Automated rendering and network rendering

The executable file aerender.exe is a program with a command-line interface with which you can automate rendering. The executable file is located in the same folder as the primary After Effects application. The default locations for this file are:

• Windows: \Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC\Support Files

• Mac OS: /Applications/Adobe After Effects CC

You can use the aerender application to perform rendering operations on multiple computers as part of a render farm, or you can use the aerender application on a single computer as part of a batch operation.

You use the program by entering the command aerender on the command line (or in a batch script), followed by a series of optional arguments. Some of the arguments are simple options that take no arguments of their own (for example, -reuse), whereas others take arguments of their own (for example, -project project_path).

The version and build number of the application are written to standard output (stdout).

The render may be performed either by an already running instance of After Effects or by a newly started instance. By default, aerender starts a new instance of After Effects, even if one is already running. To instead use the currently running instance, use the –reuse argument.

This example command tells After Effects to render frames 1 through 10 of Composition_1 in project_1.aep to a numbered sequence of Photoshop files using a multi-computer render:

To render just Composition_1 to a specified file, enter this command:

To render everything in the render queue with current settings in the project file, enter this command:

Lloyd Alvarez provides a script on his After Effects Scripts website that takes items that are ready to render in the render queue and sends them to render in the background using aerender.

Network rendering with watch folders and render engines

You can render one or more compositions from a project using multiple computers over a network in a fraction of the time that a single computer would require. Network rendering involves copying the project and source files to a networked folder, and then rendering the project. A network of computers used together to render a single composition is sometimes called a render farm.

Render farming is when a network of computers is used together to render a single composition. You can set this up to work with render-only versions of After Effects called render engines.

You can install render engines in the same manner as the full version of the application. You run the render engine using the Adobe After Effects Render Engine shortcut in the Adobe After Effects CC folder. 

To install a render-only instance of After Effects CC, do the following:

You cannot use a watch folder and multiple render engines to simultaneously render a single movie file. However, in render farming, you can use multiple render engines to render a movie as a sequence of still-image files. You can then use a post-render action to create a single movie file from that still-image sequence. For more information, see Post-render actions.

Network considerations

When working with multiple render engines on multiple computers, keep in mind the following guidelines:

• When possible, identify folders using absolute file paths so that the paths are correctly identified for all render engines. Identifying folders using absolute file paths may mean mapping network drives to a particular drive letter on all computers (for example, H:\renders\watch\). Avoid using relative paths (for example, \\renders\watch).

• Each Macintosh computer monitoring the watch folder must have a unique name. Because the default names of computers are often identical, you should rename your computers to not use the default name.

• Make sure that all servers and clients (computers monitoring the watch folder) have hard drives with unique names.

• Do not use the same computer to serve a watch folder and to run After Effects in Watch Folder mode. Use a dedicated server that’s accessible to all render engines to serve your watch folder.

• Do not render to or initiate Watch Folder mode on the root of a volume or a shared folder that appears as the root when viewed from another computer. Specify a subfolder instead. Also, avoid using high-ASCII or other extended characters and slashes in filenames. For multiple-computer rendering, After Effects includes the Multi-Machine sample template that you can use as a starting point.

Project considerations

Make sure that you install all fonts, effects, and encoders (compressors) used in the project on all computers monitoring the watch folder. If a computer monitoring the watch folder can’t find fonts, effects, or encoders used in a project, the render fails.

When you install an After Effects render engine on a computer, it contains all the plug-ins included with After Effects. If a composition uses a plug-in from another manufacturer, the plug-in must be present on all computers to render the composition. However, support for network rendering varies among plug-in manufacturers. Before you set up a network to render effects created by third-party plug-ins, see the documentation for your plug-ins or contact the plug-in manufacturers and get answers to the following questions:

• Does the license agreement for the plug-in allow installing multiple copies on a network for the purposes of rendering?

• Are there any other limitations or tips that apply to using the plug-in for network rendering?

Collect Files folder considerations

When you use the File > Collect Files command, files relevant to a project are copied to a single folder. This folder includes a copy of the project file, a render control file (RCF), and other files, depending on the options you choose in the Collect Files dialog box. If you save the Collect Files folder to a networked computer other than a server, don’t run a render engine on that computer. Avoid saving the Collect Files folder to a local disk, the root level of a disk (such as C: in Windows or the Mac HD in macOS), or a shared folder, all of which can signify different locations to each render engine. All render engines must interpret the path in the same way.

