Collecting files in one locationThe Collect Files command gathers copies of all of the files in a project or composition into a single location for rendering or archiving. When you use this command, After Effects creates a new folder in which it saves a new copy of the project, copies of the specified footage files, proxy files as specified, and a report describing the files, effects, and fonts necessary to render the project. After you collect files, you can continue making changes to a project, but be aware that those changes are stored with the original project and not with the newly collected version. When you collect files, options include the following: Obey Proxy Settings: Use this option with compositions that include proxies to specify whether you want the copy to include the current proxy settings. If this is selected, only the files used in the composition are copied. If this is not selected, the copy contains both proxies and source files, so you can later change proxy settings in the collected version. Note: If you chose For Queued Comps in the Collect Source Files, After Effects uses the proxy settings from the render settings, not the composition. Generate Report Only: Selecting this option does not copy the files and proxies. Change Render Output To: Use to redirect the output modules to render files to a named folder in the collected files folder. This option ensures that you have access to your rendered files when you're rendering the project from another system. Note that the rendering status must be valid (Queued, Unqueued, or Will Continue) for the output modules to render files to this folder. Enable 'Watch Folder' render (PB only): You can use the Collect Files command to save projects to a specified watch folder and then initiate watch-folder rendering over a network. After Effects also includes a render control file called project name_RCF.txt, which signals to watching systems that the project is available for rendering. After Effects and any installed render engines can then render the project together across a network. For more information about using the Watch Folder command, see Rendering using a watch folder (PB only). For Maximum Number of Machines (PB only): Use to specify the number of render engines or licensed copies of After Effects that you want to allocate to render the collected project. Below this option, After Effects reports how many items in the project will be rendered using more than one machine. Note: If rendering time is unusually slow, you may have set the Maximum Number of Machines too high, and the network overhead required to track rendering progress among all machines is out of proportion to the time spent actually rendering frames. The optimal number depends on many variables related to the network configuration and the machines on it; experiment to determine the optimal number for your network. To gather files for rendering or archiving:
Once you start the file collection, After Effects creates the folder and copies the specified files to it. The folder hierarchy is the same as the hierarchy of folders and footage in your project. The new folder includes a (Footage) folder and may include an output folder (if you selected Change Render Output To). The names of these folders appear in parentheses to signal any attending render engines not to search these folders for projects (PB only). |