Network Rendering

With Watchfolder mode enabled in Settings, BatchRender does not render on your machine. Instead, each row is packaged as a watch folder job that any After Effects render node watching that folder picks up. Your workstation stays free while render nodes do the work.

How After Effects watch folders work

After Effects on a render node can watch a folder for projects with render instructions and process them automatically: File → Watch Folder on the node. See Adobe’s documentation on watch folder rendering for node setup.

Setup in BatchRender

1. In Settings, turn on Save to watchfolder instead of rendering directly and enter the shared folder your render nodes watch.
2. Run Batch Render or Agent Mode as usual.

For every row, BatchRender saves a copy of the project with the injected data plus the render control file into the watch folder, then moves on to the next row immediately. It does not wait for the node to finish.

Status semantics

Because handing a job to the watch folder is not the same as the render being done, status messages change accordingly:

• Rows are marked sending to watchfolder... then sent to watchfolder (instead of rendering... then complete).
• A sent to watchfolder row means the job was written successfully; actual render completion happens on the node.

Notes

• Use a path that is valid from both your workstation and the render nodes (a UNC path or identically mounted share).
• Footage and assets must be accessible from the nodes as well.
• Each job contains only that row’s render. Items you queued yourself in the Render Queue are left out of the job, so the nodes never render them.
• Render nodes only need After Effects. Each job is a regular After Effects project with the row’s data already in it, so BatchRender does not have to be installed on the nodes.

Best practice

Pair watchfolder mode with Agent Mode to make a spreadsheet the front end of a render farm: your team marks rows ready, the panel writes the jobs, the nodes render them.