Creating low-resolution movies for testing motion

You can test the motion of a high-quality composition by quickly creating a low-resolution, or thumbnail, movie. Do this by making a movie at a resolution less than full (using the Resolution pop-up menu in the Render Settings dialog box). After Effects creates a movie with dimensions proportional to the resolution.

For example, if your composition is 640 x 480 pixels and you make a movie at quarter resolution, the resulting movie will be 160 x 120 pixels (one-sixteenth the size of the composition). This thumbnail renders almost 16 times faster than at full resolution. You can then play the thumbnail on your system to get a good idea of what motion will be like in your final, full-sized movie. You can also enlarge the thumbnail in a movie-playing application to see playback at full size. In addition, you can use RAM preview for testing purposes.