Movie Render Queue supports a variety of output formats for rendering to images or movies, and is capable of outputting different formats at the same time.
Prerequisites
- You have completed the prerequisite steps from the Movie Render Queue page.
You can choose which formats you want to render in Movie Render Queue’s Settings window by clicking the + Setting dropdown menu and selecting a format from the Export category.
You can enable and disable output formats as you would with any other setting by clicking on the enable button next to their text. You can also select them to edit their properties, if available.
The following output formats are available:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Command Line Encoder | The Command Line Encoder can be used to create your own output format from third party software, such as FFmpeg. This setting requires an encoder executable and settings to be enabled in your Project Settings. |
| Final Cut Pro XML | The Final Cut Pro XML format will output an XML file that can be read by Final Cut Pro and other video editing software that support this format. This is not supported in shipping builds. |
| .bmp Sequence [8bit] | Outputs the movie as a sequence of .bmp images. Pixel values are clamped in the [0-1] range, meaning that no HDR values are preserved. This applies sRGB encoding curve. |
| EXR Sequence | Outputs the movie as a sequence of .exr images. HDR values are preserved but if the Tone Curve is enabled, linear values are scaled to approximately the [0-1] range with only the brightest highlights going above one. Disabling the Tone Curve writes linear values in the [0-100] range or more depending on the intensity of lights and other bright objects. No sRGB encoding curve is applied to .exr targets. |
| .jpg Sequence [8bit] | Outputs the movie as a sequence of .jpg images. Applies sRGB encoding curve. |
| .png Sequence [8bit] | Outputs the movie as a sequence of .png images. Applies sRGB encoding curve. Transparency is supported by enabling Enable Alpha Channel Support in Post Processing project setting. |
| WAV Audio | Outputs a .wav audio file alongside any other output formats you have selected. |
| Apple ProRes Video Codecs | Outputs a .mov file using Apple ProRes, which is Apple's high-quality, lossy video compression codec. This requires the Apple ProRes Media plugin to be enabled. |
| Avid DNx Video Codecs | Outputs a movie file using Avid DNx, which is a high-definition lossy video codec. This requires the Avid DNxHR/DNxMXF Media plugin to be enabled. |
Command Line Encoder
The Command Line Encoder can be used to create your own output format from 3rd party software, such as FFmpeg. To use Command Line Encoder, you must navigate to the Movie Pipeline CLI Encoder project setting to set up certain properties and settings.
If you use the Command Line Encoder, you must accompany it with an image sequence export format too, in order for it to create movie frames from those images. If you want to include audio, you must also include a .wav Audio export.
Export Details
Selecting Command Line Encoder will reveal the following details:
| Detail Name | Description |
|---|---|
| File Name Format Override | Overrides the File Name Format from the Output setting for the movie that the Command Line Encoder outputs. You can use this to generate a single master movie file, instead of individual shot movie files if you are rendering your image sequences to separate shot folders. |
| Quality | What encoding quality settings to use. These can be defined in the Movie Pipeline CLI Encoder project setting. |
| Additional Command Line Args | Any additional command line arguments to pass to the encoder for this job. |
| Delete Source Files | If enabled, deletes the source image sequence files after the movie encoding is completed. This will result in only the movie being exported, without the source images. |
| Skip Encode on Render Canceled | If enabled, the encoder will not attempt to encode whatever frames were rendered if the render was cancelled prematurely. |
Project Settings
You will be required to set up certain project settings in order to use Command Line Encoder.
Click on Edit > Project Settings to open the project settings window and navigate to Movie Pipeline CLI Encoder in the Plugins category.
| Detail Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Executable Path | The path, including executable name, to the encoder executable file.
|
| Codec Help Text | Text for your project to paste into Unreal’s console window to generate a list of valid audio and video codecs for your encoder. Requires the Executable Path to be set first as the command queries the executable. |
| Video Codec | Specify the video codec here. If using FFmpeg, you can see the list of codecs by executing MovieRenderPipeline.DumpCLIEncoderCodecs in Unreal’s Output Log window. |
| Audio Codec | Specify the audio codec here. If using FFmpeg, you can see the list of codecs by executing MovieRenderPipeline.DumpCLIEncoderCodecs in Unreal’s Output Log window. An audio codec must be specified if -acodec {AudioCodec} is being specified in the command line. |
| Output File Extension | Extension for the output file and should not include the period, such as mp4, mkv, or webm. Certain codecs support different containers and you should ensure you are using the correct container for your codec. |
| Command Line Format | The format string to use when building the final command line argument to launch. Uses {tokens} to insert arguments from your project setting or Command Line Encoder details.
