Encode and export video and audio with Media Encoder

Learn to encode and export video and audio efficiently with Adobe Media Encoder.

Adobe Media Encoder uses existing presets or custom settings to encode and transcode media files in different video and audio formats.

To encode a video or audio item, add the item to the encoding queue in Adobe Media Encoder. Select existing encoding presets or create your own custom settings. You can instruct the application to start encoding after you add an item to the queue. Or you can tell the application to wait until you decide to start encoding. You can perform the following actions using Adobe Media Encoder:

• Add an item to the encoding queue: Drag video or audio files into the queue panel in Adobe Media Encoder. For more information.
• Encode the item using presets: Select formats and presets from the Format and Presets dropdown list with the item in the queue. Or choose a preset from the Preset Browser and drag it to any item in the queue. 
  
• Encode the item using custom settings: Select the desired items in the Queue panel and select Edit > Export Settings, or select the Format and Preset listed in the Queue panel, and then choose your custom settings.

To start encoding items in the queue automatically after specified duration, select the Start queue automatically when idle for option. Set the desired duration for idle state in the Preferences dialog box. 

Once enabled, the countdown appears in the Encoding panel.

Import items into the encoding queue

To add video or audio files into the encoding queue, do one of the following:

• Drag one more file into the Queue panel from the desktop or the media browser.
• Select the Add Source button in the Queue panel and select one or more files.
• Double-click an open area in the Queue panel and choose one or more files.

Import from Premiere

To add a Premiere sequence, do one of the following:

• Navigate within an Adobe Premiere project in the Media Browser and click and drag sequences to the Queue panel.
• Select File > Add Premiere Sequence. Select a Premiere project and select one or more sequences from that project.
• Click and drag a sequence from the Project panel in Adobe Premiere into the Queue panel.
• Click and drag a Premiere project from the desktop to the Queue panel.

Import from After Effects

To add an Adobe After Effects composition, do one of the following:

• Navigate within an After Effects project in the Media Browser and drag-and-drop compositions to the Queue panel.
• Select File > Add After Effects Composition, select an After Effects project, and select a composition from that project.
• Click and drag a composition from the Project panel in After Effects into the Queue panel.
• Click and drag an After Effects project from the desktop to the Queue panel.

Stop encoding

To stop encoding, do one of the following

• To stop encoding the current item, select File > Stop Current Item. Adobe Media Encoder continues encoding the remaining items in the queue.
• To stop encoding all items in the queue, select File > Stop Queue.

Stitching clips

You can combine multiple media files into a single file when adding them to the queue. To stitch media files together, do the following:

Alternatively, select the clips you want to stitch. Drag them to the Queue panel and release them on top of the Drop here to stitch clips together option.

The stitched clips are loaded in the queue. To view the individual clips, select Show sources. By default, the clips are sorted in alphabetical order. You can rearrange them according to your preference.

The name of the stitched clips is automatically set to the first clip in the series. To change the name of a clip, select the name. 

Identify missing items in the encoding queue

Before you start encoding, you can identify items in the queue that contain missing items. This process helps you identify and fix issues before you encode. A warning status is displayed next to the source or output that contains missing items. To view a summary of the error which is associated with this problem, hover over the icon.

Adobe Media Encoder shows a warning icon in the following cases:

• Premiere projects contain offline media. In this case, Adobe Media Encoder uses proxy media in place of the missing set of media. If there are no proxies, a graphic is used that displays the message 'Media offline'.
• Some fonts are missing from Premiere projects.
• Some effects are missing in Premiere projects.
• Some files are missing in the overlay effects.

Interpret items in the encoding queue

When Media Encoder imports a video asset, it attempts to determine the frame rate, pixel aspect ratio, field order, and alpha channel for the video asset. If Media Encoder is wrong about any of these characteristics, you can manually assign the correct interpretation.

Encode using presets or custom settings

Encode using presets

Your files begin to be encoded to your desired format, using your chosen preset in the location you chose. After a file has been encoded, click the output file path to open the folder containing the encoded file.

