Rendering 3-D Animated Content!

This week! Our goal is simple: Produce your first animated videos from your environment projects!  Notes below to help guide the process.

Steps for rendering your movies:

**BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Go to File, and Set Project. Make sure your project is set to your respective scene!

1. Go to your Render Settings. Pick the renderer you want to use, set your proper pixel dimensions, and set the proper file type.
   

• Image Format: can be PNG, or anything else. (png will be used for this project for smaller file sizes.)
• Frame Range: Sets a number of frames for your project. Use the proper number of frames by multiplying your frame rate by the number of seconds of animation you need. In this example:  5 seconds x 24 frames = 120 frames.
• Frame Padding:  Adding Extra Zeroes [0] in front of a file name to make sure numbers line up properly. Example:  001.png, 002.png, etc.
• Tip: Add one extra zero than the ultimate number of frames you're creating.  If you are creating an amount with three digits, add 4 zeroes of frame padding so the highest frame number you can possibly have is 0999.png
• Resolution: Pixel Ratio! For final work: 1920x1080.  In class today, we'll do 960x540 to get a feel for the process!
• Frame/Animation Ext: "name_#.ext"  This enables us to save out multiple files!
• Note, at the cost of longer times, you can change the "Quality Setting" of your scene to anything higher than 25%. Shadow quality and lighting quality will increase.  (Check the quality tab.)

After confirming settings, in the RENDERING menu, go to Render ---> BATCH RENDER ---> []

This will set Maya to export the number of frames you have previously set up. You can check progress by opening up your IMAGES folder on the server and checking out the progress there.

Once your shots are exported, we now compile them in a video editing program! We can use Premiere or After Effects, but for the sake of this tutorial, we'll use after effects!

In AFTER EFFECTS:  Open up the Preferences window:  Under "Import" make sure you put the sequence framerate to 24. 

Make a new composition. Settings are below.

In the Project Window: Right click and select Import Multiple Files

In the following window, you will shift select your files, and want to make sure you select the box that says PNG sequence.

From there, we will click, COMPOSITION ---> add to render queue, and use the file settings below!