Why is export from Screenflow 9 or 10 MUCH slower on the new M1 Pro MacBook 14" compared to the M1 MacBook Pro 13"?
You can see the export settings and then the difference in export speed from the MacBook Pro 13 M1 (16GB - Bir Sur 11.6) ) on the left vs the MacBook Pro 14 M1 Pro (16GB - Monterey 12.0.1) on the right.
Export time is more than twice as slow on the MB 14 Pro in both Screenflow 9 and 10 (latest versions).
Is Screenflow not optimised for the new MacBook Pro M1 Pro, or has it got anything to do with Big Sur vs Monterey MacOS systems, I can't test either of these...
I truly hope Screenflow can be optimised and/or fixed to take advantage of the M1 Pro/Mac chips like Final Cut Pro X 10.6 and Davinci Resolve 17.4!
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Also try both other non Apple Hardware encoding options under export options and you should get a speed bump using them instead for now.
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Plegilink Yes, the other encoders should be as fast as ever.
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Same issue here. Just upgraded to a new M1pro from a 2018 MBP running Big Sur. Side by side comparison export (with Hardware acceleration) took 15 minutes for a 32 minute long video on the M1Pro and 16 minutes on the 2018 MBP. I was expecting faster exports on the new M1. After reading this thread, I exported the same video on the M1Pro using the same export settings, with one change from Hardware accelerated to Single pass, which yielded a 9.5 minute export time (saving 5.5 minutes on the M1). I'm still hoping for even better performance, so I'll be following this thread too. That said, the editing and importing and proxy-making in Screenflow on the M1pro is much faster - very pleased with that!
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Are you guys working on optimising further for M1? Scrubbing is still very laggy, even with proxies on M1 MBP. I want to love screenflow but lots of micro-delays in the editing experience is a dealbreaker for me! Export times aren't really much of a problem since you can just go and make a cup of tea 🍵
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Propane ScreenFlow 10.0.3 is optimized for Apple Silicon. Hmm, I'm using M1 13" MBP regularly without issues. You'll have to be more specific for them to be addressed.
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CraigS same issue as Propane Everything works fine until I zoom in to 80+% on the timeline, editing a zoom video of 640x480. I get spinning wheel. This is same whether using proxy or not. This behavior is exactly the same as with my 2012 13 in MBP. I was expecting better performance with newer M1Pro 10cpu/14gpu 16GB Ram, 1TB.
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Laura C said:
Same issue here. Just upgraded to a new M1pro from a 2018 MBP running Big Sur.Hardware acceleration has an issue not specific to ScreenFlow. We've reported it to Apple, They have to provide the fix. The issues impact apps other than ours.
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Do you have any update on this issue? It doesn't appear that the 10.0.4 update addressed it.
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David H The issue is Apple related and their use of Video Toolbox. This impacts programs like Handbrake as well so it's not specific to ScreenFlow. We're investigating FLOW-11338
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BTW developers would like a sample document they can test on M1Pro/Max vs M1 and compare. Something someone might have used for a similar test using the "Fastest" (this uses hardware acceleration) setting on both
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Ryan Blaine said:
editing a zoom video of 640x480Zoom files are not compatible. This is a Zoom issue and Zoom offers the solution. You need to properly set record in Zoom. Please read. In short, if you don't set this in Zoom you'll have to convert the file before importing in to ScreenFlow.
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CraigS I don't use the native zoom files, but I did try encoding in ProRes and 1280x720 options, according to the help doc. The issue persists. There are 7 levels of timeline zoom in Screenflow, as you zoom in it takes longer, but the last level of zoom causesin the application to stop responding in Activity Monitor for about 10 seconds, This happens every time. This is with two clips in the timeline. it is about 5 seconds with one clip. Each clip is over an hour. As I trim shorter and shorter, the time to wait (spring wheel) gets shorter and shorter. I'm just thinking based on what I've experience with other editors and previously on 2012 MBP, it seems to be related to how is utilizing system resources. It is using about 30% of 60% of the cores and 1.32 GB of RAM.
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Ryan Blaine said:
did try encoding in ProRes and 1280x720 options, according to the help doc. The issue persists.Please confirm you are on Screenflow 10.0.4.
At that point, it's not specific to Zoom. ProRes files work very smoothly in ScreenFlow. Perhaps you have some other issue such as memory.