Encode using custom settings

To encode using custom settings, do the following:

You can do any of the following in the Export Settings dialog box:

• Choose a video, audio, or still-image format from the Format menu. Go through the list of file formats supported for export.
• Choose an encoding preset from the Preset menu.
• Select Export Video, Export Audio, Export Captions, or all.
• Specify pre-encoding options, including cropping, trimming. Learn about all the export settings.
• Set options for XMP metadata export.
• Select Use Maximum Render Quality or Render At Maximum Bit Depth.
• Select Use Frame Blending.
• Specify a filename and location for the encoded file by clicking the underlined text next to Output Name in the upper-right section of the Export Settings dialog box and entering a file name and location. If you don’t specify a filename, Adobe Media Encoder uses the filename of the source video clip.

Save the encoding queue

The encoding queue and encoding settings are saved automatically when you exit Adobe Media Encoder. The encoding queue is also saved automatically when a user starts an encoding process.

To manually save the encoding queue, select File > Save Queue.

Change output file path for multiple sources

Follow the steps below to change the Output File path for multiple outputs (at the same time):

Selected outputs point to the new directory but retain their unique output filenames.

Watch folder

You can configure Adobe Media Encoder to look for files in certain folders called Watch Folders. Adobe Media Encoder automatically encodes the files placed in the watch folder. When Adobe Media Encoder finds a video or audio file in a watch folder, it encodes the file using the encoding settings assigned to the folder. It then exports the encoded file to an output folder created inside the watch folder.

Using watch folders, Adobe Media Encoder automates the process of queuing and rendering media files. You can create multiple versions of a source by adding different output instances using different formats or presets.

The Watch Folders panel in Adobe Media Encoder can be used to add and manage folders. You can add a watch folder in one of the following ways:

• Select File > Add Watch Folder and select a folder.
• Double-click an empty area in the Watch Folders panel and select a folder.
• Create a folder in Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS), and then drag it to the Watch Folders panel.

The items added to the encoding queue by the watch folder are encoded along with other items in the queue when you start the queue.

Create output in multiple formats using watch folders

You can generate multiple outputs with a single operation by using watch folders. For example, you want to generate an AVI movie, and a JPEG thumbnail image whenever you transcode a video asset.

To create these files with a single user operation, follow these steps:

Remove, duplicate, and skip items in the encoding queue

Remove items from the encoding queue

To remove items from the encoding queue, do the following:

Duplicate items in the encoding queue

To duplicate items in the encoding queue, do the following:

Skip items in the encoding queue

To skip items in the encoding queue, do the following:

Reset status of items in the encoding queue

To reset the status of a file in the encoding queue, do the following:

Monitor encoding progress

While an item is being encoded, the Status column of the encoding queue provides the status of each item. Adobe Media Encoder can encode multiple outputs from a single source simultaneously. However, source files are processed sequentially based on their order in the queue.

You can continue to work on the application while encoding is in progress. You can add, remove, or reorder items in the queue or watch folder. However, outputs that are currently being encoded cannot be edited.

Track encoding progress of files using job count

Using the Queue panel, you can track progress at a glance with a clear text indicator showing the number of jobs in the queue and the number that are complete. This is especially useful when rendering multiple files, as it provides immediate visibility into the encoding process without requiring the opening of individual job details.

You can hover your cursor over the job count to view more details on the encoding status. The breakdown shows how many are completed, in progress, and failed.

Audible alerts when jobs are completed

Adobe Media Encoder has audible alerts. It plays an audible alert at the completion of the jobs in the queue. A different alert sounds if any error conditions are detected. If you do not want to hear them, these alerts can be disabled in preferences.

Display log

To see a tool tip with the error message, hover over the status icon. To open the log for any item for which encoding has been completed successfully, stopped, or failed, select the status.

Parallel encoding

Adobe Media Encoder encodes all sources in sequence, but encodes all outputs of a source in parallel. It is used to export multiple formats for the same source simultaneously, but it cannot be used to export different sources simultaneously.

When you encode multiple outputs simultaneously, the Encoding panel displays a thumbnail preview, a progress bar, and an estimated completion time for each encoding output.

In certain cases, export settings require an output to encode in serial rather than in parallel mode. In such cases, the queue returns to parallel encoding after temporary serial encoding is complete.