Basics of rendering and exporting

What is rendering?

Rendering is the creation of the frames of a movie from a composition. The rendering of a frame is the creation of a composited two-dimensional image from all the layers, settings, and other information in a composition that makes up the model for that image. The rendering of a movie is the frame-by-frame rendering of each of the frames that make up the movie. For more information on how each frame is rendered, see Render order and collapsing transformations.

It is common to speak of rendering as if this term only applies to the final output. However, the processes of creating previews for the Footage, Layer, and Composition panels are also kinds of rendering. In fact, it is possible to save a preview as a movie and use that as your final output. See Preview video and audio.

After a composition is rendered for final output, it is processed by one or more output modules that encode the rendered frames into one or more output files. This process of encoding rendered frames into files for output is one kind of exporting.

After Effects provides various rendering options that help you accelerate the rendering process. GPU acceleration offers better speed and precision in rendering your effects. The Video Rendering and Effects dropdown in the Project Settings dialog box gives you the following GPU effect rendering options to choose from:

• Mercury Software Only: CPU is used to render effects
• Mercury GPU Acceleration: GPU is used to render effects. On macOS, Mercury GPU Acceleration can use OpenCL or Metal. On Windows, GPU effect rendering uses either CUDA or OpenCL based on your selection.

After you have completed a composition, you can output a movie file. There are two different methods of outputting a movie file. Choose the one based on your needs.

You might need a movie file for the following reasons:

• You need a high-quality movie (with or without an alpha channel) or image sequence that will be placed in a Premiere Pro sequence or used in another video editing, compositing, or 3D graphics application.

  To create a high-quality movie file, render it with the Render Queue. See Render and export with the Render Queue panel.

• You need a compressed movie that will be played on the web or used for DVD or Blu-ray disc.

  To create a high-quality movie file that is compressed for the web, DVD, or Blu-ray disc, encode it using the Adobe Media Encoder. See Render and export with Adobe Media Encoder.

A movie can be made into a single output file that contains all the rendered frames, or it can be made into a sequence of still images (as you would do when creating output for a film recorder).

To generate output, you can either render your compositions using the After Effects render queue or add your compositions to the Adobe Media Encoder queue with the render settings that you have chosen in the Render Queue panel.

For the Render Queue, After Effects uses an embedded version of the Adobe Media Encoder to encode most movie formats through the Render Queue panel. When you manage to render and export operations with the Render Queue panel, the embedded version of the Adobe Media Encoder is called automatically. The Adobe Media Encoder appears only in the form of the export settings dialog boxes with which you specify some encoding and output settings. See Encoding and compression options for movies.

Render and export with the Render Queue panel

The primary way of rendering and exporting movies from After Effects is through the Render Queue panel. 

When you place a composition into the Render Queue panel, it becomes a render item. You can add many render items to the render queue, and After Effects can render multiple items in a batch, unattended. When you select the Render button in the upper-right corner of the Render Queue panel, all items with the status of Queued are rendered and output in the order in which they are listed in the Render Queue panel.

Manage render items

In the Render Queue panel, you can manage several render items at once, each with its own render settings and output module settings.

Render settings determine the following characteristics:

• Output frame rate
• Duration
• Resolution
• Layer quality

Output module settings—which are applied after render settings—determine post-rendering characteristics such as the following:

• Output format
• Compression options
• Cropping
• Whether to embed a link to the project in the output file

You can create templates that contain commonly used render settings and output module settings.

Using the Render Queue panel, you can render the same composition to different formats or with different settings, all with one select of the Render button, for example:

• You can output to a sequence of still images, such as a Cineon sequence, which you can then transfer to film for cinema projection.

• You can output using lossless compression (or no compression) to a QuickTime container for transfer to a non-linear editing (NLE) system for video editing.

You can select, duplicate, and reorder render items using many of the same keyboard shortcuts that you use for working with layers and other items. See General (keyboard shortcuts).

Render and export a movie using the render queue

Rendering a composition into a movie can take a few seconds or many hours, depending on the composition’s frame size, quality, complexity, and compression method. To fasten the process, use Multi-Frame Rendering.

See this tutorial to learn how to use the render queue to export files.

