Quick Start

This walkthrough takes you from an empty project to your first automated batch render using a local CSV file.

1. Prepare a project

Create or open an After Effects project with one composition, for example MainComp. Add a text layer and rename the layer to headline.

2. Prepare the data

Create a file data.csv:

comp,output,headline
MainComp,video_alice,Hello Alice
MainComp,video_bob,Hello Bob
MainComp,video_carol,Hello Carol

Opened in a spreadsheet editor, that file looks like this:

comp	output	headline
MainComp	video_alice	Hello Alice
MainComp	video_bob	Hello Bob
MainComp	video_carol	Hello Carol

• comp tells BatchRender which composition to render.
• output is the output filename (without extension).
• headline matches your text layer’s name, so its text gets replaced per row.

3. Connect the data

1. Open Window → Extensions → BatchRender.
2. Click Local, then Add Files, and select data.csv.
3. Click Connect. The Data Connection card now shows your file.

4. Configure the render

1. Pick a Render Settings and Output Module template from the dropdowns (any of your existing After Effects templates).
2. Set the Output Path to a folder where renders should go. The folder button next to the field opens that folder so you can watch files land.
3. Set the row range under Data Preview: CSV data rows start at row 2 (row 1 is the header), so Start 2 and End 4 covers all three rows.

5. Render

Click Render Batch. BatchRender walks through rows 2 to 4. For each row it sets the headline text layer, queues MainComp, renders it as video_alice, video_bob, video_carol, and reports progress in the status bar.

Where to go next

• Main Panel for a tour of every control
• Data Columns for all reserved columns (switching projects per row, per-row render settings, footage swapping)
• Google Sheets and Airtable to move your data into the cloud
• Agent Mode to let the panel render rows as your team marks them ready