Setting up After Effects on AWS with Windows Server 2012

aws-afterfx-video.md

Setting up After Effects on AWS with Windows Server 2012

Hold on to your pants. This is a bit nuts.

Generating an Adobe After Effects installer:

• Sign in to our Adobe Team account, go to 'Manage Team', download CCPLauncher.exe for windows.
• This can be used to create a promptless installer for After FX.
• Boot up a windows VM, preferably Windows 7 or newer.
• Copy the CCPLauncher.exe to the VM's Desktop
• Run the program. Follow the prompts in a windows box to generate the installer package.
• Alternatively, you can use the preconfigured one on Delila (TODO)
• We'll be copying the generated package installer to our Server machine, once it's set up.

Configuring a Windows Server for video rendering

• Spin up an instance of Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter.

• If you'd like it to be über fast, provision it as a GPU instance.

• If it's a GPU instance, install the NVIDIA drivers per the instructions: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/using_cluster_computing.html

• Once Windows is running, you'll need to patch it to the new C runtime:

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/error_on_launch.html

Install these, in this order, to resolve the above issue: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919355 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2999226

• Run the package installer you generated earlier.

• Create an empty text file: C:\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\Adobe\\ae_render_only_node.txt

• Install nodejs

• Install the render.js node script from the repo to somewhere useful, eg C:\\video\render.js

• Point the render script at the AFX install path: C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Adobe After Effects CC 2015.3\\Support Files\\aerender.exe

• Copy the project files onto the hard drive somehow.

• Ensure any custom typefaces are installed on the system.

• You've got a mostly functional remote renderer now.

• Shut down your server instance from the AWS console.

• Save the instance as an AMI: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/Creating_EBSbacked_WinAMI.html

• Pour yourself a cold one.

Considerations/TODOs

• TODO: Install h264 or some decent codec?
• Lossless video will be seriously huge. 186mb/second. 17GB for 90 seconds.
• Need to balance transfer speed with render speed.
• Need a solution to automatically install fonts to the system when the project is delivered to it for rendering.
• Orchestration service might be required. I hear Deadline is good.