When rendering of a render item is complete, it remains in the Render Queue panel with its status changed to Done until you remove the item from the Render Queue panel. You cannot rerender a completed item, but you can duplicate it to create a new item in the queue with the same settings or with new settings.

Render queue panel options

The Render Queue displays the following information:

• Info - It displays information such as concurrent frames rendering (depends on the quality), time taken by current frame, start frame, and the end frame.

• Elapsed - Time already taken while rendering.
• Remaining - Time remaining for the render to complete.
• Estimated size - Estimated size of the rendered composition.
• Free space - Remaining free space on your disk.

The dynamic Current Render bar represents memory usage - bright green is frames currently rendering, blue is frames written to disk, and dark green in between is frames that have been rendered but not written to disk. The more % CPU power is alloted to After Effects, the dark green bar appears less, as the rendering and writing to disk process is faster.

Render item statuses

Each render item has a status, which appears in the Status column in the Render Queue panel:

The render item is listed in the Render Queue panel but is not ready to render. Confirm that you have selected the desired render settings and output module settings, and then select the Render option to queue the render item.

The render item is ready to render.

An output filename has not been specified. Choose a value from the Output To menu, or select the underlined Not Yet Specified text next to the Output To heading to specify a filename and path.

After Effects was unsuccessful in rendering the render item. Use a text editor to view the log file for specific information on why the rendering was unsuccessful. When a log file has been written, the path to the log file appears under the Render Settings heading and Log menu.

The rendering process was stopped.

The rendering process for the item is complete.

Manage render items and change render statuses

• Select the source composition for a render item in the Project panel: Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) the render item and choose Reveal Composition In Project from the context menu.

• Remove a render item from the render queue (change its status from Queued to Unqueued): Deselect the item entry in the Render column. The item remains in the Render Queue panel.

• Change the status of a render item from Unqueued to Queued: Select the item in the Render column.

• Remove a render item from the Render Queue panel: Select the item and press Delete, or choose Edit > Clear.

• Rearrange items in the Render Queue panel: Drag an item up or down the queue. A heavy black line appears between render items, indicating where the item will be placed. You can also reorder selected render items by choosing Layer > Arrange, and then Bring Render Item Forward, Send Render Item Backward, Bring Render Item To Front, or Send Render Item To Back.

• Move selected render items up (earlier) in the render queue: 
  • Windows: Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow
  • macOS: Command + Option + Up Arrow

• Move selected render items down (later): 
  • Windows: Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow
  • macOS: Command + Option + Down Arrow
    

• Move selected render items to the top of the render queue: 
  • Windows: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Up Arrow 
  • macOS: Command + Option + Shift + Up Arrow

• Move selected render items to the bottom (end) of the render queue: 
  • Windows: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Down Arrow 
  • macOS: Command + Option + Shift + Down Arrow

Duplicate a render item: Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) the render item and choose a command from the context menu:

• Render with the same filename: Choose Duplicate With File Name.
• Render with a new filename: Choose Duplicate, select the underlined filename next to Output To, enter a new filename, and select Save.

Pause or stop rendering

If the disk (to which an output module is writing) runs out of space, After Effects pauses the render operation. You can clear additional disk space and then resume rendering and exporting.

• To pause rendering, select Pause. To resume rendering, select Continue.

• To stop rendering with the purpose of starting the same render over again, 
  • Windows: Alt-click + Stop
  • macOS: Option-click + Stop

The render item for which rendering was stopped is assigned the status User Stopped, and a new item with the status of Queued is added to the Render Queue panel. The new item uses the same output filename and has the same duration as the original render item.

•  To stop rendering with the purpose of resuming the same render, select Stop.

The render item for which rendering was stopped is assigned the status User Stopped, and a new item with the status of Unqueued is added to the Render Queue panel. The new item uses an incremented output filename and resumes rendering at the before frame at which rendering was stopped—so the first frame of the new item is the last successfully rendered frame of the stopped item.

Information shown for current render operations

Basic information about the current batch of renders is shown at the bottom of the Render Queue panel:

• Message - A status message. For example, Rendering 1 of 4.

• RAM - Memory available for the rendering process.

