Rendering and exporting a sequence of still images

You can export a rendered movie as a sequence of still images, in which case each frame of the movie is output as a separate still-image file. When you render one movie using multiple computers on a network, the movie is always output as a still-image sequence. Many 3D animation programs accept sequences of still images. Sequences of PNG files are often a good choice for transfer of visual elements from After Effects to Flash Professional.

If you are creating a movie for transfer to film, you will need to create a sequence of still images that you can then transfer to film using a film recorder.

Creating a sequence of PSD files is a good way to transfer frames to Photoshop for touchup and editing. You can then import the image sequence back into After Effects.

When specifying the output filename for a still-image sequence, you actually specify a file-naming template. The name that you specify must contain pound signs surrounded by square brackets ([#####]). As each frame is rendered and a filename created for it, After Effects replaces the [#####] portion of the name with a number indicating the order of the frame in the sequence. For example, specifying mymovie_[#####].tga would cause output files to be named mymovie_00001.tga, filmout_00002.tga, and so on.

The maximum number of frames in a still-image sequence is 32,766.