A powerful feature of Adobe Median Encoder is Watch folders.
When a video is placed in a Watch folder, it is automatically added to the queue making encoding as simple as managing the files on your hard drive.
Let's set up a Watch folder.
At the bottom right, you'll find the Watch folder panel.
In here you manage the active Watch folders.
To create a new Watch folder, click on the plus sign here and browse to the desired location.
Next choose the desired preset or presets if you want multiple outputs.
Done.
As soon as a video file is placed in this folder, it will be added to the queue.
In the folder, Media Encoder creates two sub folders.
The resulting files are placed in the output folder, and the originals are moved to a sub folder named with the date and time inside the source folder.
[Adobe Media Encoder Watch Folder] Watch folders also support Premiere Pro and After Effects projects as source, but there are some restrictions.
[For a Watch folder to render a Premiere Pro sequence,] For a Watch folder to render a Premiere Pro sequence, [the sequence or sequences must be in the root] the sequence or sequences must be in the root [(the top level) of the project.
Sequences in bins are ignored.] of the project.
Sequences in bins are ignored.
My way of using this feature is to have all sequences in the bin.
And when I send a sequence to a Watch folder, I drag it to the root of the project, and then I use save a copy to place a copy of my current project in the Watch folder even giving it the same name so I know later what the version was.
While I can continue working in Premiere Pro, you see that the sequence has been automatically added to the queue.
For After Effects, it works differently.
It doesn't matter if a composition is in a folder or not.
[For a Watch folder to render an After Effects comp,] For a Watch folder to render an After Effects comp, [this comp needs to be a dynamic link template.] this comp needs to be a dynamic link template.
You'll find this option via composition, composition settings, in the advance tab, check template.
To send this comp to the Watch folder, just like in Premiere Pro, I personally like to use the save a copy option to place a copy of my current project in the Watch folder, giving it the same name as the comp to keep things clear.
As you can see in the background, the comp has been added to the queue.
If you have Adobe Media Encoder installed on another computer or on the server, you can set up Watch folders on a folder on your network relieving your computer from the rendering tasks.
[Note that for rendering After Effects and Premiere Pro] Do note that for rendering After Effects and Premiere Pro [projects on another computer on your network,] projects on another computer on your network, [you need to make sure that all file paths are the same] you need to make sure that all file paths are the same [and all fonts and plug-ins used] and all fonts and plug-ins used [are installed and licensed.] are installed and licensed.