• Renders Started - The date and time at which the current batch of renders was started.

• Total Time Elapsed - The rendering time elapsed (not counting pauses) since the current batch of renders was started.

• Notify when render queue completes - Check this box to let After Effects notify you via Creative Cloud desktop app and mobile app when your render queue job, or the entire queue is finished rendering. 
  

Change the render-complete sounds

A chime plays when all items in the render queue have been rendered and exported; a different sound plays if a render operation fails. 

Receive remote notifications when render completes

After Effects can send you remote notifications after the rendering process is complete, eliminating the need to wait at your machine to know when the files are ready. Notifications are sent to your Creative Cloud mobile desktop app, your mobile device with the linked Creative Cloud app installed, along with your smartwatch linked with your mobile. 

To enable remote notifications after the rendering process is complete:

• Select After Effects > Preferences > Notifications > Check the Automatically enable notifications when you add a composition to the Render Queue box. You can open this dialog box by clicking the bell icon at the bottom left of the Render Queue panel.

• In the Render Queue panel, check the Notify box. 
  

• Check the Notify when queue completes box at the bottom of the render queue panel.

Render and export with Adobe Media Encoder

You can also export After Effects compositions directly into Adobe Media Encoder, which offers the flexibility to continue working in After Effects while files are being processed. To fasten the process, use Mutli-Frame Rendering. When you use Adobe Media Encoder, you can also use additional presets and options that are not available in the After Effects Render Queue. 

To add your composition to the Adobe Media Encoder Queue using one of the following methods:

• Add to Adobe Media Encoder Queue: Select Composition > Add to Adobe Media Encoder Queue or File > Export > Add to Adobe Media Encoder Queue for final rendering using presets and settings specified in Adobe Media Encoder.

• Queue in AME button in the render queue (Window > Render Queue) for rendering a draft copy of your composition using the render settings specified in the rendering queue while you continue to work on the composition. 

For information about using Adobe Media Encoder for rendering, see Encode video or audio items in Adobe Media Encoder.

Add a composition directly to Adobe Media Encoder

To add a composition to Adobe Media Encoder, 

Add a composition from render queue to Adobe Media Encoder

To add a composition to the Adobe Media Encoder with render settings for draft rendering:

Choosing formats and output settings

After Effects provides various formats and compression options for output. Which format and compression options you choose depends on how your output will be used. For example, if the movie that you render from After Effects is the final product that will be played directly to an audience, then you need to consider the medium from which you’ll play the movie and what limitations you have on file size and data rate. By contrast, if the movie that you create from After Effects is an intermediate product that will be used as input to a video editing system, then you should output without compression to a format compatible with the video editing system. (See Planning your work.)

You can use different encoding and compression schemes for different phases of your workflow. For example, you may choose to export a few frames as full-resolution still images (for example, TIFF files) when you need approval from a customer about the colors in a shot; whereas you may export the movie using a lossy encoding scheme (for example, H.264) when you need approval for the timing of the animation.

Supported output formats

You can add the ability to export other kinds of data by installing plug-ins or scripts provided by parties other than Adobe.

Unless otherwise noted, all image file formats are exported at 8 bits per channel (bpc).

Video and animation formats

• QuickTime (MOV)

• Video for Windows (AVI; Windows only)

Video project formats

• Adobe Premiere Pro project (PRPROJ)

Still-image formats

• Adobe Photoshop (PSD)

• Cineon (CIN, DPX)

• Maya IFF (IFF)

• JPEG (JPG, JPE)

• OpenEXR (EXR)

• PNG (PNG)

• Radiance (HDR, RGBE, XYZE)

• SGI (SGI, BW, RGB)

• Targa (TGA, VBA, ICB, VST)

• TIFF (TIF)

Audio-only formats

• Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

• MP3

• WAV

Collect files in one location

The Collect Files command gathers copies of all the files in a project or composition into a single location. Use this command before rendering, for archiving, or for moving a project to a different computer system or user account.

When you use the Collect Files command, After Effects creates a new folder, and the following information is saved in the new folder:

• A new copy of the project
• Copies of the footage files
• Proxy files as specified
• A report describing the files, effects, and fonts necessary to re-create the project and render the compositions.

