Command-line rendering

Command-line rendering allows to automate renders of Autograph projects using scripts. The command-line API provides the ability to control any parameter of a Composition so that it can be changed directly between different renders. For example, you may want to export different versions of your Composition with different formats. It is also possible to expose any parameter within a composition as a custom parameter on a Composition's properties panel, which can in turn be set from the command-line using its script-name.


NOTE

You can hover any parameter of the Render Manager and the tooltip will indicate the command-line name and usage for the parameter:

Picture


Here's the help documentation, also available when running

Autograph --help

The command-line version of Autograph allows you to perform different tasks automatically, such as license management or background rendering.

  --render <options>                    
                                        Enable a pre-existing
                                        Composition/Instance/File in the Render
                                        Manager to be rendered. The application
                                        will not exit until the render is
                                        finished. The option has 2 possible
                                        forms:
                                        1) --render <Composition Render;Render
                                        Instance;Render File>
                                        [output_file=filePath] [params]
                                            Select an existing Composition
                                        Render/Render Instance/Render File in
                                        the Render Manager. In this case, you
                                        may either specify just a Composition,
                                        in which case all its instances and
                                        files will be rendered, or a
                                        Composition;Instance (separated by a
                                        \";\") in which case all the files of
                                        that instance are rendered or just a
                                        specific Composition;Instance;File.
                                           Specifing "output_file" is only
                                        useful if you select a Render File,
                                        otherwise the path that were set in the
                                        project will be used.

2) --render <Composition Name>
                                        output_file=filePath [params]
                                            Select an existing Composition in
                                        the project, for which a new Render File
                                        will be created. If "Main" is specified
                                        as composition name, Autograph will
                                        select the Composition in the project
                                        that has the "Main Composition" switch
                                        enabled.
                                           In this mode, "output_file" must be
                                        specified.
                                        The parameters following the render file
                                        specifier are optional and allow to
                                        specify/override specific custom
                                        parameters of the Composition or
                                        parameters of the Render File codec.
                                        Each parameter has the form:
                                            param_name=value
                                        For example:
                                        format=1920x1080:1.0 framerate=60.0
                                        range=0:00:00:00;0:00:01:00

                                        You may find-out about the param_name
                                        by hovering the mouse over each
                                        parameter in the Render Manager: the
                                        tooltip contains command-line usage
                                        hints.
                                        For string-valued parameters, if the
                                        value contains any whitespace, you must
                                        enclose the text with double-quotes.
                                        When creating a new Render File in mode
                                        2), parameters that are not specified
                                        are left to their default value.

                                        The --render option can be repeated
                                        multiple times to create multiple
                                        renders.
                                        Renders that involve the same
                                        composition instances will be rendered
                                        concurrently, whereas renders involving
                                        different composition instances will be
                                        executed sequentially.
                                        Example usage:
                                        Autograph.exe
                                        C:\Users\user\Documents\MyProject.agp
                                        --render Main format=1920x1080:1.0
                                        framerate=60.0
                                        range=0:00:00:00;0:00:01:00
                                        container=mov video_codec=prores
                                        prores_profile=PR_422HQ

  --no_server                           If not set, the process will try to
                                        look for an already active process and
                                        forward the command-line arguments in
                                        that process instead. If a server does
                                        not exist it will create one. Passing
                                        this argument does not attempt to
                                        connect to an existing server and does
                                        not attempt to create one either.

  --server_exit                         If a server is already started, this
                                        will notify the server that it should
                                        stop its process. This process will exit
                                        after the server has exited. This should
                                        not be passed if server_mode is passed.

  -b, --background                      Enables background mode. In this mode
                                        no user interface will be used

  --no-splashscreen                     Don't show the splashscreen on start-up

  --clear-cache                         Clears the persistent data cache on
                                        start-up

  --no-settings                         When set, the settings will not be
                                        loaded from disk, thus using the default
                                        values. Settings will not be saved
                                        either.

  --clear-plugins-cache                 Clears the plug-ins cache on start-up


Arguments:
  file                                  The project file to open