Outputting a Quicktime Movie from After Effects

Before you do anything, in the comp window make sure the layers you want visible are visible (eye icon on) and that the quality settings are at high level (right slash anti-aliased icon facing to the upper right).

Then, to output a movie, select the composition window and then go to menu… Composition…Make Movie.

In the render window that pops up, you may need to change a few things using the buttons entitled "Render Settings","Output Module" and "Output to" by clicking on the underlined "Based on…" statement.

For "Render Settings" choose entire length of composition.

For "Output Module" check the radio box next to Audio Output if you have audio and use the settings I have shown to keep the best quality audio.

For "Output To" DO NOT save to your flash drive to start. Save to the DATA HD in a folder with your name, and then copy the file over if you have enough room. Most certainly, DO NOT Save to your student file space either.

The Quicktime Movie output I am recommending is of best quality with very little compression. If you want a smaller file, you can try another setting for output instead of the default "Animation" setting. Try "DV/NTSC". Another way to output is under File…Export Movie… (Sherry tried this and it made a smaller file for her work. If you like, try it.)

One another thing you might notice is that your movie does not play back fast enough if you play from your flash drive. Too much data to process, so play back from a computer hard drive instead.

Below are a few screen grabs which show the settings I am mentioning with important elements tinted in yellow:

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