After Effects: File -> Export-> No quicktime option

Shigeta

Shigeta

Well-known member
Hey Sirs and Madams,

I have a pressing question for you fine people of DVX..

I have to export a video to web, not just H.264, but to optimize for streaming. Long story short, I need to use the "optimize for streaming" option in quicktime pro. I want to (have to) minimize render times so I can't render lossless then encode with quicktime pro, so I have imported my Premiere sequence into After effects using File -> import -> Premiere Pro Sequence and have hit File -> Export, but only options for Flash and PP sequence show up, unlike in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFYyXavZuKw

Here is what happens to me:
Screenshot2011-01-24at54045PM.png


Is there some plugin or preset I can download/ install that will give me the options to do those exports? I am NOT looking to export via the render queue as well, just for your reference. I also do have Quicktime Pro 7 installed as well..

Any advise is appreciated as I have searched far and wide, but not much has come up..
 
For your reference, use the Render Queue. It's all in there and no one that knows what they're doing uses the File->Export menu. I've never used that before and I've been using the program for over 5 years.
 
I agree 100% with you guys in 99% of situations and I have always used the render queue for ALL other projects, this is my first experience having to do this.

If you let me digress, maybe you fine fellows can offer a more efficient solution.

I do web videos for a company for recording screens for program tutorials (photoshop, flash, premiere, etc).

We record on a 27" iMac, 2560x1440 resolution screen recorded by screenflow (mac program), exported in lossless 2560 x 1440 resolution. Brought into premiere in a 1080p project (so I can "zoom" in on parts without loosing resolution) and edited. When we export, I would USUALLY in 99% of all other situations do a 1080p (or 720p) h.264 file with great, if not excellent results. We sent the videos to our web developer and he said, whoops, theres a problem.

In his words,
"The MP4s that are being encoded on your end are not able to stream progressively. In other words, the whole video file has to be downloaded locally before it can even begin playing.


Check out this excerpt I was able to find on an Adobe employee blog from long ago... I believe this is the problem, as it was on a Nike/Facebook site I worked on a year ago, though I did try to use the qt-faststart program as mentioned with no success yet. It might come down to us tinkering with some settings on Media Encoder. Anyway, worth a little more looking into.

If you use progressive download instead of FMS make sure that the moov atom (which is the index information in MPEG-4 files) is at the beginning of the file. Otherwise you have to wait until the file is completely downloaded before it is played back. You can use tools like qt-faststart.c written by our own Mike Melanson to fix your files so that the index is at the beginning of the file. Unfortunately our tools (Premiere and AfterEffects etc.) currently place the index at the end of the file so this tool might become essential for you, at least for now. We are working hard to fix this in our video tools. There is nothing we can do in the Flash Player and iTunes/QuickTime does behave the same way.

http://www.kaourantin.net/2007/08/what-just-happened-to-video-on-web_20.html

[...]"


So we basically have to encode with quicktime pro which CAN encode with this "moov" marker in the beginning using the "optimize for: streaming" setting in quicktime pro as seen in that youtube video I posted.

We called up a guy who has tons of experience in editing (only one of 4 that we called that knew what we were talking about) and he said to import the premiere sequence into AE using File-> import -> PP sequence, so we did, and then said to export NOT using the render queue since there is no such option as described before in the render queue, but rather to hit File -> export -> quicktime which will use Quicktime pro to encode the video instead of Media Encoder which gives us the option to "optimize for streaming" instead of download which requires the download to complete before being able to play.

Mind you, this is not going on vimeo or youtube. This is going on a "lynda" type site with a flash player designed by us. I, too, am new to this problem. Never heard of it in my 3 years of editing videos.. Any alternate solutions would be greatly, greatly appreciated!
 
Just render out a high res QT from the render queue then use Quicktime Pro to recompress it. That's what we always do, not only are the render times faster you have all the options you're used to in QT Pro for streaming, etc. We never, ever render out H264 or MP4's from AE, compression usually sucks compared to dedicated compression programs and render times are almost always longer.
 
So I should I render QT lossless (or do you recommend other settings) and just to confirm, rendering out high quality QT from after effects then through QT pro will be faster than through AE?

Lately, I've been getting just a pure white screen when encoding/ compressing with QT pro. Can I send you some screenshots/ sample clips to show you what's happening?
 
Since we work FCP we usually render out ProRes from AE then re-render that to a QT H264 with a compressed header fast start for internet playback. We also have Episode, but I usually just use QT Pro since it's easier and more straight forward. You can render Lossless/animation or any other high quality setting (Uncompressed, QT PNG maybe, etc) then just recompress it afterwards. I've always found this to be faster and it's the workflow we've used for years.