After you collect files, you can continue making changes to a project, but be aware that those changes are stored with the original project and not with the newly collected version.

The names of these folders appear in parentheses to signal to any attending render engines that they should not search these folders for projects.

Specify filenames and locations for rendered output

Specify the filename and location for a single render item

• To manually enter a filename and destination folder, select the underlined text next to the Output To heading.
• To name a file using a file naming template, select the triangle next to the Output To heading, and choose a template from the menu.

Create and use a custom file naming template

You can use custom templates to name the output according to properties of the composition and project.

Name output files automatically

The Use Default File Name And Folder preference ensures that all compositions added to the render queue are automatically assigned a unique output filename (except for files created by saving previews, which still use the composition name). When this option is selected, each render item is assigned the same folder name as the previous render item until you change the path. If a composition is rendered more than once, After Effects adds a number to the filename (for example, composition_name_1).

Support for paths in templates

You can add paths to templates. Absolute paths can be defined in a template. For example, you can define and save a template that always places rendered files in E:\Output\[compName].[extension].

Render settings

Render settings apply to each render item and determine how the composition is rendered for that specific render item. By default, the render settings for a render item are based on the current project settings, composition settings, and switch settings for the composition on which the render item is based. However, you can modify the render settings for each render item to override some of these settings.

Render settings apply to the root composition for a render item, as well as all nested compositions.

Change render settings

• To change render settings for a render item, click the render settings template name next to the Render Settings heading in the Render Queue panel, and choose settings in the Render Settings dialog box.
• To apply a render settings template to selected render items, select the triangle next to the Render Settings heading in the Render Queue panel, and choose a template from the menu. You can choose a custom render settings template or one of the preset render settings templates:
  • Best Settings: Often used for rendering to final output.
  • Draft Settings: Often appropriate for reviewing or testing motion.
  • DV Settings: Similar to Best Settings, but with Field Rendering turned on, set to Lower Field First.
  • Multi-Machine Settings: Similar to Best Settings, but with Skip Existing Files selected to enable multi-machine rendering.

Create, edit, and manage render settings templates

You perform the following tasks in the Render Settings Templates dialog box. To open the Render Settings Templates dialog box, 

• To make a new render settings template, select New, specify render settings, and select OK. Enter a name for the new template.
• To edit an existing render settings template, choose a template from the Settings Name menu, select Edit, and specify render settings.

• To specify a default render settings template to be used when rendering movies, individual frames, pre-rendered movies, or proxies, choose a template from a menu in the defaults area of the Render Settings Templates dialog.
• To save all currently loaded render settings templates to a file, select Save All.
• To load a saved render settings template file, select Load, select the render settings template file, and then select Open.

Render settings reference

Each of these settings overrides composition settings, project settings, or layer switch settings.

You can choose how much information After Effects writes to a render log file. 

• Errors Only: After Effects only creates the file if errors are encountered during rendering.
• Plus Settings: A log file is created that lists the current render settings.
• Plus Per Frame Info: A log file is created that lists the current render settings and information about the rendering of each frame. 

When a log file has been written, the path to the log file appears under the Render Settings heading and Log menu.

The quality setting to use for all layers. See Layer image quality and subpixel positioning.

Resolution of the rendered composition, relative to the original composition dimensions. See Resolution.

Determines whether the disk cache preferences are used during rendering.

• Read Only: Writes no new frames to the disk cache while After Effects renders.
• Current Settings (default): The default setting uses the disk cache settings defined in the Media & Disk Cache preferences.

Determines whether to use proxies when rendering. Current Settings uses the settings for each footage item. See Placeholders and proxies.

Current Settings uses the current settings for Effect switches . All On renders all applied effects. All Off renders no effects.

Current Settings uses the current settings for Solo switches for each layer. All Off renders as if all Solo switches are off. See Solo a layer.

Current Settings renders guide layers in the top-level composition. All Off (the default setting) does not render guide layers. Guide layers in nested compositions are never rendered. See Guide layers.

Current Settings uses the project bit depth. See Color depth and high dynamic range color.

