Render Settings

The settings object on a job payload controls how After Effects renders and what format the output takes. All fields are optional - omitting settings entirely uses the composition’s default output settings.

settings and preview are mutually exclusive. If preview: true is set, the settings object is ignored.

Fields

string

Output type. One of:

video - renders to a video file (default)
image - renders a single frame or frame range as still images
aep - packages the project as a rendered AEP archive

string

Render quality. One of:

full - full quality output (default)
draft - faster, lower-quality render useful for testing

string

Output codec. Must be compatible with the chosen type. See the codec list below.

integer | array

Frame specification. Required when type is image.

Single integer - renders one frame at that position (e.g. 125)
Two-element array - renders a frame range (e.g. [0, 120])

string

After Effects engine version to use for this job. One of:

ae2026 (default)
ae2025

Codecs

Video codecs

Codec	Description
`video_h264_vbr_1mbps`	H.264 variable bitrate, 1 Mbps
`video_h264_vbr_5mbps`	H.264 variable bitrate, 5 Mbps
`video_h264_vbr_15mbps`	H.264 variable bitrate, 15 Mbps
`video_h264_vbr_40mbps`	H.264 variable bitrate, 40 Mbps
`video_h264_cbr_1mbps`	H.264 constant bitrate, 1 Mbps
`video_h264_cbr_5mbps`	H.264 constant bitrate, 5 Mbps
`video_h264_cbr_15mbps`	H.264 constant bitrate, 15 Mbps
`video_h264_cbr_40mbps`	H.264 constant bitrate, 40 Mbps
`video_prores_422`	Apple ProRes 422
`video_prores_4444`	Apple ProRes 4444 (with alpha)

Image codecs

Codec	Description
`image_png`	PNG (lossless, supports transparency)
`image_jpeg`	JPEG (lossy, smaller file size)

Image codecs require type: "image". Video codecs require type: "video".

Examples

{
  "settings": {
    "type": "video",
    "quality": "full",
    "codec": "video_h264_vbr_15mbps"
  }
}

{
  "settings": {
    "type": "video",
    "quality": "draft",
    "codec": "video_h264_vbr_5mbps"
  }
}

{
  "settings": {
    "type": "video",
    "quality": "full",
    "codec": "video_prores_4444"
  }
}

{
  "settings": {
    "type": "image",
    "frames": 125,
    "codec": "image_png"
  }
}

{
  "settings": {
    "type": "image",
    "frames": [0, 120],
    "codec": "image_jpeg"
  }
}

{
  "settings": {
    "type": "video",
    "quality": "full",
    "codec": "video_h264_vbr_15mbps",
    "engine": "ae2025"
  }
}

Essentials

Managing Templates

Rendering Jobs

Fonts Management

Fields

Codecs

Video codecs

Image codecs

Examples

​Fields

​Codecs

​Video codecs

​Image codecs

​Examples

Fields

Codecs

Video codecs

Image codecs

Examples