How to batch convert with After Effects CS3

I sure hope this isn't a super silly question!
I have never used After Effects as it came with my Adobe Master Suite and it's quite duanting to learn all of those programs at once. I'm trying to figure out how to convert several MPEG files to AVI using a batch convert process. It would seem to me that would be a pretty simple process and I've read in several locations that it can't be done with Premiere Pro any more. They also say it can be done in After Effects but they don't explain how.
I'm pretty new to video editing so layman's terms would be much appreciated. I'm running After Effects CS3 on Windows XP.

It can be done, but After Effects is far from being a specialized encoding application. A bit like using a ten ton truck to commute
In CS4, threre is such an specialized app. It's called Adobe Media Encoder, and it can be used in standalone mode or invoked from within Premiere Pro or AE.
Remember, After Effects is a content creation tool that offers multiple ways to render the content you create. But it's not an utility to convert or encode video formats.
If you really want to do this in AE, this could be a way:
Import all your MPEG files in the Project Panel.
Select them all (drag with your mouse or make Project panel active, then Control+A on Win or Command+A on Mac).
Drag them all to the New Comp button at the bottom of the project panel.
You will get a dialog which offers to place all these files in a single After Effects Composition, or create a separate Composition for each. Select the latter.
In the Project panel, select the resulting compositions and go to Composition > Add to Render Queue. Set each item to AVI format with your codec of choice.
Of course, there are a million variables that couldn't be discussed in a single post or thread.
As you can see, you are performing a lot of steps because After Effects is designed to render video once you have created content in the form of After Effects Compositions. In that context, these steps would not be "a lot" - you arrive there quite naturally.
I suggest you take a look at the After Effects Help chapter on Rendering and exporting

Similar Messages

  • PowerPC G5 crashing with After Effects CS3

    I have been having "catastrophic" crashes, that is a crash in Mac OSX where the screen goes dark and I have to hold the power key to reset the system when using After Effects CS3 on my PowerPC G5. Also if I am listening to music in iTunes it just goes into a looping drone, (not a nice sound I can tell you).
    I was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems. I have been simply editing text in an AE comp and bang the system hangs. This only seems to happen when I am using After Effects. I have Gridiron Nucleo installed but I don't have it switched on, since it hasn't been playing too well. I also have a Blackmagic card and an internal raid system.
    I am running the latest version of Tiger on the G5 and have all software up to date. I might have to upgrade to Leopard as I just don't trust it anymore. This has happened enough times for me to now be totally on edge when I am using the system with After Effects CS3. I have a Mac Pro and this just works beautifully when running AE CS3
    Any thoughts would be welcome
    all the best
    richard

    Actually it has happened before and I don't think I was editing text. So I am not entirely sure that was the culprit. Put it this way I can run Photoshop, Illustrator, Cinema 4D, even After Effects 7 without these problems. However I have started to steer clear of the machine and use the Intel Mac solely as I don't really have time for crashes if you know what I mean. Also it is slow in comparison which isn't surprising but it really seems like treacle compared to the quad core mac.

  • How to fix a bad After Effects CS3 disk?

    In 2007, I got the CS3 Master Collection. It took me over 2 days to get almost all the applications to install properly. I ended up copying all the DVDs to a common folder on the desktop and running the install from there. I've used this technique a few times for hardware upgrades since then with one error every time. Everything but After Effects copied/installed - this particular disk kept throwing out an 'unable to read  blah, blah' error (hey, it was a long time ago). This was documented and traced to a bad batch of AE DVDs and folks had the option to apply for new disk.
    Being a still image person doing mainly Photoshop and InDesign, I kind'a just forgot about it - until recently when I finally started doing some video using Premiere Pro. Anyway, it looks like now the only way to get a working version of AE is to upgrade the whole Master Collection to CS4 (!). For a whole bunch of $$$ reasons I don't see that happening for a while. I emphasize that I am the legally registered user of the suite - I just need a working copy of AE CS3 to install from. Any ideas?