Track dependencies of a watch-folder render

You can track render dependencies when you render over a network by setting Post-Render Action options. When you set these options, After Effects confirms that all of the items that have to be rendered are ready and available. For example, if one item depends on another to render, and the first has not finished rendering or has received an error, the second does not render.

You can use this process to render a single QuickTime or AVI movie from a watch-folder render. The movie is created on only one computer.

Start in watch-folder mode

Watch-folder mode applies only to rendering from a folder on your local computer.

• To start After Effects in watch-folder mode automatically, save a project with the filename Watch This Folder.aep. After Effects watches the folder containing the project if you open that project.
• To start After Effects in watch-folder mode when you start your computer, create a shortcut (Windows) or alias (macOS) to the Watch This Folder.aep project and move it to your Startup folder (Windows) or your Startup Items folder (macOS). After Effects watches the folder containing the project if you open that project.
• (Windows only) To start After Effects in watch-folder mode from the command line, choose Start > Run, and then enter the following, modifying the application path to the exact name of the folder in which you installed After Effects, and replacing C:\[temp] with the path to your watch folder: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC\Support Files\afterfx.exe" -wf C:\[temp]
  

Render farming - Render a still-image sequence with multiple computers

Render farming is when a network of computers is used together to render a single composition. You can set this up to work with render-only versions of After Effects called render engines. Render farming helps reduce the time a single machine takes to export a composition. You can use multiple computers and multiple copies of After Effects to render a composition across a network. You can use multiple computers to render only still-image sequences; you cannot use multiple computers to render a single movie.

Set up the network

Follow the process illustrated in the image to understand the requirements to set up the network.

You can use any number of computers for rendering; in general, the more computers, the faster the rendering. However, if too many computers are used across a busy network, network traffic may slow down the entire process. You can detect network slowdown by observing the time spent in the Compressing & Writing stage in the Current Render section of the Render Queue panel.

Render a still-image sequence with multiple computers

Important points in the process of rendering a still image sequence with multiple computers: 

• To render a still-image sequence with multiple computers, you can use any number of computers. 
• When you render a still-image sequence with multiple computers, rendering in each copy of After Effects starts at approximately the same time. 
• If your queued render items are set to Skip Existing Files (a Render Settings option), the render process skips the existing frames or frames in progress. 
• Multiple computers can render the project simultaneously, writing the still-image sequence to a single folder.

To render a still-image sequence, follow these steps:

Run aerender in non-royalty bearing mode

After Effects CS5.5 had to be serialized on render-only machines due to licensing issues. In After Effects CS6 and later, you can now run aerender or use Watch Folder in a non-royalty bearing mode, so serialization not required.

To ensure that After Effects is running in non-royalty bearing mode, place a blank file named  ae_render_only_node.txt into the following location:

Segment settings

Segment settings are in the Output preferences category.

After Effects can render sequences and movie files into segments that are limited to a specified number of files or by file size. This is useful when preparing a movie for a medium such as CD-ROM, for which file or folder size may need to be limited to chunks of 650 MB or less. Use the Segment Video-only Movie Files At value to set the maximum size for segments in megabytes. Use the Segment Sequences At value to set the maximum number of still-image files in a folder.

If you are exporting a movie that is larger than the maximum file size for your hard disk formatting scheme, then you can set the Segment Video-only Movie Files At value to a value under this maximum. Hard disks formatted for Windows can be formatted using the FAT, FAT32, or NTFS scheme. The maximum file size in the FAT scheme is 2 GB, and the maximum file size in the FAT32 scheme is 4 GB. The maximum size for a file for NTFS is large (approximately 16 terabytes), so you are unlikely to reach this limit with a single movie.

Only movies that do not contain audio can be segmented. If an output module includes audio, the Segment Video-only Movie Files At preference is ignored for that item.

The Segment Sequences At preference is ignored for any render item for which Skip Existing Files is selected in the render settings. (See Render settings reference.)