AfterEffects

Specify Video for Windows compression options

  1. In the Render Queue panel, click the underlined name of the output module.
  2. Choose Video For Windows from the Format menu.
  3. Click Format Options in the Video Output section.
  4. In the Video Compression dialog box, choose a compressor from the first menu in the Compressor section. Choose a compressor based on the type of original images you have and the purpose of the rendered movie (available compressors depend on the Video for Windows codecs installed on your computer).
    You can render with 10-bpc YUV compression to create 10-bpc AVI files for use with HD footage in Adobe Premiere Pro: choose 10-bit YUV (4:2:2 YUV) from the Compressor menu.
  5. Select a Compression Quality level.
  6. If you selected either Cinepak or Microsoft Video 1 in step 4, click the Configure button to set other options:

    • For Cinepak, choose whether the movie is compressed to color or to black and white.

    • For Microsoft Video 1, choose a level for the temporal compression quality of the movie. Temporal compression compresses a movie by comparing successive frames and keeping only changed data. High temporal quality maintains smoothness of motion. Lower temporal quality tends to produce jerkiness of motion because a pixel doesn’t change unless the difference between frames is great.

  7. If you want the smallest possible files, and your compressor choice allows for a key frame rate, select the Key Frame Every option and type a number of frames. Generally, you should type a number equal to the frame rate. For example, if you set a frame rate of 30 fps, type 30 in the Key Frame box. This sets one key frame every 30 frames of your movie.
    Note: If you are going to use the resulting movie in another After Effects composition, type a small value (less than 5) in the Key Frame Every field or deselect the Key Frame Every option. The presence of keyframes greatly increases the memory required to edit and render a movie.
  8. Click OK.
  9. If your compressor choice supports different image color depths, choose the appropriate color depth in the Output Module Settings dialog box.
  10. Specify other settings in the Output Module Settings dialog box, and then click OK.

Video for Windows compression options

Microsoft RLE
Use for lossless compression limited to 256 colors.

Microsoft DV
Use for digital video camcorders.

No Compression
Use for a depth setting of Millions Of Colors+ when an alpha channel is required.

Intel Indeo/Microsoft Video
Use when compressing video for playback from CD.

Cinepak
Use when compressing 16-bit and 24-bit video for playback from CD or for desktop presentations. For best results, use the Cinepak compressor on raw source data that has not been previously compressed with a highly lossy compressor. Note that this is a slow compression method. With Cinepak, decompression is much faster than compression, and the data rate for playback can be defined by the user. However, you cannot save an alpha channel using the Cinepak compressor.