It could have been A LOT easier if Blender just had a button or menu that combines all the PNG files that Blender has just rendered into a video file with a single click. But according to web search, I have to switch to the Video Editing tab, import all the PNG files and then render animation again to make it a video file.
The question is, am I supposed to switch to the Video Editing tab within the same project that I just used to render the animation into PNG files, or am I supposed to create a new project for this purpose? The former seems to be messing up with subsequent animation rendering into PNG files, the latter is cumbersome because I have to set all the parameters (resolution, FPS, etc) again.
If you ask me why not just directly render the animation into a video file, I would like to stop, examine rendered frames, or resume rendering remaining frames later.
I usually use a separate file. It’s a little cumbersome, but I’m usually rendering to the same dims/fps often, so I will just set up a preset if there isn’t one already.
I’ve also used a super basic python script to copy those output attributes. You could possibly even look into the source.blend to read it’s attributes.
Use a separate file: yeah, maybe you have to reset parameters (Why? Rendering to a non-standard video format?) but it beats hauling bricks up four flights of stairs. If it’s a format you usually use for output, save it and use it as a “template”.
After you’ve rendered your image sequence save your .blend file, switch to the VSE, render your video and then reload your file (without saving) and continue to work as normal. Easy, no?
Use a separate program to render your .png sequence into the video format of your choice. Don’t know what OS you’re using but there’re a bunch for every OS, free even (QuickTime, ffmpeg, etc.).
Bonus tip: launch a second instance of Blender and do your sequence-to-video there, that way you don’t even have to close your original .blend file.
Simply put, video files don’t work that way, regardless of codec/format (not my fault; I didn’t invent them ). Some video files will allow you to open them in another app while they’re incomplete and still rendering. Otherwise, just render out an image sequence and “stop and examine” as necessary. With 3D, it’s usually better to do so, that way if something does go wrong, you can just render out the frames necessary. When it’s all finalized convert your image sequence to video. Cheers!
). Some video files will allow you to open them in another app while they’re incomplete and still rendering. Otherwise, just render out an image sequence and “stop and examine” as necessary. With 3D, it’s usually better to do so, that way if something does go wrong, you can just render out the frames necessary. When it’s all finalized convert your image sequence to video. Cheers!