Adobe Media Encoder is integrated with Premiere Pro, After Effects, and other applications, creating a seamless media processing workflow for your audio and video projects.
This guide will take you through the basics of using Media Encoder, from creating and applying a preset to adding a source to the render queue.
Why Use Adobe Media Encoder?
Adobe Media Encoder’s primary function is to compress audio and video files. After all, when you are rendering your final project, it is usually quite large in file size.
To make your project play smoothly on devices across mobile or Wi-Fi networks, as well as on devices without fast processors or tons of RAM, your project must be compressed. Most of what you see and hear on any platform has been compressed once, if not multiple times.
Adobe does include Media Encoder with most single video app plans, such as Premier Pro and After Effects. If you already use the Adobe Creative Suite, Media Encoder makes sense as your go-to software for rendering your projects.
Download or Update Media Encoder
If you already have a single video app or full subscription with Adobe, it is important to update Media Encoder, if you haven’t already.
Here’s how to update it:
- Open your Creative Cloud desktop app.
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Review your All Apps list to see if you need to update or install Media Encoder.
- Select Update or Install. Depending on the required update or installation, this process will take a few moments to complete.
- Once complete, Media Encoder will appear on your All Apps list. Simply select Open to get started.
Adobe does offer a free trial of Media Encoder if you prefer to try before you buy.
Adding Your Source to the Queue
As Media Encoder is integrated with the full Adobe Creative Suite, there are various ways you can add items to the Adobe Media Encoder queue. Below, you will find the easiest methods to get started with Media Encoder.
Adding Files to Media Encoder
Using the Add Source option is a quick way to import files to be encoded if they are already completed and saved to your system. Optionally, you can choose to add any After Effects composition or Premiere Pro sequence that you have already created and saved.
- Open Adobe Media Encoder.
- Select File.
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Select Add Source, Add After Effects Composition, or Add Premiere Pro Sequence, based on the project you are working on.
Browsing for Media Encoder Files
If you already created the files that you wish to encode, using the file browsing function is the easiest way to import your files. This allows you to select multiple files at one time to import into the queue.
- Open Media Encoder.
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Select the + icon in the Queue panel.
- Choose the file you wish to render.
- Select OK.
Importing from After Effects
You can easily add items to the Media Encoder queue directly from After Effects. Here’s how to do this:
- Open your After Effects project.
- Go to File > Export.
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Select Add to Media Encoder Queue.
Importing from Premiere Pro
Sending your files directly to the Media Encoder queue from Premiere Pro is as easy as a click of the button, allowing you to continue your work in Premiere Pro while your project is encoding.
- Open your Premiere Pro project.
- Go to File > Export.
- Select Media.
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After the Export Settings window pops up, select Queue.
Adjusting Media Encoder’s Settings
Media Encoder has built-in presets for the most common types of videos. By default, Media Encoder will use the preset you used for your last project.
But if you need to make adjustments from your last project, here is how you do it:
- Under Preset in the Media Encoder Queue, select the preset text.
- Within the popup window, you can set your format. H.264 is the most popular format, providing presets for YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, and many more commonly-used platforms. If you are planning to publish to a particular platform, it is always important to check its requirements before changing these settings.
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Select an option from the Preset dropdown list.
- Select Output Name to set where you would like to store your files once rendered.
- Browse to the location you wish to store your file. You can select an alternate file name at this point as well.
- Select Save when done.
There are several other custom setting options available in this window. However, if you’ve chosen the preset for the platform you want to publish to, you should not have to make any additional changes.
How to Stop Encoding
There are times you may need to stop the encoding process—perhaps you thought of a change you want to make to your project, or you forgot to adjust your settings. Stopping the encoding process is quick and easy.
Should you need to stop the encoding process, you can do one of the following:
- To stop encoding the current item, choose File > Stop Current Item. Media Encoder will continue encoding the remaining items in the Queue.
- To stop encoding all items in the Queue, choose File > Stop Queue.
Clearing Your Queue
As time goes on and you see how convenient Media Encoder can be, your queue may become a long list of projects rendered a lifetime ago. That’s why it is important to know how to quickly and easily clean out your queue.
Cleaning out projects in your Media Encoder Queue is quick and simple:
- Open Media Encoder.
- Within the Queue, select the files you wish to remove. You can select individual files, or a block of files by holding the Shift key while selecting the file at the top and bottom of your list. You can also select several files by holding the Ctrl key while selecting each individual one.
- Right-click over any area of your selection.
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Select Remove.
Get a Grasp on the Basics of Media Encoder
Those are just the basics of Media Encoder, and there are still many more features worth exploring.
And if you aren’t already making the most of Adobe Media Encoder, it’s probably time to put it to use. As well as allowing you to render files in the background while still working on an edit, the efficiency of using render presets—instead of manually changing your settings on every export—will have a huge impact on your workflow.