Up to 3.9× faster rendering
Zvid rendering tests reported 1.33×, 2.1×, and 3.9× speed advantages against three established competitors. Explore the relative results and what they mean.
In tests conducted by Mina Ramzy for Zvid against three established competitors, Zvid was 1.33× faster than Competitor 1, 2.1× faster than Competitor 2, and 3.9× faster than Competitor 3.
Watch the 60-second example
A minute outside combines twelve five-second clips of the coast, forests, and mountains, an opening title, and an ambient soundtrack. The output is a 1920 × 1080 MP4 at 30 FPS.
What the project renders
- 0–60 seconds: twelve consecutive five-second clips, using two different excerpts from each of six source videos. Clips use hard cuts, with a one-second fade at the start and end of the video.
- 0–10 seconds: a title and the output settings, fading in and out over the footage.
- 0–60 seconds: one ambient audio track; the original clip audio is muted.
View the complete project JSON
{
"name": "a-minute-outside",
"resolution": "full-hd",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"frameRate": 30,
"duration": 60,
"outputFormat": "mp4",
"backgroundColor": "#000000",
"visuals": [
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4328577/4328577-hd_1920_1080_30fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 0,
"exitEnd": 5,
"videoBegin": 0,
"videoEnd": 5,
"enterAnimation": "fade",
"enterEnd": 1
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/2655829/2655829-hd_1920_1080_24fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 5,
"exitEnd": 10,
"videoBegin": 0,
"videoEnd": 5
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4878911/4878911-hd_1920_1080_24fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 10,
"exitEnd": 15,
"videoBegin": 0,
"videoEnd": 5
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4631568/4631568-hd_1920_1080_24fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 15,
"exitEnd": 20,
"videoBegin": 0,
"videoEnd": 5
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/19093263/19093263-hd_1920_1080_60fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 20,
"exitEnd": 25,
"videoBegin": 0,
"videoEnd": 5
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4046339/4046339-hd_1920_1080_25fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 25,
"exitEnd": 30,
"videoBegin": 0,
"videoEnd": 5
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4328577/4328577-hd_1920_1080_30fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 30,
"exitEnd": 35,
"videoBegin": 5,
"videoEnd": 10
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/2655829/2655829-hd_1920_1080_24fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 35,
"exitEnd": 40,
"videoBegin": 5,
"videoEnd": 10
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4878911/4878911-hd_1920_1080_24fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 40,
"exitEnd": 45,
"videoBegin": 5,
"videoEnd": 10
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4631568/4631568-hd_1920_1080_24fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 45,
"exitEnd": 50,
"videoBegin": 5,
"videoEnd": 10
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/19093263/19093263-hd_1920_1080_60fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 50,
"exitEnd": 55,
"videoBegin": 5,
"videoEnd": 10
},
{
"type": "VIDEO",
"src": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/4046339/4046339-hd_1920_1080_25fps.mp4",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"position": "center-center",
"resize": "cover",
"volume": 0,
"track": 0,
"enterBegin": 55,
"exitEnd": 60,
"videoBegin": 5,
"videoEnd": 10,
"exitAnimation": "fade",
"exitBegin": 59
},
{
"type": "TEXT",
"text": "A MINUTE OUTSIDE",
"width": 1700,
"x": 960,
"y": 480,
"anchor": "center-center",
"track": 1,
"enterBegin": 0,
"enterEnd": 1,
"exitBegin": 9,
"exitEnd": 10,
"enterAnimation": "fade",
"exitAnimation": "fade",
"style": {
"fontFamily": "Arial",
"fontSize": "100px",
"fontWeight": "700",
"letterSpacing": "8px",
"textAlign": "center",
"color": "#ffffff",
"textShadow": "0 3px 24px #000000"
}
},
{
"type": "TEXT",
"text": "60 SECONDS / FULL HD / 30 FPS",
"width": 1700,
"x": 960,
"y": 590,
"anchor": "center-center",
"track": 2,
"enterBegin": 0,
"enterEnd": 1,
"exitBegin": 9,
"exitEnd": 10,
"enterAnimation": "fade",
"exitAnimation": "fade",
"style": {
"fontFamily": "Arial",
"fontSize": "30px",
"fontWeight": "600",
"letterSpacing": "5px",
"textAlign": "center",
"color": "#ffffff",
"textShadow": "0 2px 12px #000000"
}
}
],
"audios": [
{
"src": "https://zvid.io/media/benchmarks/rendering-speed/ambient.mp3",
"enter": 0,
"exit": 60,
"audioBegin": 0,
"audioEnd": 60,
"volume": 0.6
}
]
}Download the JSON and put the object under payload in a request to POST https://api.zvid.io/api/render/api-key; the Zvid API documentation covers authentication and retrieving the result. This 12-clip example requires Hobby or above and uses 60 credits per run, or 300 for five runs. Keep the source media, timeline, and output settings unchanged when comparing services, and include queue time in each measurement.
