver of doing something wrong, which is rare and worth reporting if it happens.

The estimate

At the bottom: the length, roughly how long the export will take, which renderer will do it, and roughly how big the file will be. Worth a glance before you press the button, especially the size.