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Render multiple versions of one comp with Different settings?
I need a little help with the Render Qeue. I need to output a few different versions of a comp. I thought I could just put the comp in the Render Qeue, make a few changes, put that in the render Qeue, and so on. That way I could render several versions at once while leaving AE unattended. However, as I’m sure most of you are aware, I found that all the renedered files used the latest instance of the comp for the render. I thought that the render would reflect the state of the comp at which point I put it in the Qeue.
So is there a way to do this? For instance, I need 4 versions of a comp. One with voiceover and music, one with only voice, and then 2 more identical to that, but with a different logo at the end. Would I need to create 4 different comps for this?
I hope this makes sense, thanks for any suggestions..
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12 Replies
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Yep, you need 4 different comps.
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Thanks for the responses. I haven’t been doing this for 10 years so I don’t really know the most efficient workflow for this kinda thing.
My final objective is:
Logo A – 1 voice and music with graphics, 1 voice only with graphics
Logo B – “”,””So that equals 4 final pieces.
I started with the clips and audio (voice and music) in Final Cut. Once happy with the edit, I Automatic Ducked it over to After Effects. Having the audio in the comp is important in this case because there are specific animations that go with the timing of the voice. I preview the audio and insert markers for animation timing.
So at this point would you suggest only rendering the image and then putting the pieces back together in Final Cut? It seems like an extra step to me when I can render it all together from AE. Now this is only a minute long piece, so it may be a bigger deal with longer material. Plus for quality, I’m under the impression that you want to go back and forth as little as possible.
As far as getting them to sync the audio, I’m still in the approval stage, so I’m making DVD’s of this to be viewed by the client.
My original question has pretty much been answered, but if you’d like to suggest any tips on efficiency and workflow, I’m all ears.
Thanks again!
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I’ve been requesting this feature from Adobe for years. It is a valuable enough feature for them to include it in Photoshop as Layer Comps, and I still hold out hope that Layer Comps will find its way into a future release.
There are tedious workarounds using multiple comps in AE, but that’s just what they are, workarounds. It really should be as easy as “in this comp, I want layers 1,5,6,29 & 52 to render as Movie X-add to render queue; then in the same comp, I want layers 3,5,20, & 64 to render as Movie Y-add to render queue, then hit the render button and go to sleep.
Yes you can (and presently, must) create separate comps to do this but if you have 10 different comps with shared backgrounds or elements, then the client changes the background, you have to edit 10 different comps instead of one.
Being able to render Layer Comps would make this so much more streamlined.
Either this has stumped Adobe with some technical hurdle, or they just don’t think it would be useful. If you have used Layer Comps in Photoshop, you know just how much more productive it can be…I’m crossing my fingers that it’s on someone’s to-do list in the AE development war room…
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I’ve been requesting this feature from Adobe for years. It is a valuable enough feature for them to include it in Photoshop as Layer Comps, and I still hold out hope that Layer Comps will find its way into a future release.
There are tedious workarounds using multiple comps in AE, but that’s just what they are, workarounds. It really should be as easy as “in this comp, I want layers 1,5,6,29 & 52 to render as Movie X-add to render queue; then in the same comp, I want layers 3,5,20, & 64 to render as Movie Y-add to render queue, etc., then hit the render button and go to sleep.
Yes you can (and presently, must) create separate comps to do this but if you have 10 different comps with shared backgrounds or elements, then the client changes the background, you have to edit 10 different comps instead of one.
Being able to render Layer Comps would make this so much more streamlined.
If you have used Layer Comps in Photoshop, you know just how much more productive it can be…I’m crossing my fingers that it’s on someone’s to-do list in the AE development war room…
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Don’t do your audio work in AE. Even if you need to time things to visual elements, you will have the visual elements when you do your render and you can time the audio in Final Cut, it’s just faster.
The only only time you should work with audio in AE is when you are using expressions or SoundKeys to use the audio to drive an animation, or vice versa.
Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA -
[Darby Edelen] “Don’t do your audio work in AE. Even if you need to time things to visual elements, you will have the visual elements when you do your render and you can time the audio in Final Cut, it’s just faster.”
I’m not sure if I explained that right or if something got misinterpreted. I have a voice over that talks about key points, which need to be illustrated with my animation. So the voice says point A, and I bring up the corresponding animation for point A. So without the audio, I wouldn’t know when to bring up the different animations. Does that make more sense? I’m not actually doing any work to the audio in AE, only using it as a timing reference. Is there still a better way to do this?
[CK Dexterhaven] “I want layers 1,5,6,29 & 52 to render as Movie X-add to render queue; then in the same comp, I want layers 3,5,20, & 64 to render as Movie Y-add to render queue, then hit the render button and go to sleep.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in pretty much that same scenario. I also thought I could do that with work area..Set the work area…Qeue it up. Set another work area, Qeue that up. But alas, it does not work..
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[JeremyAllen] “Does that make more sense? I’m not actually doing any work to the audio in AE, only using it as a timing reference. Is there still a better way to do this? “
Yes, that works alright. If you’re not limited by the length of the feature, then I would still recommend timing the ‘points’ visually and cutting the audio to match if possible. This often doesn’t work well if your VO talent doesn’t do pauses/retakes, but it’s nice to have the control in your hands instead of the VO.
Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA -
[CK Dexterhaven] “Yes you can (and presently, must) create separate comps to do this but if you have 10 different comps with shared backgrounds or elements, then the client changes the background, you have to edit 10 different comps instead of one. “
Or set the shared background up as a pre-comp and change it once (;
Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA -
Yeah, I don’t have any control over cutting the audio. This is a talking head shot, one version is 30 seconds, the other version is 60 seconds and both were done straight through in one take.
So in a different scenario, I often get music bed mixes that I need to animate to. My general approach would be to place markers in AE for certain “hits” or points of emphasis. Is this totally backwards? Would the standard way be to animate first, then build the music bed around that if possible? Sometimes it is possible, other times it’s not because I might be animating to a song, not a fabricated “score”..
One other question. Aside from AE’s lack of efficient audio tools, what are the concerns with rendering audio in AE? Is it mainly a speed issue, or are there quality concerns as well? Please forgive me if these are beginner questions, but how will I know if I don’t ask right?
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[Darby Edelen] “Or set the shared background up as a pre-comp and change it once (;”
haha, touche 🙂
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the hardest to see… why is that?
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