Configure Kdenlive for NVIDIA NVENC or AMD AMF

This guide provides a straightforward walk-through on how to configure Kdenlive to utilize hardware-accelerated video encoding using NVIDIA NVENC or AMD AMF. By enabling these GPU-powered encoders, you can significantly reduce video rendering times and free up CPU resources during export.

Step 1: Verify Driver and FFmpeg Support

Before configuring Kdenlive, ensure your system has the correct drivers and FFmpeg capabilities installed, as Kdenlive relies on FFmpeg for rendering.

• For NVIDIA NVENC: Ensure you have the latest proprietary NVIDIA graphics drivers installed. NVENC is supported natively on both Windows and Linux.
• For AMD AMF: Ensure you have the AMD Radeon software installed on Windows. On Linux, AMF requires the AMDGPU-Pro driver or the installation of the AMF runtime library.

Step 2: Enable Hardware Acceleration in Kdenlive

To allow Kdenlive to detect your graphics card for rendering, follow these steps:

1. Open Kdenlive.
2. Go to the top menu and select Settings > Configure Kdenlive.
3. In the settings window, select the Environment tab from the left sidebar.
4. Under the Hardware Acceleration section, check the box for Enable GPU acceleration (experimental) if you wish to use GPU power for timeline playback.
5. Ensure the paths to your FFmpeg executables are correctly set (they are usually detected automatically).

Step 3: Select a Hardware-Accelerated Render Profile

Once your hardware is recognized, you can choose the appropriate encoder when exporting your project.

1. Click the Render button in the top toolbar (or press Ctrl + Enter).
2. In the Render Project dialog box, look at the list of presets on the left.
3. Expand the Hardware Accelerated category.
4. Select the profile that matches your hardware:
   • NVIDIA: Select NVENC H.264 or NVENC HEVC.
   • AMD: Select AMD AMF H.264 or AMD AMF HEVC (On Linux, you may need to select VAAPI if AMF is not directly listed).
5. Choose your destination file name and click Render to File.

Step 4: Troubleshooting Missing Profiles (Manual Configuration)

If the hardware-accelerated presets do not appear in your Render window, you can manually create a custom rendering profile:

1. Open the Render Project dialog box.
2. Click the Create New Profile icon (the folder icon with a plus sign).
3. Set the Profile Name (e.g., “Custom NVENC H.264”).
4. In the Parameters box, enter the following FFmpeg arguments based on your GPU:
   • For NVIDIA NVENC: f=mp4 vcodec=h264_nvenc acodec=aac ab=192k
   • For AMD AMF: f=mp4 vcodec=h264_amf acodec=aac ab=192k
5. Click OK to save the profile. You can now select this profile for all future hardware-accelerated renders.