|
| Video Input String Format | The format string to use when building the video input argument. Uses {tokens} to insert arguments from your image sequence.
|
| Audio Input String Format | The format string to use when building the audio input argument. Uses {tokens} to insert arguments from your .wav file output.
|
| Encode Settings Low | The encoding argument to use when Low is specified from the Quality property in the Command Line Encoder details. |
| Encode Settings Med | The encoding argument to use when Med is specified from the Quality property in the Command Line Encoder details. |
| Encode Settings High | The encoding argument to use when High is specified from the Quality property in the Command Line Encoder details. |
| Encode Settings Epic | The encoding argument to use when Epic is specified from the Quality property in the Command Line Encoder details. |
Your Encode Settings may need to be different depending on the codecs being used. The default values are considered a typical setting for the most common codecs you may use with FFmpeg. Only single pass encoding is supported with Command Line Encoder. You can reference FFmpeg Codec Documentation for more information on codecs and their encoding settings.
Example Setup
The following shows an example of what details and project settings you can use if you want to set up your encoder to use ffmpeg with the open format VP9 codec.
Here you can see that the Command Line Encoder is being exported along with .jpg Sequence and .wav Audio.
In the Project Settings, the highlighted properties are the only ones that have been altered from their default values in order to support the codec. If you are not exporting a .wav audio pass, then it is not necessary to specify an Audio Codec.
Video Codec: libvpx-vp9 Audio Codec: libvorbis Output File Extension: mkv Encode Settings Low: -crf 28 -b:v 0 Encode Settings Med: -crf 23 -b:v 0 Encode Settings High: -crf 20 -b:v 0 Encode Settings Epic: -crf 16 -b:v 0
EXR Sequence
Unreal supports .exr image sequences as an output format for Movie Render Queue. These are compatible with a variety of visual effects packages, including Nuke, Tweak RV, IfranView, and Adobe Premiere with the ProEXR plugin.
Currently, EXR output supports the following compression settings:
| EXR | Description |
|---|---|
| None | Applies no compression to the render output for the .exr sequence. |
| PIZ | A lossless compression format that provides good quality for grainy images. |
| ZIP | A lossless compression format that provides good quality for images with low amounts of noise. |
Unreal also supports the use of Multilayer .exr output. If you enable multiple different Render Passes, each of them will be embedded into your .exr sequence, and they will all be separately accessible in your external visual effects editing program.
Not all software supports multi-layered .exr files. In these cases, they will only show the default RGBA channels when you load the .exr. If you are using a program that does not support multi-layered .exrs, you can uncheck the Multilayer setting to write out each layer as an individual .exr file.
Apple ProRes Video Codecs
Apple ProRes is Apple’s high-quality, lossy video compression format for post-production and visual effects, which supports up to 8k video.
To use it, you must enable it’s plugin. Navigate in the Unreal Engine menu to Edit > Plugins, locate Apple ProRes Media in the Media Players section, and enable it. You will need to restart the editor afterward.
Apple ProRes [10-12bit] will now be available in the Settings menu. When you select this output format, your render will output a video file using one of several codecs, each providing a different level of compression and quality. The video container will be .mov.
Click the Codec dropdown to select your desired codec for the output video file. The following codecs are available:
| Codec | Pixel depth | Estimated Bitrate at 1080p and 30 fps | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple ProRes 422 Proxy | 10 bit | 45 mbps | Highest compression. Intended for use in offline workflows that require low data rates but full-resolution video. |
| Apple ProRes 422 LT | 10 bit | 100 mbps | A more compressed version of Apple ProRes 422, estimated at roughly 30% smaller file size. Intended for environments with limited storage and data rate. |
| Apple ProRes 422 | 10 bit | 150 mbps | High quality compression for full-width 4:2:2 video sources. Intended for multistream, real-time editing. |
| Apple ProRes 422 HQ | 10 bit | 220 mbps | A higher bit-rate version of Apple ProRes 422. Offers the same level of quality as ProRes 4444, but for 4:2:2 video sources. |
| Apple ProRes 4444 | 12 bit | 330 mbps | High-quality compression format for 4:4:4:4 image sources. Provides an extremely high-quality image and supports alpha channels. Output files are very large. |
| Apple ProRes 4444 XQ | 12 bit | 500 mbps | Highest-quality storage with support for alpha channels. 12 bits of precision for RGB channels and 16 bits for alpha. Output files are extremely large. |
For more information about each of these codecs, see Apple’s documentation on Apple ProRes.