On for Checked Layers renders frame blending only for layers with the Frame Blending switch set, regardless of the Enable Frame Blending setting for the composition. See Frame blending.

Determines the field-rendering technique used for the rendered composition. Choose Off if you are rendering for film or for display on a computer screen. See Interlaced video and separating fields.

Specifies the phase of 3:2 pulldown. See Introduce 3:2 pulldown.

Current Settings uses the current settings for the Motion Blur layer switch and the Enable Motion Blur composition switch. On for Checked Layers renders motion blur only for layers with the Motion Blur layer switch set, regardless of the Enable Motion Blur setting for the composition. Off For All Layers renders all layers without motion blur regardless of the layer switch and composition switch settings. See Motion blur.

How much of the composition to render. To render the entire composition, choose Length Of Comp. To render only the part of the composition indicated by the work area markers, choose Work Area Only. To render a custom time span, choose Custom. See Work area.

The sampling frame rate to use when rendering the movie. Select Use Comp’s Frame Rate to use the frame rate specified in the Composition Settings dialog, or select Use This Frame Rate to use a different frame rate. The actual frame rate of the composition is unchanged. The frame rate of the final encoded movie is determined by the output module settings. See Frame rate.

Lets you rerender part of a sequence of files without wasting time on previously rendered frames. When rendering a sequence of files, After Effects locates files that are part of the current sequence, identifies the missing frames, and then renders only those frames, inserting them where they belong in the sequence. You can also use this option to render an image sequence on multiple computers. See Render a still-image sequence with multiple computers.

Output modules and output module settings

Output module settings apply to each render item and determine how the rendered movie is processed for final output. Use output module settings to specify file format, output color profile, compression options, and other encoding options for final output.

You can also use output module settings to crop, stretch, or shrink a rendered movie; doing this after rendering is often useful when you are generating multiple kinds of output from a single composition.

Output module settings are applied to the rendered output that is generated according to the render settings.

For some formats, an additional dialog box opens when you choose the format in the Output Module Settings dialog. You can modify these settings, and use settings presets to specify format-specific options, such as compression options.

You can apply multiple output modules to each render item, which is useful when you want to make more than one version of a movie from one render. For example, you can automate the creation of a movie and its alpha matte, or you can create high-resolution and low-resolution versions of a movie.

You can set the output module of multiple render queue items at the same time. Select the render queue items, and then choose an output module template from the Output Module Settings menu for one of the items.

You can drag an output module to the Project panel to import the finished movie or a placeholder into the project for use as a footage item. See Import footage items.

Change output module settings

• To change output module settings for a render item, select the underlined output module settings template name next to the Output Module heading in the Render Queue panel, and choose settings in the Output Module Settings dialog box.
• To apply an output module settings template to selected render items, select the triangle next to the Output Module heading in the Render Queue panel, and choose a template from the menu.

You can choose a custom output module settings template or one of the preset output module settings templates. Several templates are provided, including the Lossless template for creating movies for transfer to video, film, or an NLE system.

Create, manage, and edit output module templates

You perform the following tasks in the Output Module Templates dialog box. To open the Output Module Templates dialog box, choose Edit > Templates > Output Module, or select the triangle next to the Output Module heading in the Render Queue panel and select Make Template.

• To make a new output module settings template, select New, specify output module settings, and select OK. Enter a name for the new template.
• To edit an existing output module settings template, choose a template from the Settings Name menu, select Edit, and specify output module settings.

• To specify a default output module settings template to be used when processing movies, individual frames, previews, pre-rendered movies, or proxies, choose a template from a menu in the Defaults area of the Output Module Templates dialog box.
• To save all currently loaded output module templates to a file, select Save All.
• To load a saved output module template file, select Load, select the output module template file and then select Open.

Add output modules to and remove output modules from render items

• To add a new output module with default settings to a single render item, select the plus (+) sign to the left of the Output To heading of the last output module for the render item.
• To remove an output module from a render item, select the minus (-) sign to the left of the Output To heading of the output module.
• To add a new output module with default settings to selected render items, select Composition > Add Output Module.
• To duplicate selected output modules, press Ctrl + D (Windows) or Command + D (macOS).

