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After Effects Rendering
Hello all,
I have checked the FAQ/Stickies but don’t see such a stupid question as I’m about to ask… are you ready for this? Hang onto your keyframes…
I’m making a 5 minute short movie. Shooting at 1080p and 60fps – which allows me to do a lot of slow motion without the jaggies/jitteries. I have about 12 scenes (with live actors) which I’ll use some element of After Effects in, not including my intro and outro graphics. Now, my question…
Is it “normal” for a videomaker to piece the whole film, all 12 sections in my case, together, with audio, into one Project, and do a massive gazillion hour render on the whole thing – intro, footage with effects and outro?
or..
Is it “normal” for a videomaker to edit the scenes which require After Effects enhancement, render them out, then piece them together/slot the footage together in another program?
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts – I’m no where near this stage yet, but I like to have SOME idea of what I’m doing in the future!
Much appreciated,
Ally
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6 Replies
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I’ve seen people do both.
Finishing the project in After Effects is possible, but I don’t usually recommend it. A simple change in editorial timing would require a lengthy re-render.
I prefer the second workflow you listed — sending shots or short sequences to After Effects, doing your work in AE, then sending the results back to your NLE and completing editorial there.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
Perfect, I appreciate your comments. That’s a weight off my mind – knowing that there’s no hard and fast rule on which method, but I can see the advantages of not having to render the entire movie!
Can I ask, as a follow up question, which program you would recommend to compile my 12 shots together once I’ve rendered them and output them from After Effects?
Much appreciated,
Ally
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[Ally Nicoll] “Can I ask, as a follow up question, which program you would recommend to compile my 12 shots together once I’ve rendered them and output them from After Effects?”
Premiere Pro is Adobe’s non-linear editor, so that’s a good place to start. If you have Production Premium or Master Collection, you already have Premiere Pro. Other options include FCP/FCPX or Avid.
If you’re literally just stringing out 12 shots, you can keep it all in AE without sacrificing a lot of performance by pre-rendering [link], but an NLE would be much better for trimming.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
Thank you Walter, that has helped me immensely!
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You’re welcome!
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
One “extension” of that workflow is to first do a rough cut in your editing app to identify which scenes & shots you actually want to use. Then over to AE for the FX/graphics, etc., then back to the editing program to put it all together.
In doing it this way, one usually adds one to five seconds of heads & tails on each “edited” clip on the AE side, so you have room to slip things around in the final edit.
Also, if doing things like lower-thirds or other types of overlay graphics, it is common to do that in AE without video & render with an alpha channel. Then add the lower third as a separate layer in the final edit. This allows for more flexibility (and less re-rendering) in the editing process.And, it is also common for this to be more “iterative” than you expect: i.e., you may go through the back and forth process a few times as you refine the edit.
-Jeff
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