Exporting and Managing Projects

In this chapter, we will explore two essential methods to render a composition, using the Render Queue and Adobe Media Encoder. Additionally, we will learn how to efficiently consolidate media files, ensuring your projects are organized and easy to manage.

By the end of this chapter, you will have a solid understanding of the rendering processes in After Effects, be proficient in using both the Render Queue and Adobe Media Encoder, and have knowledge about various file formats and codecs.

The main topics we’ll cover in the chapter are as follows:

• What is a format and a codec?
• Exporting using the Render Queue
• Exporting using Adobe Media Encoder
• Archiving a project

Technical requirements

The lesson files for this chapter can be found in the Chapter 12 folder at https://packt.link/gbz/9781804617281.

What is a format and a codec?

The video format refers to the specific file type used to store digital video data. It defines how the video information is encoded, stored, and structured within a file. Common video formats include .mp4, .avi, .mov, .mkv, and .wmv. Each format has its own specifications regarding video and audio compression methods, resolutions, and other technical aspects.

Conversely, a codec (short for encoder-decoder) is a software or hardware tool that compresses and decompresses digital media files. Codecs are used to shrink the size of video, audio, or image files, making them easier to store and share. When you play a video or audio file, the codec decompresses the data for playback. Examples of video codecs include H.264, H.265, and VP9, and audio codecs include AAC and MP3. The choice of codec can significantly impact the quality and file size of the media. H.264 is the most common video codec for the web and is widely supported across various devices, operating...

Opening up a project

For this chapter, open the project provided in the exercise files, as follows:

1. Open After Effects.
2. To open the project, click on Open Project in the After Effects startup window. Alternatively, you can go to File | Open Project... in the menu bar.
3. In the file browser, locate the Lesson12_start.aep project file in the Chapter 12 folder of the exercise files.

The project has three compositions, which we will use to render from After Effects. These are the compositions from the previous chapters, and we will just use these three compositions to show you how to export from After Effects.

Figure 12.1: The Lesson12_start project with the default workspace

Keep the project open for the rest of the topics.

Exporting using the Render Queue

The Render Queue in Adobe After Effects is a built-in option for rendering and exporting your compositions in various video formats. It acts as a central hub where you can manage multiple compositions, set render settings, and initiate the rendering process. Understanding how to effectively use the Render Queue is essential for outputting renders from After Effects.

To render the compositions, follow these steps:

1. Locate the 4 Point Tracking composition in the Project panel, and double-click it to open it in the timeline if it’s not already open.
2. Keep the 4 Point Tracking composition active, and go to Composition | Add to Render Queue. This will add the composition to the Render Queue panel.

Figure 12.2: Adding 4 Point Tracking to the Render Queue

The Render Queue panel has the following options:

• Render Settings: The Render Settings button lets you access a dialog where you can adjust the...

Exporting using Adobe Media Encoder

Adobe Media Encoder is a powerful media processing tool developed by Adobe Systems. It’s designed to handle a variety of video and audio formats and efficiently convert media files from one format to another. Adobe Media Encoder serves as a powerful extension of Adobe After Effects, enhancing the workflow by providing efficient and flexible options to export and encode media files. Also, by using Adobe Media Encoder, we can export an animated GIF from After Effects.

Follow these steps to export a GIF using Adobe Media Encoder:

1. Locate the Instagram AD composition in the Project panel, and double-click to open it in the timeline if not already open.
2. Keep the Instagram AD composition active, and go to Composition | Add to Adobe Media Encoder Queue…. This will launch the Adobe Media Encoder application.

Figure 12.10: The Instagram AD composition added to the Adobe Media Encoder queue

...

Archiving a project

Archiving an After Effects project involves packaging all the project files, assets, and necessary resources in a single folder for backup or sharing purposes.

Follow these steps to archive a project:

1. In After Effects, go to File | Dependencies | Collect Files…. If After Effects shows a dialog box to save the project, click on Save.

Figure 12.15: Collect Files… under the File menu

2. In the open Collect Files dialog box, make sure that Collect Source Files is set to All.

Note

If you choose the Selected Comps option under Collected Source Files, then Collect Files will only collect the files of the selected compositions in the Project panel and save them, discarding the other compositions and their data from the new collected files project.

3. Check the Reveal collected project in Finder when finished option if not already checked (if you are using Windows, this option will be displayed as...

Summary

In this chapter, we learned how to export video output from After Effects using the Render Queue and Adobe Media Encoder options. Both options let you output video and audio from After Effects, but only certain formats and codecs can be exported using Media Encoder, such as an animated GIF, as we have seen in this chapter.

Additionally, this chapter covered the option to archive a project by collecting dependencies in one single folder.

Congratulations! You have now completed all the chapters of this book. I hope you learned a lot from this book. I have tried to cover all the basics and offer tips and tricks in this book, but there is still a lot to explore in After Effects, so continue exploring it further. Happy learning!