How to render in After Effects®
As an alternative, try Movavi Video Converter:
- Convert files with ease at incredible speed
- Compress videos without quality loss
- Trim and merge your video creations
Adobe® After Effects® is a video editing and visual effects application used for editing film and handling post-production, as well as mastering audio, generating animation, and creating motion effects. It’s a professional-level video modification tool, and if you know how to export video from After Effects®, then you can quickly share the high-quality media you produce using it. So read on to learn how to render with Adobe® After Effects®, how to export After Effects® video, and how to compress After Effects® video.
How to export video from After Effects® using the Render Queue
Because understanding how to render a video in After Effects® is fundamental in knowing how to export video in After Effects®, we’ll now explain the steps simultaneously.
Step 1: Download and install Adobe® After Effects®
The first step may seem obvious, but we’ve included it in case you still need to download After Effects® to your current operating system for any reason. If you’re ready to export via After Effects®, download the latest version to get started.
Step 2: Click Composition in the menu
Begin the process of rendering in After Effects®. To render in After Effects® – which lets you adjust the duration, resolution, output frame rate, and layer quality of your project – check out the top menu and locate Composition. Composition is the dropdown to remember for your rendering, encoding, and exporting needs. Once you click the dropdown, you’ll see several options – select Add to Render Queue in After Effects®.
Step 3: Add to Render Queue
The Render Queue is a window at the bottom of your screen that lets you adjust Render Settings, set your Output Module, and choose where you want to export your video (by clicking Output To). Before you render the video in After Effects®, take a minute to explore these settings.
Note that you can also navigate to the Render Queue by clicking File, Export, and Render Queue as well.
Step 4: Adjust your render settings if necessary
For beginners and most people in general, Best Settings are called best for a reason. Unless you have specific rendering needs, then leave this as it is.
And for the Output Module, you can leave it on Lossless if you’re looking to export the highest quality video file. Or you can click Custom in the dropdown and select details like the codec, color range, and audio-related settings.
Step 5: Export from After Effects®
Now that you know how to render video in After Effects®, it’s time to export video out of After Effects®.
Click the dropdown arrow next to the Output To text, and press the plus sign if you want to render and export multiple versions with different settings. Choose where on your computer you’d like your new video exported, and once it’s complete you’ll be able to access it at that location.
This is the fastest way to export a composition in After Effects®. And if you’re curious about how to render in After Effects® without using the Render Queue, you can try rendering your composition using Adobe®’s Media Encoder. While not technically the same application, Media Encoder comes included If you download and pay for Adobe® After Effects® ($20.99 / month), and you’re even able to access the encoder tool from within After Effects®.
One of the benefits of the encoder is that using it to render compositions lets you continue to work within Adobe® After Effects®, whereas rendering video in After Effects® stops you from working on your composition until the render is complete. If you’re busy using AE and don’t want to interrupt your work with bulk rendering, try Adobe® Media Encoder instead.
After Effects® best render settings
Regardless if you’re editing videos of high-resolution computer games, actual film, or creating video presentations for your online classes, render settings in After Effects® should generally always be on Best Settings, and Lossless (with lossless being preset to use the QuickTime video format).
You can tweak Best Settings and Lossless if you have specific aims in mind – like adjusting the frame rate or the color depth – but these base settings should work for the majority of your needs, and offer a nice balance of quality and file size so you’re not stuck in render limbo and only export high-quality video.
By this point, you’ve heard the terms encode, render, and export thrown around quite a bit.
On a very surface level, you can think of rendering as the whole process of taking your video editing work and transforming it into a single file. Whereas encoding and exporting are more specific, with encoding about compression into a specific file type, and exporting about turning that file type into something you can watch and moving it somewhere you can access it.
After Effects® alternative
While learning how to export in After Effects® and how to render in AE isn’t too hard with a bit of practice, the actual learning curve of the complete tool is steep. Plus the UI doesn’t do a lot to make life easy for users.
If you’re looking for another option for exporting and encoding videos that’s a bit more straightforward, you should check out Movavi Video Converter.
Go to the Movavi Video Converter download page
Although Movavi’s tool lacks the range of customization available in After Effects®, most of this customization isn’t needed by the average person.
Movavi Video Converter is exceptionally fast at encoding video and audio, supports 180+ file types and codecs, and can be used to crop, rotate, and stabilize video files if you’re in the mood to edit. It’s available on all major operating systems, has a sleek UI, and receives frequent updates as well, making it a safe and easy way to encode and export.
If you have more questions about the After Effects® app, like how to save After Effects® as a MOV file, and how to play video in After Effects®, check out the FAQ section below.
Movavi Video Converter
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