Output module settings

For information on using controls in the color management area of the Output Module Settings dialog box, see Assign an output color profile.

Specifies the format for the output file or sequence of files.

Specifies whether to include information in the output file that links to the source After Effects project. When you open the output file in another application, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, you can use the Edit Original command to edit the source project in After Effects.

Specifies whether to include XMP metadata in the output file from the files used as sources for the rendered composition. XMP metadata can travel all the way through After Effects from source files, to footage items, to compositions, to rendered and exported files. For all default output module templates, Include Source XMP Metadata is deselected by default. See Exporting XMP metadata from After Effects.

Specifies an action for After Effects to perform after the composition is rendered. See Post-render actions.

Opens a dialog box in which you specify format-specific options.

The output channels are contained in the output movie. After Effects creates a movie with an alpha channel if you choose RGB+Alpha, implying a depth of Millions of Colors+. Not all codecs support alpha channels.

Specifies the color depth of the output movie. Certain formats may limit depth and color settings.

Specifies how colors are created with the alpha channel. Choose from either Premultiplied (Matted) or Straight (Unmatted). See Alpha channel interpretation: premultiplied or straight.

Specifies the number for the starting frame of a sequence. For example, if this option is set to 38, After Effects names the first frame [file_name]_00038. The Use Comp Frame Number option adds the starting frame number in the work area to the starting frame of the sequence.

Specifies the size of your output movie. Select Lock Aspect Ratio To if you want to retain the existing frame aspect ratio when resizing the frame. Select Low Resize Quality when rendering tests, and select High Resize Quality when creating a final movie. See Scaling a movie down and Scaling a movie up.

Used to subtract or add rows or columns of pixels to the edges of the output movie. You can specify the number of rows or columns of pixels to be added or subtracted from the top, left, bottom, and right sides of the movie. Use positive values to crop, and use negative values to add rows or columns of pixels. Select Region Of Interest to export only the region of interest selected in the Composition or Layer panel. See Region of interest (ROI).

Specifies the sample rate, sample depth (8 Bits or 16 Bits), and playback format (Mono or Stereo). Choose a sample rate that corresponds to the capability of the output format. Choose an 8-bit sample depth for playback on the computer, and a 16-bit sample depth for CD and digital audio playback or for hardware that supports 16-bit playback.

Warning for mismatch in frame rate or dimensions

Some formats enforce constraints on frame dimensions and frame rate.

If you choose such a constrained output format, and your composition, its render settings, or its output module settings don't match the constraints, then After Effects shows a yellow warning icon and the message "Settings mismatch" at the bottom of the Output Module Settings dialog box.

Select the warning icon to see a detailed message that describes how the output file will be modified to meet the format constraints. You can go back and change composition settings, render settings, and output module settings if you don't want After Effects to make the changes automatically in the output module.

Encoding and compression options for movies

Compression is essential for reducing the size of movies so that they can be stored, transmitted, and played back effectively. Compression is achieved by an encoder; decompression is achieved by a decoder. Encoders and decoders are known by the common term codec. No single codec or set of settings is best for all situations. For example, the best codec for compressing cartoon animation is generally not efficient for compressing live-action videos. Similarly, the best codec for playback over a slow network connection is generally not the best codec for an intermediate stage in a production workflow. For information on planning your work with the final output in mind. See Planning your work.

After Effects uses an embedded version of the Adobe Media Encoder to encode most movie formats through the Render Queue panel. When you manage render and export operations with the Render Queue panel, the embedded version of the Adobe Media Encoder is called automatically. The Adobe Media Encoder appears only in the form of the export settings dialog boxes with which you specify some encoding and output settings.

For most output formats, you can specify the format-specific encoding and compression options. In many cases, a dialog box opens and presents these options when you choose a format to export to or select the Format Options button in the Output Module Settings dialog box. (See Output modules and output module settings.)

QuickTime (MOV) encoding and compression settings

Post-render actions

You can use post-render actions to automate simple tasks that occur after a composition is rendered.

A common example of the use of post-render actions is with pre-rendering: Choosing Composition > Pre-render adds the selected composition to the render queue and sets the Post-Render Action option to Import & Replace Usage.