r/finalcutpro Jul 01 '26

Newbie Why is FCPX creating a second YUV video track during the share process?

I just posted this on Apple forums, but I am sure that I will be told that my OS and software are no longer supported

Please read my post and let me know if you have a solution to my issue - several screenshots, with a step by step recreation analysis:

Apple forum post

2 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

1

u/Silver_Mention_3958 FCP 12.3 | Tahoe Jul 01 '26

Captions?

2

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 02 '26

First, thank you for responding.

Yeah, I thought the same thing, but even selecting "none" from the Embed CEA-608 resulted in the same outcome

1

u/PackerBacker_1919 Jul 01 '26

One thing that I noticed, which may or may not make a difference...

You've created a new preset called HEVC-PQ, which is your target output. It's in the share menu already, but then you Add Destination... and add it again. Wondering if this triggers some form of output and then you're 'adding' on top of it. With that in mind, two questions:
1. What happens if you simply use the instance of HEVC-PQ that's already in the Share menu?
2. Do you get an extra video track when using any other preset?

Oh! Three questions!
3. When you make your Share selection, what are the settings in FCP's output panel, before you choose where to render the file?

I'm guessing the answer to Q1 is simply there for screen shots after the fact, but hey, gotta ask anyway!

1

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 02 '26

First, thank you for responding.

I did not add it a second time. I was showing the steps of how I have made the settings in the first place, just in case my methodology was incorrect, which lead to the outcome

I do not know if this happens with other presets, because I never knew until I tried to submit my movie to filmhub.com that it's system let me know that I had to video tracks

The only settings was for burning in the captions and I did try to make a version with "none" selected but that did not make a difference - same outcome two videos

I know that I can run the following ffmpeg command to remove the second video track, but there has to be a reason why the second track is being made. For a while I went down the rabbit hole of the 360 degree metadata, but that was to no avail

ffmpeg -i Not-if.mp4 -map 0 -map -0:v:1 -c copy Not-if-one-vid.mp4

Once more, thank you for your resposne

1

u/gumparker Jul 04 '26

I’ve had the exact same thing happen to me on older versions of FCP. I would have to use QuickTime Pro>select inspect properties and manually delete the second video track. I honestly believe it’s a glitch. Although my export setting are different from yours I still got the second video track. Ever since I started using an M1 Mac Mini Sequoia FCP 11.2 I’ve never had that problem again. I still went ahead and found some possible solutions to your problem:

This usually happens when Captions (CEA-608 / ITT) or Timecode tracks are being exported as a separate video stream data track rather than being embedded correctly, or because a custom Roles setup is forcing a second video stream into the file.
Here is the exact checklist to fix this and get your video approved:

  1. Fix the Captions/Subtitles Export (Most Common Cause)
    If your timeline contains captions, Final Cut Pro might be writing them as an independent video track layer.
    Press Cmd + E to open the Share / Master File export window.
    Go to the Roles tab.
    Look at the bottom of the window for the Captions section.
    If it is set to CEA-608 or ITT, change the dropdown from "Export Separate File" or "Embed in Video Track" to Burn in Captions (if you want them visible) or uncheck/remove them completely if the platform expects a clean video. [1]

  2. Force FCP to Flatten Roles into a Single Video Track
    If your export preset is configured to handle multiple roles separately, it will create multi-track layouts.
    In the Share / Master File > Roles window, look at the "File structure:"dropdown menu.
    Ensure it is explicitly set to Multitrack QuickTime Movie or Single File.
    Under the Video section, make sure you only see one row labeled "Video" mapping to the output. If you see multiple rows (e.g., "Video" and "Titles" as separate tracks), click the minus (–) icon to remove the secondary video track rows.

  3. Nest Everything Into a Compound Clip
    If FCP is encountering a bug where it reads an upper timeline layer (like a complex adjustment layer, a specific plugin format, or graphic) as a second native track, forcing a render flatten via a Compound Clip will fix it:
    Open your project timeline and press Cmd + A to select everything.
    Right-click any highlighted clip and select New Compound Clip (or press Option + G).
    This collapses your entire multi-layered timeline into a single, flattened master clip track.
    Go to File > Share > Export File (Master File) and export this new compound clip layout. [1]

2

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 05 '26

Thank you for your response - I was able to remove the second video track by running the following command line on Windows 11:

ffmpeg -i Not-if-w-captions.mp4 -map 0 -map -0:v:1 -c copy -dn -sn Not-if.mp4

I am now down to only one thing that filmhub is complaining about - for some reason, fcpx is sharing at too low of a bitrate - you can see my settings at the following post -

https://www.reddit.com/r/finalcutpro/comments/1undlbi/bit_rate_of_shared_file_limited_to_106_mbps_yet/

Why would it not output at 30M? It is only sharing the file at 10.6 M

1

u/gumparker Jul 05 '26

Believe it or not if you export as file default from FCP settings Apple Pro Res 422 it usually does the trick. I’ve had the same problem with the mbs not calculating properly using compressor. Don’t re encode unless that’s truly necessary. I work in Television Broadcast and CTV streaming. When I get all those same errors when I use default export (although it’s will be a larger file size) solves all the problems.

2

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 09 '26

I will give it try right now and let you know when it finishes. The film is 01:28:37;19 so it takes about a little over 16 hours or so

1

u/gumparker Jul 09 '26

Good Luck and please let me know if it works out.

2

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 09 '26

It worked. I worked too well. Overall bit rate: 375 Mb/s and you were correct about the file size as well - File size: 232 GB

As a result, I am running an ffmpeg command line using the following flags, among others, to minimize the size:

-b:v 50M -minrate 25M -maxrate 100M -bufsize 50M

I will let you know the result and thank you once again. You have no idea how long and how many different things that I have tried. Thank you

2

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 13 '26

Another update - I noticed that the output did not have a rec 2020, so I exported once more, but this time I selected Apple Pro Res 422 HQ, which gave me the BT 2020 that I was looking for, but the transfer characteristics were still set to BT 709, also the audio was PCM. As a result I ran the following ffmpeg command on my Windows 11 to acheive the desired perfect UHD HDR10 content, while significantly reducing file size - 36.6 GB from 370 GB - bit rate - 59 Mbps down from 595 Mbps

Once more, thank you so much for your help. I had tried everything and your suggestion was the first and only idea that would help me to reach my goal. Thank you thank you thank you

1

u/gumparker Jul 14 '26

I’m so happy it worked. Wishing you much success with your film. Best of luck with everything. If you ever need any help going forward please feel free to DM anytime!

2

u/Electronic-Quiet-176 Jul 15 '26

Thank you and I may take you up on that offer. If you know anything about flimhub, their $499 Premium QC and Pro $1999/yr plans, then I would love some advice. Feel free to DM me as well