Where are the AE render settings in Media Encoder?

Question

I'd like to use Adobe Media Encoder for background rendering, but how do you set the render settings (like bit depth, motion blur, solo switches, guide layers, ect)?
Also, how do you select the output color profile from AME?

Answer 1

Hi Clint,
Sorry for the long delay on replying, I've been busy. Doesn't look like you've cross-posted this to the AME forum, so I'll take a crack at the answers:
1) AE renders compositions at a bit depth of 8, 16, and 32 (float). AME can encode frames at 24, 32, 48, and 64 (for ProRes 4444, for example). How do these things relate to each other, and how/why should you use a particular AME bit depth setting for an AE comp?
These numbers all represent bit depth.  AE states bit depth in terms of bits per channel (bpc). AME usually states bit depth in total bits per pixel (bpp = bpc multiplied by the number of channels). It's one of those little inconsistencies that comes from the two apps growing up under different development teams.
RGB has three channels. RGB + Alpha has four channels. Doing the math:
RGB 8 bpc = 24 bpp
RGBA 8 bpc = 32 bpp
RGB 16 bpc = 48 bpp
RGBA 16 bpc = 64 bpp
So if you want 8-bit output with an alpha channel, you'd set the bit depth in AME to 32. If you don't need an alpha channel, set it to 24. Note that AME doesn't have equivalent options for 32 bpc formats. (If it did, the bpp equivalents would be 96 and 128 bpp!) There are very few such codecs anyway.
2) What effects does "Use Maximum Render Quality" have on a comp? Does it only come into play if your are encoding to a different resolution to the source comp? Will it change the color processing?
IIRC, the "Use Maximum Render Quality" switch doesn't affect AE comps. It only has an effect when the source is a Premiere Pro sequence. This article has some detail about how the switch affects Premiere Pro sequences:
http://blogs.adobe.com/premiereprotraining/2010/10/scaling-in-premiere-pro-cs5.html
3) Does AME always render at "Full" resolution or does it look at the resolution setting in the AE comp window? What if it's set to "auto"?
4) Does AME pay attention to the comp window Region of Interest?
5) Does AME care about the composition motion blur button or does it just look at the layer motion blur settings?
7) How does AME handle color management? Does it always output in the working space?
These questions all have the same basic answer. When the AE comp is loaded via Dynamic Link, it will be processed using the state of the comp at the time the AE project was saved. Any switches available in the Timeline panel like Motion Blur will be used in their current state, and there is no control over them from the AME side.
Keep in mind that comp viewer switches like Region Of Interest and preview resolution aren't a function of the comp itself, and thus aren't seen by AME. They are a function of the Comp viewer panel. (The difference being the same as between a piece of artwork and the glass of the frame. If the glass is warped then the art looks warped. AME only looks at the artwork without the glass.) Color Management, similarly, while controlled at the project level is interpreted via the Comp viewer panel or by AE's Render Queue; AE's color management is not in the chain of processing used by AME. But you can acheive the same color management transforms via AME by using the Color Profile Converter effect and setting the input and output profiles specifically.
So, what AME sees in an AE comp will be identical to what you see in the Comp panel in AE at full resolution when ROI and any other viewer switches (like the Transparency Grid or guides or color channel selection) are turned off, and without a project working color space being set. From this point the pixels could be affected by AME via scaling or if there is a color space transform inherent to the chosen output format (ex., RGB to YUV).
6) How does AME decide whether to interlace the render?
This is defined by the Field Order setting in the AME Output Settings. That seems pretty straightforward to me, so if I'm missing something about your question please clarify.
-=TimK