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Using Low-Res 3D Renders in After Effects Before Final Render
Hi everyone,
I’m a 3D artist, and my workflow involves rendering 3D layers from Blender and compositing them in After Effects. Since 3D rendering can be very time-consuming, I’d like to set up my compositing using lower-resolution versions of my renders first. This way, I can identify any issues before committing to a full-resolution render.
What’s the best way to properly manage this in After Effects?
1. I know you can manually resize layers and compositions, but this can be unintuitive, especially when working with 3D renders that consist of multiple layers within nested compositions
2. I’m aware of the proxy system, but my challenge is that the final high-resolution version doesn’t exist yet. Since the whole point of using a low-resolution version is to preview the composition before rendering at full resolution.
Does anyone have a recommended workflow or best practices for handling this? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
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3 Replies
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Here’s a little more context for my specific scenario.
If each of my render layers consisted of just a single layer, I could simply drop them into my main composition, replace them with the high-res versions when ready, and adjust their scale accordingly.
However, the issue is that I’m using Multi-EXR image sequences, which contain multiple layers (diffuse, gloss, transparency, etc.). Because of this, each sequence needs to be placed in its own composition in After Effects before being added to the main composition.
The problem arises when using half-res render layers—once I replace them with the high-res versions, the images become scaled out of bounds within their own compositions. This means I would have to manually adjust the composition resolution for each render layer. Additionally, I would need to adjust the pre-comps within the main composition, making the process even more cumbersome
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It sounds like a tricky situation with multi-layered EXR sequences! One possible solution could be to create a script or expression to automatically adjust the resolution of each pre-comp when you replace with high-res versions. You could also use the “Set Channels” option in the interpretation settings to maintain proper scaling when switching between resolutions. This way, your layers stay consistent without needing manual adjustments for each one. Hope that helps streamline your workflow!
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You could use the rd Comp Setter script. Set up each precomp, then when you make your final renders, use the script to change the size of all the precomps at one time. I use it all the time for changing frame rates, comp sizes, etc.
https://aescripts.com/rd-compsetter/
aescripts.com
Displays a palette with controls for changing the size, pixel aspect ratio, duration, frame rate, preserve options, motion blur, and renderer of the selected compositions, and all nested compositions (pre-comp layers) in it. #devforacauseThis script is part of the rd: … Continue reading
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