# Cycles vs. Blender render for animations

**URL:** <https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182>\
**Category:** Lighting and Rendering\
**Created:** [January 12, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182 "2013-01-12T13:22:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![beldenwj](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/beldenwj/32/12746_2.png) [@beldenwj](https://blenderartists.org/u/beldenwj)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182/1 "2013-01-12T13:22:07Z")

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This is my first post so I’d like to say hi to all the blender artists out there. I’ve relied on many of you over the years with all the fabulous free tutorials out there (Thanks!!!). I’ve recently started using cycles in Blender 2.65 and I get crystal clear renders when I render images. But when I render animations with the same settings, it is all pixelated, and looks horrible. This appears to be a separate issue from the grainy appearance that can be caused by low amount of a sampling. Does anyone have any ideas why this is? I tried both H.264 formatting and MP4.

I would really appreciate it if someone could recommend settings when rendering animations in cycles.

Thanks

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**Author:** ![m9105826](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/m9105826/32/6760_2.png) [@m9105826](https://blenderartists.org/u/m9105826)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182/2 "2013-01-12T15:34:22Z")

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First rule of animating is unless you’re doing quick playblasts, never render directly to video. Render to a series of PNGs and see if you’re having the same issues.

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**Author:** ![beldenwj](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/beldenwj/32/12746_2.png) [@beldenwj](https://blenderartists.org/u/beldenwj)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182/3 "2013-01-12T16:41:44Z")

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Thanks for the seemingly simple result. Now can you give me the second rule of animating? How do you convert the series of PNGs to a video format?

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**Author:** ![beldenwj](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/beldenwj/32/12746_2.png) [@beldenwj](https://blenderartists.org/u/beldenwj)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182/4 "2013-01-12T16:51:55Z")

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I found the solution from a Blender Nerd Tut. Is there a 3rd rule I need to know? Thanks for your help on my first post.

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**Author:** ![place57](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/place57/32/12530_2.png) [@place57](https://blenderartists.org/u/place57)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/cycles-vs-blender-render-for-animations/562182/5 "2013-01-12T17:00:42Z")

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You probably need to post a blend illustrating the issue. And I concur you should probably be rendering to png files rather than video files. It is just a good habit to get into.