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JULY 30, 2002 How To Set Up an After Effects Render Farm
Running the Render Engine for the first time To run the network render, you have to take a few simple steps, which will be different the first time you use it from the subsequent times you use it, owing the the quirks I've mentioned earlier. I'm going to assume this is your first time using an After Effects render farm. Even if it's not, you'll need to follow this first-time setup for each new machine on which you install the Render Engine. [an error occurred while processing this directive] First, open up your composition and work on it as you always would. Save the project wherever you want. When you're done, rather than choosing Composition > Make Movie, you'll choose Composition > Add to Render Queue. At this point, your Render Queue window will pop open, and you'll see your composition listed there. (You can work on any number of compositions in a network render queue, and they will be rendered in the order in which they have been added.) Now there are two or three things you have to change in your comp settings in the Render Queue window. First, if one is not already specified, you have to specify a name and location in the "Output to" field. If one is already specified for you, skip this step. Otherwise, click on the "Not specified" link, and choose a name and output location. The actual location doesn't matter. Your network render settings will override the location you choose. 
Next, you must specify an Output Module. To do so, click on the pull-down menu located next to the "Output Module" setting in your current comp, and choose "Multi-Machine Sequence." This is a basic multi-machine template that's included with After Effects. You can click on the link after you've selected this setting to change individual parameters. By default, the module outputs RGB plus alpha, millions of colors+ and premultiplied color. Change these settings as you see fit. 
Next, you need to specify the Render Settings. Again, select the pull-down menu next to the Render Settings setting, and choose "Multi-Machine Settings." To check or change these settings, just click on the setting after you've selected it. 
You're now done with the settings, so all that's left is getting your files into the Watch Folder we created earlier. You can do this but one way, and here it is. From the File menu, choose "Collect Files." You can only choose this option from a Production Bundle version of After Effects. Once you select it, you will be asked to save your project, and then you'll be presented with a dialog box. 
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