What drive are you recording to and do you have at least 20% free space on that drive after recording?In Apple Activity Monitor under Memory, what are you seeing in Swap Used at the bottom?
I'm a bit confused about export because that's the topic of this thread. -
Hi,
Has there been any progress on the M1 hardware encoding issue? I am shopping for a new Mac and ScreenFlow is a big part of my workflow. Was wondering if going with a 14" M1 Pro with 32GB of RAM and 10c CPU and 14c GPU and 2TB SSD is enough to not get these micro-delays Propane was talking about or should I opt for 16c GPU? Its only 40 EUR upgrade but I am not sure I need those extra two GPU cores taking battery. Or do I?
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Henno Täht ScreenFlow 10.0.6 timeline responsiveness should be fine on Apple Silicon Macs.
The Video Toolbox encoder issues need to be fixed on their part but one should run tests on macOS 12.5 or 13 beta to check on their progress. -
CraigS Is there anything where extra GPU cores might come handy with ScreenFlow?
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Henno Täht The internal GPUs, certainly. Over time development will likely become more GPU-dependent although I can't say how quickly that path will evolve.
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Henno Täht The issue exists with any Apple Silicon that has the hardware encoding engines in them. I have a personal M1 Pro and a work M1 Max and they both exhibit the same delay issue (with Normal being identical encoding times). If regular M1 processors are not exhibiting this, the most likely culprit is the media engines on the Pro/Max/Ultras. Short version is that the amount of cores on the GPUs is not relevant in your scenario (though they'll be nice in other situations). I have a 14" M1 Pro with 10c CPU, 16c GPU, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD and it's great. The M1 Max I have for work is 10c CPU, 32c GPU, 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD and it does not export my ScreenFlows any faster than my personal at the moment. From what I understand, the Normal uses the 10c CPU which in my case are identical. Hope that helps.
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Mike Boorman Thanks for that explanation.
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Mike Boorman FYI the Macbook Air M1 doesn't have this problem. My story is that I was happy with Air M1 export performance and then ordered a 14" M1 MBP Max once it was launched, expecting even better performance. Instead I got much *worse* encoding/exporting performance compared to the Air M1. I returned my MBP. Maybe the Pro models sacrificed something in their media engine in favor of the ProRes stuff. I just need to export my screencasts mostly with just terminal output. Maybe the software updates have made a difference by now, but I don't know. Will probably buy a Mac Pro or some updated version of Mac Studio someday...
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Tanel Poder Have you tested with Monterey 12.6?
I have a Mac Studio M1 Max and 13" M1 MBP so perhaps a suggested test we can all try could show us the current state of things.
Keep in mind that exporting with Fastest/Hardware Accelerated uses Apple Video Toolbox routines that are not part of normal export. Note that the frame size of the screen recording is a factor as well. -
Tanel Poder That makes sense as the standard M1 found in the Air and 13" Pro do not have the extra media encoding engines. This AppleInsider chart helps to visualize this. On Normal mode in ScreenFlow, as I understand it, utilizes the CPU cores on any chip (Intel/Apple Silicon). If the M1 has the option for Fastest then my guess is that it is using something other that what the Pro/Max/Ultra is. As CraigS mentioned, the AVToolbox is the likely culprit here. I like his idea of sharing out a small project and we all test. M1 MBA, M1 MBP, M1 Pro MBP, M1 Max MBP, and M1 Max MS all doing Normal and then Fastest (if available) and recording the results.
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Tanel Poder
Mac Studio M1 Mac macOS 12.6
5-minute 4k monitor record exporting at 4kFastest setting - 1 minute 44 seconds.
Normal setting - 2 minutes 48 seconds.Copied the document to the 13 M1 MBP macOS 12.6
Fastest setting - 3 minutes 11 seconds
Normal setting - 3 minutes 28 seconds
Hmm, not much difference here. May need to test this again.
Update: Tested again this time recording on the MBP and got similar results.
Summary:
Fastest is notably faster than Normal on Mac Studio M1 Max
Fastest almost no appreciable difference than Normal on 13" MBP M1
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Sure hope to use my GPU cores in ScreenFlow one day :-) M1 Pro MacBook Pro.
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David H said:
ure hope to use my GPU coresPerhaps. We'll be doing significant work which may impact that but it will take some time.
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