As for the white screen, not sure why that would be happening, maybe picking a funky codec. We work on Mac's and have never had problems, not sure if it's the same on Windows (which I'm assuming that's what you're using). Post some pics and I, or someone else, may be able to help.
 
Alright, it's on a iMac, 27". I can get you full specs, workflow, and pics tomorrow. I will post them here, but is there a email I can reach you faster at? [You can PM me it, won't be posted]
 
Last edited:
I don't know how much help I would be with your white screen problem since I've never encountered it before. I also don't work on Snow Leopard at that office, so that may be part of it? I'd go through the usual troubleshooting steps, restart, reinstall, etc.
 
Hello

Hello

Did you find out hot to fix this problem .. i do have the same issues and i am so confused with this

my friend have the same laptop and same windows and same version of AE cs5 and he have other videos option

i run 7 x64 ultimate

please tell me if u can help

really render sucks and take so long time
 
iDesign said:
Did you find out hot to fix this problem .. i do have the same issues and i am so confused with this

my friend have the same laptop and same windows and same version of AE cs5 and he have other videos option

i run 7 x64 ultimate

please tell me if u can help

really render sucks and take so long time
Click to expand...

Render time is a combination of a few factors :
-your computer's hardware
-what applications are currently open
-what size video you are working with
-the kind of treatments and effects you used inside After Effects - e.g. Lens Blur takes longer than Fast Blur

As for your question about exporting- select the composition you want to export. Go to Top Menu -> Composition -> add to Render Queue. The Render Queue will appear in the tab over your timeline, and your composition should be listed. Under "Output Module" you will be able to select format such as QT or MP4.

Please note by default after effects does not export sound. You must set this under the Output Module.
 
Renee said:
Render time is a combination of a few factors :
-your computer's hardware
-what applications are currently open
-what size video you are working with
-the kind of treatments and effects you used inside After Effects - e.g. Lens Blur takes longer than Fast Blur

As for your question about exporting- select the composition you want to export. Go to Top Menu -> Composition -> add to Render Queue. The Render Queue will appear in the tab over your timeline, and your composition should be listed. Under "Output Module" you will be able to select format such as QT or MP4.

Please note by default after effects does not export sound. You must set this under the Output Module.
Click to expand...




Really thanks alot for your help ... i know about render process ..
My lap run with intel core i5 2.9/3m and 4g ram nvidia vga
it takes about 2-3 min to render a compos with .avi which contain 1 photo only no effects no sounds
my friend have same lap same windows same version of AE cs5 he have export options for other video formats
and it takes about 1~3 min to export a compos with many layers and effects
i dunno what's wrong with me i hope someone know how to fix this issues if we can call it issues
i dont have problem with render or how to but i think export i good and easy way
i searched like over 30 website and all talking about Quicktime and codecs i tried all things u can imagine
i am really confused with this :(
 
iDesign said:
Really thanks alot for your help ... i know about render process ..
My lap run with intel core i5 2.9/3m and 4g ram nvidia vga
it takes about 2-3 min to render a compos with .avi which contain 1 photo only no effects no sounds
my friend have same lap same windows same version of AE cs5 he have export options for other video formats
and it takes about 1~3 min to export a compos with many layers and effects
i dunno what's wrong with me i hope someone know how to fix this issues if we can call it issues
i dont have problem with render or how to but i think export i good and easy way
i searched like over 30 website and all talking about Quicktime and codecs i tried all things u can imagine
i am really confused with this :(
Click to expand...


I can't be sure what is wrong either. Are you certain your laptops are the exact same build and model? ram, processor?
When you render, be sure to hit the caps lock key to turn the video display off. This makes After Effects render faster.

I would not recommend using the export option. I would recommend using the render queue as described. This allows you to save settings for different render types and re-use them. In the long run, it will save you time.


As an aside, I would download the k-lite codec pack to ensure you actually have proper video codecs installed. You can get that here: http://www.codecguide.com/about_kl.htm

 
Shigeta said:
"The MP4s that are being encoded on your end are not able to stream progressively. In other words, the whole video file has to be downloaded locally before it can even begin playing.
Click to expand...

I would say your web developer doesn't know what he's doing. My MP4s from Adobe Media Encoder have no problem streaming on my site.
 
thanks renee

thanks renee

Renee said:
I can't be sure what is wrong either. Are you certain your laptops are the exact same build and model? ram, processor?
When you render, be sure to hit the caps lock key to turn the video display off. This makes After Effects render faster.

I would not recommend using the export option. I would recommend using the render queue as described. This allows you to save settings for different render types and re-use them. In the long run, it will save you time.


As an aside, I would download the k-lite codec pack to ensure you actually have proper video codecs installed. You can get that here: http://www.codecguide.com/about_kl.htm
Click to expand...

thanks alot renee i updated my k-lite and updated AE and rendering is working awesome now
working on my first task and will show you :))
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top