    Maybe I'll have my wife do it, and break down in tears halfway into describing my dumb-assed neglectfulness. That’ll cost me something

  • Transitions with After Effects CS3

    Hi all,
    I have Production Studio CS3 Premium. I have created an intro inside After Effects, using texts and a still image. It lasts for 12 seconds. I have rendered the intro and imported it into Premiere. I am now trying to add transitions (cross dissolve) at the end of the intro, but for some reason Premiere will not allow me to do so. I am trying the cross dissolve inbetween the intro and the start of a still image (50/50.).  Also tried other transitions but will not work. The transitions only work at the start or at the end of the intro, but will not overlap onto the next image.
    Thank you

    yikes...  I just deleted every single editing thing on my hard drives...to prepare for this red camera test stuff.. and music video...so have like NO samples left anymore...of anything...but I recall having trouble doing a transition in the "middle" of two "clips" ...where it wanted to jump to the left clip or right, but not sit in the middle...using cs3....and I honestly dont remember now why that happened...but it might have been any number of things ...and thought maybe it was a still image on one side or something...
    and it wasnt a matter of "duplicating frames" either..it just wouldnt go there...
    so I did it manually...stack the clips and fade one out as I fade the other in...was easy solution...
    sorry ...dont remember the exact reason it acted weird...the manual solution was the fastest solution.. I think Ann had some cool info about what was going on with my own samples...but still it wasn't "perfect"...just sorta explained what was going on maybe ???
    sorry...cant remember more

  • Adobe After Effects CS3 crashes with Codecs such as Motion JPEG and Avid DnxHD

    Hey guys, I'm new here
    I'm having a problem with After Effects CS3 crashing with .mov files (exported from Adobe Premiere) with codecs such as Motion Jpeg A and Avid's DnxHD. Its driving me crazy.
    If I import a Motion Jpeg A file, AE crashes immediately. If I import a DnxHD file that works fine with Premiere, it seems to import ok. However, when I try to play it in AE it comes up as a plain white... thing. If I move the slider across it previews one or two frames before AE crashes. Its driving me crazy.
    AE works ok with H.164 and animation files.
    I'm reinstalled quicktime and Avids codecs, uninstalled ffdshow, disabled Open GL and multiprocessing, changed between 10bit and 8bit (whatever that is all about) with the dnxhd and I'm really stumped. If I can get Dnxhd working I'm fine with that. I thought I'd mention the Motion Jpeg A codec to see if they're a result of the same problem.
    I've also tried Avid's RGB packed Codec with the same results.
    I'm running Windows Xp 32 bit with 3gbs of ram, a GeForce 8600 gt with a Intel Pentium Duo Core Processor 2.00 GHZ.
    Can anyone help me please?

    I'm mistaken, Animation files don't work either!
    I tried that with no luck. I even tried a few more Quicktime codecs with the same results.
    Only H.164 and some png compressed .mov files seem to work. Very frustrating.
    I'm surprised thats the case - I am defintley due for an upgrade. Even though this system seems to work ok, struggling a little bit with HD .mov files but yeah, I've been planning a new system for a while.

  • After Effects CS3 Not Starting

    I installed After Effects CS3 on my mac running snow leopard 10.6.4 I also installed the update for After Effects. However it will not run, everything is activated and Adobe says the activation is fine. However the discontinued phone support for CS3. What happens is the program will launch and show up in the dock but before the splash screen even launches the software will just crash and shut down. I seem to remember this was an issue when i installed this on my desktop but for the life of me I cannot remember what I did to fix the issue.

    Here's a page that gives some information about issues with After Effects CS3 and CS4 on Snow Leopard:
    http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/516/cpsid_51667.html
    You may be encountering the Rosetta issue.

