Connect a layer composition, video, or native document/composition and control the render engine, scene, breakpoint, format, quality, frame rate, resolution, audio, captions, encoder, and motion blur.
Where: Flowgen → Add → Export → Video Render; select the node to use the same controls in the properties sidebar
Key ideas
- Three typed inputs: Layer Compose connects to compose_in, a flat video connects to video_in, and native section/scene/video documents connect to doc_in. The node emits one video_out result.
- Card and sidebar stay aligned: VideoRenderNode renders the compact settings panel on the card; the selected-node sidebar is titled Export Video and mounts the same RenderSettingsPanel with roomier spacing.
- Source controls availability: Layer Compose and flat-video sources render in the browser path. Native document/composition sources can additionally expose scene, breakpoint, desktop, and configured cloud choices.
- Result actions: The rendered preview opens in the video lightbox and offers Add to canvas, Paste to Replace when a canvas element is selected, and Download in the actual rendered format.
- Video Render card: VideoRenderNode uses the authored shared-card path. Render a layer composition, flat video, or native document/composition to MP4/WebM with target and encoder controls.
- Properties sidebar: genOutputNodes.tsx
- Opened surfaces: Video lightbox; Add to canvas; Paste to Replace; download
- Shot and depth aware rendering: Video Render paints the complete target design system into rendered composable shots and is the only node that evaluates deferred Video Depth Map / Fog / Blur pipelines frame by frame.
- Native composition rendering: Connect Video Editor composition_out to composition_in. The card and sidebar expose Browser, Electron, or Cloud when available; caption layers and motion blur remain composition-owned and incompatible legacy encoder overrides can be cleared.
Steps
- Connect exactly one intended source: Layer Compose, Video In, or Document / Composition.
- Choose Render With, then select scene and breakpoint when a multi-page responsive document supplies them.
- Choose MP4/H.264 or WebM/VP9, Low/Medium/High quality, 24/25/30/50/60 FPS, and Source/480p/720p/1080p/1440p/4K/custom resolution.
- Set scrubbing, audio/gain, captions, advanced encoding, and motion blur; compare the estimated dimensions/file size.
- Click Render Video, use Stop if necessary, review the complete result, then add, replace, or download it.
- When a source passes through Video Depth nodes, connect the final video_out to Video Render and run it; when rendering a shot composition, confirm its complete Design System is connected before delivery.
- For a native Video Editor source, connect composition_out to composition_in, choose Browser/Electron/Cloud, set format/FPS/resolution, and edit captions or motion blur in the source composition rather than as encoder overrides.
Basic controls
- Render With: Fast (browser), Full (desktop), Cloud.
- Scene and Breakpoint for connected native documents.
- MP4 (H.264) or WebM (VP9).
- Quality: Low, Medium, High.
- FPS: 24, 25, 30, 50, 60.
- Resolution: Source, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K, Custom.
- Include audio plus 0–2× gain.
- Burn in captions.
- Optimize for scrubbing.
- Estimated output dimensions and size.
Advanced encoding
- CRF or target video bitrate.
- GOP seconds, 0.5s shortcut, or automatic interval.
- Pixel format: yuv420p/yuv422p/yuv444p and 10-bit variants.
- For MP4: x264 preset from ultrafast through veryslow, profile, level, tune, and faststart.
- Motion blur Off/2×/4×/8× with 90–360° shutter.
Resolution behavior
Source preserves the selected scene/breakpoint capture dimensions. Named resolutions scale the shorter source dimension while preserving aspect ratio and rounding dimensions to even numbers. Custom width and height are also rounded to valid even output dimensions.
Video Render controls and presets
- Add path: Flowgen → Add → Export → Video Render.
- Card: VideoRenderNode.
- Properties: genOutputNodes.tsx.
- Controls: Browser/desktop/cloud; scene/breakpoint; format/quality/FPS/resolution; scrubbing; audio/gain/captions; CRF/bitrate/GOP/pixel/x264; motion blur.
- Opened surfaces: Video lightbox; Add to canvas; Paste to Replace; download.
Deferred video-depth work
Depth nodes can bake standalone clips locally and also retain the downstream depth-pipeline route. Video Render decodes each source frame, estimates depth at output size, applies the static pipeline, and then encodes the final clip. This can be materially slower than an ordinary pass-through render.
Render and repair reliability
Recent fixes address composition finishing, attached precomp identity, image-sequence readiness/CORS, and initial frame rendering. Embedded document editors retain access to the render project. Video repair targets existing scenes and source reads instead of unnecessarily recreating shots or regenerating already available media.
- A dropped frame folder creates an image sequence with playback configuration rather than only a static frame.
- Wait for image sequences to settle before judging captured output; the render path now handles their readiness explicitly.
- Check the actual browser/desktop/GPU result after changing nested compositions; a source preview alone does not validate delivery.
- Caption work is bounded, and the editor reduces redundant generation and idle timeline rebuilding.
Native compositor render path
- Targets: Browser, Electron desktop, or configured authenticated Cloud.
- MP4 H.264 or WebM VP9; source/preset/custom resolution; shared FPS/quality/size estimate controls.
- Native caption layers and motion-blur settings follow the composition on every target.
- Clear incompatible export overrides when upgrading an older Render node.
Tips
- Render a short representative scene before an expensive full-length/high-resolution export.
- Use yuv420p for broad playback compatibility unless a specific delivery requirement calls for another pixel format.
- Verify captions, audio sync, responsive breakpoint, and the first/last frame in the downloaded file—not only the hover preview.
Limitations and important notes
- Desktop requires the compatible f0 desktop app/live editor bridge.
- Cloud is available only when the render worker is configured.
- The node advanced popover intentionally omits the separate export modal’s color/HDR grading fields.
- Non-document Layer Compose/video sources are locked to the browser render path.
Troubleshooting
Render Video is disabled
Connect a supported source. A Layer Compose source must contain layers; a native document/composition can render through doc_in without legacy layer data.
The output used the wrong page or layout
For a native document, select the intended Scene and Breakpoint before rendering and confirm the estimated dimensions.
A recent editor change is missing
Save/close the embedded editor so the latest document reaches the node, then rerun the render.
Related guides
- Choose browser, desktop, or cloud video rendering
- Render a video for smooth scroll scrubbing
- Assemble and edit a video with the Video Composition node
- Video Render node: overview
- Video Editor export and render: MP4, WebM, PNG sequence, JSON, Browser, Electron, and Cloud
- Flowgen Video Editor node: native composition inputs, editor surface, outputs, persistence, and MCP