Adobe After Effects - Manual (Page 718)

Use the Render Queue panel to render compositions, apply render settings and output module settings, and obtain information on the rendering
process.
When you place a composition into the Render Queue panel, it becomes a render item. You can add many render items to the render queue, and
After Effects can render multiple items in a batch, unattended. When you click the Render button in the upper-right corner of the Render Queue
panel, all items with the status of Queued are rendered and output in the order in which they are listed in the Render Queue panel.
When rendering of a render item is complete, it remains in the Render Queue panel with its status changed to Done until you remove the item from
the Render Queue panel. You cannot rerender a completed item, but you can duplicate it to create a new item in the queue with the same settings
or with new settings. You can also drag an output module to the Project panel to import the finished movie or a placeholder into the project for use
as a footage item. (See Import footage items.)
When working with multiple render items, it is often useful to add comments in the Comment column in the Render Queue panel. If the
Comment column is not visible, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a column heading, and choose Columns > Comment.
You can select, duplicate, and reorder render items using many of the same keyboard shortcuts that you use for working with layers and other
items. See General (keyboard shortcuts).
Render and export a movie using the render queue
1. Select the composition from which to make a movie in the Project panel, and then do one of the following to add the composition to the
render queue:
Choose Composition > Add To Render Queue.
Drag the composition to the Render Queue panel.
To create a new composition from a footage item and immediately add that composition to the render queue, drag the footage item from
the Project panel to the Render Queue panel. This is a convenient way to convert a footage item from one format to another.
2. Click the triangle next to the Output To heading in the Render Queue panel to choose a name for the output file based on a naming
convention, and then choose a location; or click the text next to the Output To heading to enter any name. (See Specify filenames and
locations for rendered output .)
3. Click the triangle to the right of the Render Settings heading to choose a render settings template, or click the underlined text to the right of
the Render Settings heading to customize the settings. (See Render settings .)
4. Choose a Log type from the Log menu.
When a log file has been written, the path to the log file appears under the Render Settings heading and Log menu.
5. Click the triangle to the right of the Output Module heading to choose an output module settings template, or click the underlined text to the
right of the Output Module heading to customize the settings. You use the output module settings to specify the file format of the output
movie. In some cases, a format-specific dialog box opens after you choose a format, in which you can specify format-specific settings. (See
Output modules and output module settings and Encoding and compression options for movies .)
When an output name and location have been set, and render settings and an output module have been selected, the entry in the Render
column automatically becomes selected (shown by a check mark) and the status changes to Queued. The status Queued means that the
render item is in the render queue.
Press Caps Lock before you start rendering to prevent the Composition panel from displaying rendered frames. By not updating the
Composition panel, After Effects requires less time to process simple render items with many frames.
6. Click the Render button in the upper-right corner of the Render Queue panel.
After an item has been rendered, you can import the finished movie as a footage item by dragging its output module from the Render Queue
panel into the Project panel. (See Import footage items.)
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