AE Plug-in for Preview Before Rendering

The After Effects plug-in Compression Preview from Zero VFX allows sequences to be tested for artefacts or other errors in the compressed version before rendering.

Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 18, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

This allows artists to change compression parameters before rendering so that the best final result can be created with After Effects. Zero VFX created the tool for its own workflow because display errors involving artfacts, banding, or colour shifts repeatedly occurred when compressing high-res scenes for sending to clients.

Zero VFX is a studio from Boston, Massachusetts, that joined forces with Noise Industries and Ephere to bring the AE plug-in to market. It is currently available for 49 US dollars.

Compression Preview works with After Effects, CS 5.6, CC, and CC 2014 and is compatible with Windows and Mac OSX.

Here is a tutorial for the AE plug-in Compression Preview: