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Render a still-image sequence with multiple computers

Although the preferred method of rendering for multiple computers is using the Watch Folder feature, you can also 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.

When you render a still-image sequence with multiple computers, rendering in each copy of After Effects starts at approximately the same time. By specifying that each copy skip existing frames or frames in progress, multiple computers can render the project simultaneously, writing the still-image sequence to a single folder.

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.

Note: Adobe does not provide technical support for general network configuration; consult your network administrator.

Aharon Rabinowitz goes through and explains the steps for rendering a still-image sequence with multiple computers in this video tutorial: www.adobe.com/go/learn_ae_aharonmultimachinerender.

  1. Install After Effects on each computer that will be used to render the project. Make sure that you have the same fonts installed on each computer.
    Note: Do not share plug-ins across a network. Make sure that you have a copy of the plug-ins folder on each computer that is running After Effects. When using third-party plug-ins, also be sure that the same plug-ins are available on all computers and that you have sufficient licenses for the plug-ins.
  2. Open the project on one computer, select the composition, and then choose Composition > Add To Render Queue.
  3. Specify a sequence format in the Output Module area, and specify a folder in the Output To area. This folder must be available for all the computers that are rendering.
  4. In the Render Queue panel, select Skip Existing Files in the Render Settings section so that multiple computers do not render the same frames. Make sure that Use Storage Overflow is not selected. Do not use multiple output modules for one render item when using Skip Existing Files.
  5. Save the project on the computer where you opened it in step 2.
  6. On each computer that will be rendering, open and save the project. Saving the project ensures that After Effects records the new relative paths to each computer in the following step.
  7. Unless the network can handle large file transfers rapidly, copy the project file and all its source footage to each rendering computer.
  8. Open the Render Queue panel on each computer and click Render. You do not need to start rendering on each computer simultaneously, but to ensure equal workloads, start them at approximately the same time. As each computer finishes rendering a frame, After Effects searches the Output folder for the next unrendered frame and starts rendering again.
  9. You can stop and start any computer at any time. However, if you stop a computer without starting it again, the frame that it was rendering may not be finished. If one or more computers stop during rendering, starting any one computer ensures that all frames in the sequence get rendered.