Batch Editing to Create Watermark on Multiple Clips

Question

Hi,
I have a bunch of clips that I am trying to apply a watermark to. I have my workflow currently set up in Premiere Pro but there is no way (that I know of) to apply a watermark to them all at once. Is there a way that I can do this in After Effects?
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I feel like the first method I mentioned is your best bet. Here's a detailed workflow with more screenshots:
1.) Import all of your files including your watermark.  I think the best way to create the watermark is to use Photoshop.  First go to File > New.
.    Since my footage is 1920 x 1080, I used the HDTV 1080p/29.97 Preset as shown in this screenshot:
A) Next to Preset: Select Film & Video
B) Since the footage I'll be importing into After Effects is 1920 x 1080, I selected HDTV 1080p/29.97 next to Size:.  If your footage is a standard size then there should also be a preset that matches it.
C) Finally set the Background Contents: to Transparent.
2.) When you're done making your watermark in Photoshop I would suggest saving it out as a PNG file.  PNGs will maintain the transparency, they're excellent quality and the file size is smaller than TIFFs or PSDs and my experience is this will help After Effects run more smoothly.
3.) Create a New Composition from Selection.
A) Shift select all of your clips.  Then drag and drop them onto the Create a New Composition icon.
B) This will open up the New Composition from Selection window.  In the Create box select Single Composition.
C) If you are doing this with different sized clips it won't work.  Otherwise it will automatically be set to Use Dimensions From: the first clip you dragged onto the icon.  In this case Car L to R.mov is the first one I dragged.
D) Since you're going to be rendering this right back out select Add to Render Queue.
E) Then select Sequence Layers to line up the layers into a sequence within the composition.
F) Finally, click OK. This will immediately add the clip to the Render Queue.
4.) Now you're going to want to set up your timeline, so click back to your composition tab.
A) Drag your watermark over your clips and make sure that it extends to the end of your composition.
B) Change the blending mode to Overlay.
C) Hit the T key to activate the Opacity control and change the opacity to 25%.
D) In this case the beginning of the Work Area is already set to the beginning of the composition.  But, in the future you can press the B key to set the beginning of the work area to wherever the playhead is located.
E) Hold the shift key to snap the playhead to the last frame of the first clip.  Then press the N key to set the end of the end of the work area.  Note that the N key places the end of the work area immediately after the frame you're currently viewing.
5) Then click back on the Render Queue tab.
A) Click Best Settings.
B) Click Custom.  This will open the Custom Time Span window.
C) Since the render queue automatically recognizes where you have your work area set up, you don't need to do anything.  Just click OK and this will save your current work area position.
D) Click OK again to exit the Best Settings window. 
6) Repeat the second part of step 4.
A) Make sure that the playhead is showing the very first frame of the second clip and press the B key to set the beginning of the work area.
B) Hold down the shift key to snap to the end of the clip.  Press the N key to set the end of the work area.  Then press Control Command M or Command Shift / to send the second clip to the render queue.
7.) Repeat Step 5, but rename the clip with it's actual name.  If you don't it will be fine, but After Effects will keep the same clip name and add numbers to ends of all your clips.
8.) Finally, I would recomend making an Output Module template.  To do this, click on the upside down triangle to the right of Output Module: and select Make a Template.  Then set up your render settings as you like and save them so you can select as many of your clips as you'd like and paste the same Output Module onto them.  
However, if you're going to upload these clips to the Internet using Vimeo or Youtube for example.  I would highly suggest using Adobe Media Encoder.  After Effects is not designed to export the H.264 files these websites require and you'll get far better quality by using the Youtube or Vimeo presets in Adobe Media Encoder. 
To do this, follow steps 3, 4 and 6 exactly as the screenshots indicate only instead of clicking Best Settings and setting the Custom Time Span in the After Effects Render Queue, click the preset setting under your composition in Adobe Media Encoder and set the Source Range to Work Area.
The only thing you have to remember when doing this is that you have to save your After Effects project each time you drag and drop the composition into Adobe Media Encoder.  Since Adobe Media Encoder communicates with After Effects through Dynamic Link, the project must be saved in order for it to update the current Work Area.
I've tested the above method and it works fine, but if you still have trouble with it, go back to step 3, import your clips as Multiple Compositions and add the watermark to each one.  Then save your After Effects project and drag all of your compositions into Adobe Media Encoder at once. Then shift select all of them and drag the preset you'd like to use onto the clips.