Skip to content

Producing a Video File Using the Render Manager

Now that our animation is complete, we will produce a video file and save it to our storage using the Render Manager. This panel is located at the same level as the timeline. If it's not visible, you can access it through the Panels menu.

Steps to Render Your Animation

  • Adding Composition to Render Queue:

    • Click the +++++ button to add a composition to the render queue.

    • Since our final animation is in the Final composition, select this composition.

    • Alternatively, you can right-click on the composition's name and choose Add to Render Manager.

  • Defining the Output Folder:

    • Each entry in the Render Manager consists of three lines. The first line is for defining the folder where the animation will be rendered.

    • Click the button to navigate through your directories and create a new folder named Render.

    • If you need to render multiple variations of the same composition, all files will be stored in this folder.

  • Renaming Rendered Files:

    • Autograph offers options for renaming files based on different criteria. You can specify a different name for the rendered files compared to the composition's name.

    • Enter a new name and enable the option to see the updated path reflect these changes. For now, uncheck this option to keep the default name.

  • Configuring Render Instances:

    • Each composition can create one or more Render Instances. The default settings inherit parameters from the composition, but you can modify these settings as needed.

    • You can render the total duration of the composition, a specific duration, or use the work areas. For this instance, keep the entire composition using Composition Range.

  • Adjusting Frame Rate:

    • You can change the framerate during rendering. For this project, stick with 30 frames per second for consistency.

Finalizing Render Settings

  • Setting File Name and Format:

    • Here, you can define the file name. Type Basketball and ensure the option on the right is enabled.

    • The final path at the top indicates that the produced file will be in .mov format, as the default container type is QuickTime.

    • Autograph supports various formats like QuickTime, MPEG 1 or 4, MKV, WebM, and MXF OP1A.

  • Choosing Codec:

    • Keep the Apple ProRes 422 codec. Since we don't have any audio tracks, we won't adjust the audio settings for now.
  • Rendering the File:

    • Click the Render button on the left. The file will then be produced and saved in your specified storage location.

    • Be aware that the choice of format and codec can significantly impact rendering times.

Testing the Output

  • Understanding Rendering Times:

    • For instance, if you switch to the ###WebM### format with the VP9 codec, you'll notice that the rendering time appears longer for the same animation.

    • In reality, Autograph's rendering time remains consistent, but the encoding time may require more computational resources.

  • Viewing the Rendered File:

    • Navigate to the folder containing your two renders and double-click on the WebM render to open it in your system's media player.

    • Here, we can open the QuickTime ProRes Codec format with VLC.


Summary

In this section, we learned how to:

  • Add a composition to the Render Queue

  • Set the output location for the rendered file

  • Configure format and codec settings.


Congratulations

This concludes our first exploration of Autograph, where we created a project from start to finish, combining and animating graphic elements, and producing a file in our storage. We will meet again in more advanced tutorials to discover the hundreds of tools offered by Autograph, enabling you to express your creativity to the fullest.