The Drop Frame Timecode setting will set the timecode track to use the drop-frame format. This is only applicable if your sequence has a framerate of 29.97.
If you enable Override Maximum Encoding Threads, you can set the Max Number of Encoding Threads to a manual number. This sets the maximum number of CPU threads that you want to allow the codec to use in the encoding process for the video file. Using more threads will make encoding faster, but will result in a higher CPU usage.
Apple ProRes does not export any audio. Add a .wav Audio export setting to output a separate .wav file alongside your video so that you can combine them in post-production.
Avid DNx Video Codecs
Avid DNxHR and DNxMXF are Avid’s high-definition lossy video codecs for post-production, which support up to 8k video.
To use them, you must enable their plugin. Navigate in the Unreal Engine menu to Edit > Plugins, locate Avid DNxHR/DNxMXF Media Plugin in the Media Players section, and enable it. You will need to restart the editor afterward.
Avid DNx [8bit] will now be available as an output setting. When you select this setting, it will output your movie as a video file using Avid’s DNx codec. The video container will be .mxf.
Enabling Use Compression will output a lossy, compressed file, while disabling it will output a lossless, uncompressed file. You can change the Number of Encoding Threads to control how many CPU threads you want the codec to use for encoding. Using a higher number of threads will decrease the amount of time required to encode the file, but will result in a higher CPU usage.
Refer to Avid’s documentation on the DNx video codecs for more information regarding this codec and its specifications.
Avid DNx does not export any audio. Add a .wav Audio export setting to output a separate .wav file alongside your video so that you can combine them in post-production. At this time, Avid DNx only supports 8-bit precision regardless of codec.
Final Cut Pro XML
The Final Cut Pro XML format will output an XML file that can be read by Final Cut Pro and other video editors that support this format. Similar to Command Line Encoder, you are also required to specify an accompanying image sequence or video file output along side this export format.
Use the File Name Format Override field to specify a {token} for the name of your output files. These tokens are based on the ones from your Output settings.
The Data Source dropdown menu specifies the method for building the Final Cut Pro XML file, which in turn decides what data is embedded in the file and how it will be formatted.
| Data Source | Description |
|---|---|
| Output Metadata | Builds the XML file based on the files that were actually written to disk, instead of based on the original Level Sequence data. This will support time dilation tracks (which will cause shots to have more/less frames than the actual Shot section in Sequencer) and does not support being reimported back into Sequencer later. |
| Sequence Data | Builds the XML file directly from sequence data. Intended for use in re-importing. |
Final Cut XML is only supported as an output format for Unreal Editor. It is not available for use in shipping builds, as it depends on editor-only functionality.
WAV Audio
You can export .wav audio of your sequences without needing an additional rendering pass. This enables you to output a movie’s audio and combine it with your image sequences in post-production.
Use the File Name Format Override field to override the File Name Format from the Output setting for the exported .wav file.
The WAV Audio output format is experimental and may not be production ready. Because the movie renderer runs the engine between shots for warmup frames, audio that is not controlled by Sequencer will have gaps between shots. Additionally, there may be minor audio distortion on audio clips in Sequencer between shots.
Custom Output Formats
You can create your own format by implementing the UMoviePipelineOutputBase class, which gives you a callback for each output frame containing all render passes rendered in that frame (such as burn-ins, UI widgets, and the final image). By implementing the class in your project’s code, it will automatically show up in the Settings menu for use. You will need to link against the MovieRenderPipelineCore module.
If you want to ensure this output format is added to every new job created with the UI, you can adjust the Default Job Setting Classes specified in the Movie Render Pipeline Project settings.