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I read a post somewhere that talks about how rendering "frames" is safer than rendering AVI because you won't lose an insane amount of progress if crap happens...
What all does this entail? How can I use this feature, and how can I turn it into a final product (AVI or MP4)?
Thanks in advance!
Ethan
Yes, if you render still frames and your process is aborted, already rendered frames are saved and you can start a new render from a different frame. More advantages are listed in in Blender manual here.
In short, set your output to still format (e.g. JPG, PNG or MultiLayer) and render the animation. Once you are finished with this, use Video Sequence Editor in Blender to produce AVI/MP4.
The detailed description includes 15 steps, which are covered in Blender manual here. AVI/MP4 approach is called "Direct approach" there, frames - "Frame sequence approach".
Rendering frames is default behavior. For example, if you click record animation while an output format like PNG is selected, it will save one PNG per animation frame. This can protect you from mishaps such as an AVI file growing beyond its 2GB size limit and becoming corrupt.
The sequence of frames can be used as a "video clip" in many video editing packages, including Blender's own Video Sequence Editor. The frames can be imported there and turned into a finished output file without need to re-render.
To render a series of individual frames rather than an AVI file: select a still image format as the output format (e.g. PNG).
To convert a series of individual frames to an AVI file: use a video editing/conversion utility - personally I use avconv as it can easily take a series of PNG images and produce a video at a requested frame rate.
