Render and export with the Render Queue panel



Use the Render Queue panel to render compositions, apply render settings and output module settings, and obtain information on the rendering process.

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 click 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.

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. You can also 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.)

When working with multiple render items, it is often useful to add comments in the Comment column in the Render Queue panel. If the Comment column is not visible, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a column heading, and choose Columns > Comment.

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

  1. Select the composition from which to make a movie in the Project panel, and then do one of the following to add the composition to the render queue:

    • Choose Composition > Add To Render Queue.

    • Drag the composition to the Render Queue panel.

    To create a new composition from a footage item and immediately add that composition to the render queue, drag the footage item from the Project panel to the Render Queue panel. This is a convenient way to convert a footage item from one format to another.
  2. Click the triangle next to the Output To heading in the Render Queue panel to choose a name for the output file based on a naming convention, and then choose a location; or click the text next to the Output To heading to enter any name. (See Specify filenames and locations for rendered output.)
  3. Click the triangle to the right of the Render Settings heading to choose a render settings template, or click the underlined text to the right of the Render Settings heading to customize the settings. (See Render settings.)
  4. Choose a Log type from the Log menu.

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

  5. Click the triangle to the right of the Output Module heading to choose an output module settings template, or click the underlined text to the right of the Output Module heading to customize the settings. You use the output module settings to specify the file format of the output movie. In some cases, a format-specific dialog box opens after you choose a format, in which you can specify format-specific settings. (See Output modules and output module settings and Encoding and compression options for movies.)

    When an output name and location have been set, and render settings and an output module have been selected, the entry in the Render column automatically becomes selected (shown by a check mark) and the status changes to Queued. The status Queued means that the render item is in the render queue.

    Press Caps Lock before you start rendering to prevent the Composition panel from displaying rendered frames. By not updating the Composition panel, After Effects requires less time to process simple render items with many frames.
  6. Click the Render button in the upper-right corner of the Render Queue panel.
After an item has been rendered, you can import the finished movie as a footage item by dragging its output module from the Render Queue panel into the Project panel. (See Import footage items.)

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. As After Effects renders the item, you are unable to work in the program. An audio alert indicates when rendering is complete.

A chime plays when all items in the render queue have been rendered and exported; a different noise plays if a render operation fails. You can replace the render-complete sounds on Windows by placing files named rnd_okay.wav and rnd_fail.wav in this folder: C:\Documents and Settings\[user_name]\Application Data\Adobe\After Effects\9.0 or C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\After Effects\9.0.

Render item statuses

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

Unqueued
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.

Queued
The render item is ready to render.

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

Failed
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.

User Stopped
The rendering process was stopped.

Done
The rendering process for the item is complete.

Manage render items and change render statuses

  • To select the source composition for a render item in the Project panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the render item and choose Reveal Composition In Project from the context menu.
  • To remove a render item from the render queue (change its status from Queued to Unqueued), deselect its entry in the Render column. The item remains in the Render Queue panel.
  • To change the status of a render item from Unqueued to Queued, select its entry in the Render column.
  • To remove a render item from the Render Queue panel, select the item and press Delete, or choose Edit > Clear.
  • To 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 choosing Bring Render Item Forward, Send Render Item Backward, Bring Render Item To Front, or Send Render Item To Back
  • To move selected render items up (earlier) in the render queue, press Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow (Windows) or Command+Option+Up Arrow (Mac OS). To move selected render items down (later), press Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow (Windows) or Command+Option+Down Arrow (Mac OS).
  • To move selected render items to the top of the render queue, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Up Arrow (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+Up Arrow (Mac OS). To move selected render items to the bottom (end) of the render queue, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Down Arrow (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+Down Arrow (Mac OS).
  • To duplicate a render item, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the render item and choose a command from the context menu:

    • To render with the same filename, choose Duplicate With File Name.

    • To render with a new filename, choose Duplicate, click the underlined filename next to Output To, enter a new filename, and click 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, click Pause. To resume rendering, click Continue.

    While rendering is paused, you cannot change settings or use After Effects in any other way.

  • To stop rendering with the purpose of starting the same render over again, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) 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, click 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 frame at which rendering was stopped.

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.

RAM
Memory available for the rendering process.

Renders Started
The 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.

To view more information about the current render operation, click the triangle to the left of the Current Render heading. The Current Render pane collapses (closes) after a short time. To expand the pane so that it does not collapse after a time-out period, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the triangle next to the Current Render heading. To view details of a completed render, review the log file. When a log file has been written, the path to the log file appears under the Render Settings heading and Log menu.

Rerender a previously rendered item

  1. Select the render item.
  2. Do one of the following:

    • To render with the same filename, choose Edit > Duplicate With File Name.

    • To render with a new filename, choose Edit > Duplicate, click the underlined filename next to Output To, enter a new filename, and click Save.

  3. Click Render.

Online resources for rendering and exporting with the render queue

Sam Morris provides a tutorial on his website that demonstrates how to render and export a movie using the render queue.

You can use the render_and_email.jsx script to render all queued render items and then send you an email message when you're done. Ko Maruyama provides a tutorial for setting up the script on his website.

Lloyd Alvarez provides a script on his After Effects Scripts website that takes items that are ready to render in the render queue and sends them to render in the background using aerender.

Jeff Almasol provides a script on his redefinery website that renders and exports each of the selected layers separately. You might find this script useful if layers represent different versions of an effect or different parts of an effect that you want to render as separate “passes” for flexibility in how they get composited.

Christopher Green provides a script (Queue_Comp_Sections.jsx) on his website with which you can use multiple guide layers to designate multiple time spans to be rendered and exported separately through the render queue.