  • Why does my Outputed Rendered Movie not play smoothly?(w/ After Effects CS3)

    I have an Intel Core 2 Duo with 3 gigs of RAM so my exported movie(HD) should playback with no problem, but this is not the case.  Everytime after I render and export my finished project(with After Effects CS3), when I then open it up to play it in Windows Media/Quicktime etc. the movie is not smooth and looks like it's still in the process of rendering. I can't figure this out. If anyone could answer this question I would really appreciate it.  Thanks alot
    Bcurless1000

    See these threads for an answer:
    http://forums.adobe.com/message/2989384
    http://forums.adobe.com/message/2958839#2958839

  • Missing Synthetics In After Effects CS3

    Don't know if anyone can help with this.
    I installed all of the "Master Collection" disks for CS3. In After Effects, most of the presets that I USED to have in AE CS2 are not appearing. There is about (10) in comparison to the (34) that are being displayed on the website for CS3. http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/gallery/18.html
    At first I thought these were moved or maybe part of the Cycore Effects package (which I can see some of these under the EFFECTS folder like "puddle" and "rain") but cannot locate many others.
    Very confused. Does anyone know where these are located? I have an older project where I was using "glow blobs" and "melted gold" and I can't find them.
    Anyone else experience this and know of a solution? I am on Windows XP 64 bit.
    thanks.

    The animation preset galleries on the website are actually for After Effects 7. Someone mistakenly incremented the version number to 'CS3'. This gallery for After Effects 7 does not exactly match what's installed with After Effects CS3. Some of the animation presets were removed from After Effects CS3 because of bugs.
    I encourage you to file a bug report against the After Effects gallery on the website by sending email to [email protected]

  • How to batch convert psd to png with layers

    how to batch convert psd to png with layers
    i want to convert lots of PSD files into PNGs WHILE RETAINING
    LAYERS!
    simply batching and choosing custom setting flattens the
    thing.
    how do i do that!??
    and i KNOW it can be done somehow - because i have some old
    png's i KNOW come from the same psd source. ironic, isn't it?
    besides - feature wish for adobe developers:
    A) batch conversion should include 300dpi to 72dpi and vise
    versa.
    B) batch conversion should include PSD to PNG and vice versa
    - including layers and transparency.
    C) RGB to CMYK option when converting from 72 dpi to 300dpi.
    D) batch exporting should include PNG32 which it doesnt now -
    but somehow DOES include the outdated and stupid gif-format.
    E) i'd like the Actions feature of photoshop - makes batching
    complicated procedures easly.
    F) I'd like support for the brushes of photoshop
    G) Better selecting tools for details like hair and fine
    edges.
    Important notes is that i as webdesigner often need to make
    certain aspects of my clients graphics into print material. Also
    that i use fireworks for picture editing.
    Praise for the developers of fireworks
    A) the compression facility of JPGs is AWESOME!
    B) PNG as fileformat is likewise awesome - i end up using it
    for almost all i do these days. Transparency and good file sizes. I
    have used fireworks cs3 to convert all psd and tiff and ai files to
    PNG.
    C) the vectors and styles and method of selecting and editing
    things in fireworks is FAR SUPERIOR to flash and photoshop!

    senocular wrote:
    > Save the following code in a .jsf file and run it in a
    batch. It will save
    > your batched PSDs in their original location as PNGs
    (using the same file name
    > with .png tacked on the end). You'll probably need to
    save the file in your
    > Fireworks/Configuration/Commands directory to allow the
    batch to pick it up.
    > Note that any save location you specify in the batch
    will be irrelevant. This
    > code just saves the files in their original location.
    >
    >
    >
    > var dom = fw.getDocumentDOM();
    > fw.saveDocumentCopyAs(dom,
    dom.filePathForRevert+".png");
    >
    Thanks Trevor!
    Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community
    Expert:.
    http://www.communityMX.com/
    CommunityMX - Free Resources:
    http://www.communitymx.com/free.cfm
    .:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
    Adobe Community Expert
    http://tinyurl.com/2a7dyp
    See my work on Flickr
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_babbage/

  • My Macbook crashed yesterday, with After Effects on it. I bought a new one, but how can i re-install After Effects, without buying it again?

