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Export vs Render

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Uzibat

Programmer
Dec 13, 2002
10
GB
I'm still pretty new to After Effects and I'm confused about the difference between rendering a video and exporting it?

Does export only export the selected layer? Is render better quality?
 
Some more info about what I'm trying to do...

I'm trying to adjust the brightness in a video clip and output it. When I render an avi (lossless), my footage looks good but when I render a mov (DV-PAL), the quality is not as good. I have set the quality to high in all instances. However, the avi file is 367Mb and the mov file is 44.6Mb (roughly the same size as the original footage). Isn't there are any way to get better quality with Quicktime/smaller filesize with avi?

Basically I need good quality coupled with a reasonable file size.....
 
File size is driven by a number of factors, including compression codec, image size, bit rate, etc.

Uncompressed AVI is going to produce the largest file size. Quicktime, compressed with some codec, is going to produce a smaller file. Part of the trade-off is quality.

It's up to you to statr up a small notebook, comparing the results of outputting footage using a variety of codecs and qualities.

As far as your first question goes, for most situations, I don't see a whole lot of difference between rendering and exporting. Here's what I think the main difference is, though: Rendering just uses the project settings. So, for example, if your project is a Quicktime with Sorenson 3 compression, then rendering will produce that kind of file (or at least sufficient preview files to view the clip in more-or-less real time). Exporting, on the other hand, usually allows you to pick the final form, whether that's another Quicktime, an AVI, an MPEG, or whatever.

I might be wrong. The difference between "render" and "export" isn't really so crucial to you, however, you have to start studying the effects of your various codecs. [smile]

Good luck!


[monkey] Edward [monkey]

Like Lovecraft? Know Photoshop? Got time for the Unspeakable?
 
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