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This guide walks you through uploading a template and rendering your first video using the Nexrender Cloud API. The whole flow takes about 5 minutes.

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Prerequisites

Before you start, you’ll need:
  • An active Nexrender Cloud account - start a free trial to get access
  • Your API key - available from your team dashboard
  • An After Effects template in .aep, .zip, or .mogrt format

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Step 1 - Register Your Template

Create a template object in Nexrender Cloud. This tells the API what type of file you’re uploading and reserves a slot for it in storage. The response includes an uploadInfo object with a presigned URL you’ll use in the next step. 
curl -X POST https://api.nexrender.com/api/v2/templates \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "zip",
    "displayName": "My First Video"
  }'

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Step 2 - Upload Your File

Use the uploadInfo.url from the previous response to upload your actual template file. This is a presigned PUT request - no Authorization header is needed here. 
curl --request PUT \
  'YOUR_UPLOAD_URL_FROM_UPLOAD_INFO' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/octet-stream' \
  --data-binary '@/path/to/your/template.zip'
Once the upload completes, the template status transitions from awaiting_upload to uploaded. Nexrender will then introspect the file to extract available compositions and layers.

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Step 3 - Submit a Render Job

With the template uploaded, create a render job. The job defines which template and composition to render, and which assets to inject dynamically. 
curl -X POST https://api.nexrender.com/api/v2/jobs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "template": {
      "id": "01JT2M9GCR712V7EJYDF45QAFD",
      "composition": "main"
    },
    "assets": [
      {
        "type": "data",
        "layerName": "title",
        "property": "Source Text",
        "value": "Hello World!"
      },
      {
        "type": "data",
        "layerName": "subtitle",
        "property": "Source Text",
        "value": "Powered by Nexrender Cloud"
      }
    ],
    "webhook": {
      "url": "https://yourdomain.com/webhooks/render-complete"
    }
  }'
The webhook.url is optional but recommended - it lets Nexrender notify your server when the render completes instead of requiring you to poll. See Tracking Renders for details.

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Step 4 - Check Job Status

Poll the job endpoint to check progress, or wait for a webhook callback if you configured one. 
curl -X GET https://api.nexrender.com/api/v2/jobs/01JTRDF7HCR8QAHYW8GPCP4S9Y \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Once the status is finished, download your rendered video via the outputUrl.

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What’s Next

Core Concepts

Understand how templates, jobs, batches, and nested jobs fit together

Rendering Basics

Learn about asset types, render settings, and advanced job options

Tracking Renders

Poll job status or receive webhook callbacks when renders complete

Template Best Practices

Design templates that are reliable, scalable, and automation-friendly