    My Macbook crashed yesterday, with After Effects on it. I bought a new one, but how can i re-install After Effects, without buying it again? I logged in to my creative cloud-account, but i can't find the program or the order of the program in my history...

    Download CS6 products
    Contact support to reset activations. For anything beyond that we will need proper technical info - exact system, exact program versions and so on.
    Mylenium

  • Will After Effects CS3 on a PC be compatible with CS3 on a Mac?

    I am currently using Adobe After Effects CS3 at home on a PC. I was wondering if the project file from the PC version would be compatible with the Mac version of CS3.
    Is there a special format that I need to save the file as, or will it just be compatible without any changes?
    Thanks.

    Project files are cross-platform. Nothing special to do. Of course the usual limitations apply: external files may not be found due to different folder naming mechanisms and fonts get substituted, if not installed on both platforms.
    Mylenium

  • How to undo the "replace with after effects composition" command?

    Hi,
    I don't know if there is a better way, but i make my color corection in after effects with Color Finesse and i use this command: right click on clip and "replace with after effects composition" - that a good way but, the problem is when i wanna to undo this and to bring back my old clip from an AE Composition.
    this is how my clip looks beforee
    and after
    it works fi i use "undo" command, but after i save the project, and restart premiere, that command is gone.
    my question: what can I do to bring back my old video?
    thanks.

    You can try to go to one of the autosave versions and see if you can bring it back that way (if the history is cleared)...
    Seems a little extreme
    If you still have the original source audio in your sequence, as your example shows, park the CTI at the beginning of clip instance and target just the audio track (i.e. deselect the video track). Hit the M key to match frame the original master clip, hit I to mark an in point, and then hold down the Alt key and drag the Video Only button from the Source Monitor to the AE comp item. The AE comp will be replaced with the original video and linked to the audio.
    The upshot of all this is that, unless you make a duplicate before using the "Replace" command or undo immediately after doing so, there is no direct way to get back to the original footage.

  • OpenGL, nVidia 8600M GT 128mb and After Effects CS3 8.0.2

    I've just sold my one year old macbook and bought a new (not so new now, revision C), 2.2 ghz nVidia 128 mb macbook pro.
    I did that cause I work with After Effects and thought a bigger screen and dedicated graphics with OpenGL would improve my performance. Sure it did, mainly because I jumped from 1g RAM to 2g in the new computer.
    But I'm experiencing a irritating bug that makes AE crash. I've searched in forums, adobe website itself, upgrade to 8.0.1, 8.0.2, made the Nvidia update via Software Update from Apple, and the problems keeps going.
    It is mentioned in this document from Adobe: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/view...2244&sliceId=1
    "After Effects error: AE_OpenGL: Create texture error. (5065 :: 0)"
    In the solutions proposed in the document it says: "Disable OpenGL", "remove OpenGL plugin" and "Optimize the Texture Memory preference", among other things.
    Disabling OpenGL wouldn't make my new graphic card useless in this case ? In the document, Adobe says I wouldn't have problems setting the Texture Memory preference because OSX makes it automatically. But at the same time says that the ideal should be 80% from my memory. If I have 128, 80% is 102.4, right ? My config is set to 114. Have OSX failed calculating ?
    Thanks, and sorry for the long thread.

    There is a lot of conflicting and/or otherwise terrible info being posted as workarounds to getting the ae cs3 801 and 802 update to actually install. I have read everything from reinstalling the entire creative suite, to writing a custom script that disables the app running list in the config.xml. Hahaha what?! Tech support seems to need a week off...
    Ok here's how to get it to install:
    #1: go here and delete everything in it--> **user>appdata>local>temp>patcher** (this is in Vista...xp users will get there via c:\docs and settings...)
    #2: install the update (it will fail
    #3: go to **user>appdata>local>temp>patcher** again and you will see 2 new folders named PATCHER[some number here; ex: Patcher470]. Look in these for a folder named INSTALLER. Once you find it, double click on:
    PatcherApplication
    Voila- ae cs3 will now update to 8.0.2.
    It's as easy as that.