Footage credits and visual description
The video alternates between ocean waves, forest-covered hills, and mountain views, then revisits each landscape with a later excerpt. The opening text reads “A MINUTE OUTSIDE” and “60 SECONDS / FULL HD / 30 FPS.” There is ambient music and no speech.
The six source clips are free to use under their stock footage license. Each link below credits the original creator. The ambient soundtrack was created for this example.
Why rendering time matters
Rendering sits between your data and the finished video. A shorter wait helps when a customer is waiting for a personalized result, or when a campaign needs a batch of versions ready for review. At scale, queue time and concurrency matter alongside the time spent rendering each job.
The reported results
The test used a one-minute video at 1920 × 1080 and 30 FPS, with five runs. Reported timings include queue time.
The chart sets Zvid's rendering time to 1.00. Each other bar shows how long the corresponding competitor took relative to that baseline. Shorter is faster; these are relative units, not seconds.
| Compared with | Zvid speed advantage | Less rendering time |
|---|---|---|
| Competitor 1 | 1.33× faster | 24.8% |
| Competitor 2 | 2.1× faster | 52.4% |
| Competitor 3 | 3.9× faster | 74.4% |
What “3.9× faster” means
The speed ratio is competitor rendering time ÷ Zvid rendering time. At 3.9×, Zvid uses approximately 25.6% of the competitor's time, a reduction of 74.4%. The reduction is calculated as (1 − 1 ÷ ratio) × 100.
A speed ratio does not specify an absolute completion time. It also does not mean every workflow will see the same improvement.
How the test was run
| Video duration | 60 seconds |
|---|---|
| Output resolution | 1920 × 1080 (Full HD) |
| Frame rate | 30 FPS |
| Number of runs | 5 |
| Queue time | Included in the measured time |
Including queue time makes the comparison sensitive to both processing speed and the wait before processing starts. The results describe this tested workload; other projects, account limits, or service load can change the outcome.
The ratios and setup are reported from Zvid's internal tests. Individual run times, the original test project, and the aggregation method are not published here, so no mean or median is claimed. The downloadable example is a separate project for trying the same output settings. September 20, 2026 is the publication date, not the test date.
Measure the workflow you will run
To evaluate rendering speed for your own application, use the same source media and match the timeline, output resolution, frame rate, and export format. Then:
- Define the clock. Measure either processing time or request-to-download time consistently. Keep queue time visible if your users will experience it.
- Repeat the workload. Record multiple runs, retain slow results, and compare the median as well as the slowest runs.
- Inspect the output. Confirm that text, transitions, audio, timing, and video quality are equivalent before comparing completion times.
- Test the batch. Measure concurrency and total batch completion separately from a single render.
Start with a Zvid template, adjust it in the visual editor, and use the API documentation to connect it to your workflow. For larger jobs, see bulk rendering and webhook delivery.
For the cost side of the decision, see our video API pricing comparison.