  • Premiere CS3 vs After Effect CS3 !

    Ok friends hopping someone gives a detailed or a brief  feedback on this !
    I used to use Sony Vegas, but later on i discovered that Adobe Premiere CS3 was much better software, so i started to use Premiere CS3 few month ago and so far have been very very happy with the Chroma , garbage remover and few more ...
    i also installed Adobe After Effect CS3, but my question for you is how do you compare AE with Premiere ! I noticed plug in manufactures mostly make plug ins for AE, at the same time there are many plug ins for Premiere as well , but not as many as i can find for AE.
    for example RedGiant makes plug ins for AE and they also have 60% for Premiere ..
    please give me your brief or detailed idea about why would you use AE or why would you use Premiere !
    So far i have using Premiere for evertyhing (Adding fx and etc)

    As Shooterz says, "Have a play" - meaning, you are going to have to use each program to see for yourself how they differ.
    So, for example, do this tutorial for premiere (or any other):
    http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/premiere/articles/preppictinpict.html
    And do this for After Effects.
    http://www.toolfarm.com/tutorials/gleam1.html
    I've picked one for each that shows its most relevant strengths - video for Premiere and motion graphics for AE.

  • After Effects CS3 - error: could not create 8935 x 9152 image buffer + slow

    Hello. I am receiving this error message every time i try render my 3min composition. it gets about 1/5 way through which takes about an hour. i have read the General Specialist troubleshooting guide and it has not helped yet.
    i am now rendering with Image Cache: Maximum RAM Cache Size at 10% and purging after every 20 frames (in secret prefs) - even if this works, the 3min render is estimated to finish in 9hrs. Does this sound normal, or acceptable? Is it possible i have a hardware deficiency? or something else lacking.
    My PC specs are: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.40GHz; 4GB RAM; Geforce 8800 GTS. Running XP 32bit SP3; After Effects CS3 (fully updated). I have updated my graphics card driver (180.48) and my mainboard chipset driver. My memory settings are as they appear in the http://generalspecialist.com/2006/11/avoiding-after-effects-error-could-not.asp guide, & I've dropped max RAM cache to 10%. My disk cache size is 10000MB and set to an empty 75GB 10000RPM Raptor HDD.
    The composition has 30 layers - mainly layers imported from PSDs and then animated with basic transform tools and some distortion effects (wave warp) to create 2D character animation. There are 6 pre-composed layers containing the same kind of PSD layers and animation. I try to render out to an uncompressed .avi in 720x576 with 15fps.
    Even before I noticed this rendering problem, After Effects runs painfully slowly. the composition monitor takes ages to refresh, even in the Quarter quality view mode i am forced to work in. and over the course of the day, on 3 occasions - the PC lagged after scrubbing through the timeline, froze, then Blue Screen of Death'ed before rebooting before i could even read the blue screen error.
    Please offer some assistance or ideas as to how i can move forward. I have tried to help myself with existing material online, but to no avail.
    Thanks,
    Nick.

    >Does this sound normal, or acceptable?
    It sounds normal within the realm of AE, but how acceptable it really is, is another matter entirely. ;-) As suggested, scaling the sources in PS would be one way, another one would be to chop up the large documents into manual tiles and parent them together. Based on how AE works, only tiles visible within the comp frame will be loaded, which should make the whole process more streamlined. That's assuming they are not 3D layers that need to be fully visible at any given point, of course. Even then, rendering to an image sequence is still advisable in case of crashes... Depending on what you actually do, you may also want to find a different way of dealing with your distortion effects. They considerably expand/ dilate image buffers for processing, complicating the matter further.
    Mylenium

Maybe you are looking for