Choose where exports go
Open Presets and edit Folder on the active preset. The starting value is {project folder}/renders/{date}. For a project saved as /Projects/Launch/Launch.aep, this resolves to a dated folder such as /Projects/Launch/renders/2026-10-18.
| Folder pattern | Destination |
|---|---|
renders/review | Inside the saved project’s folder. |
{project folder}/exports/{comp} | A separate folder for each comp beside the project. |
~/Movies/{project} | Inside your home folder’s Movies folder. |
/Volumes/Exports/{project}/{date} | An absolute destination on a mounted volume. |
D:/Exports/{project} | An absolute Windows destination. |
Relative folders and {project folder} need a saved project. An absolute folder, including one starting with ~, can work in an unsaved project. In that case {project} resolves to Untitled.
Dispatch creates missing output folders when you queue or Re-path. The preview alone creates nothing. If the destination cannot be read or created, check the mounted drive and folder permissions, or choose another folder.
Build the file name
Edit File without an extension. The output module supplies the extension. For example, {project}_{comp}_{w}x{h}_v{##} might produce Launch_Intro_1920x1080_v01.mov.
Click a token button to insert it into the last Folder or File field you focused, at the remembered selection or caret. If you have not focused either field, tokens append to File. The token table lists every supported token and its format.
Characters that cannot appear in file names, such as /, \, :, *, ?, ", <, >, and |, become hyphens in generated names. Use Folder for subfolders, since slashes in File become hyphens too.
Count revisions
The starting pattern {comp}_v{##} produces Intro_v01, then Intro_v02, and so on. More # characters set a larger minimum padding. {###} starts at 001; numbers can grow beyond that width.
Dispatch chooses one more than the highest matching version in the destination. It considers files and folders on disk, existing render queue outputs, and names assigned earlier in the same batch. It does not fill gaps in the sequence.
For example, if Intro_v01.mov is on disk and Intro_v03.mov is already queued there, the next version is Intro_v04. Repeated clicks add more queue items with new names.
Use one version token per pattern. Only the first {#...} group counts; later version groups are removed. If you omit a version token, a matching occupied name gets an unpadded suffix such as _2.
Keep image sequences together
When the actual output module’s filename contains a sequence placeholder such as [#####], Dispatch creates a subfolder for that output. A PNG sequence can resolve to this structure.
renders/2026-10-18/Intro_v01/
Intro_v01_[#####].pngAfter Effects replaces the frame placeholder during rendering. Each dispatched sequence gets its own versioned folder.
Read the preview
The main path line shows the next output for the first target comp. A prefix such as 3× means three comps are targeted. Long paths shorten in the middle; hover the path to read the full value. The editor shows a larger sample of the same path.
With no target comp, the sample is dimmed and can retain tokens such as {comp}. With an unsaved project and a project-relative destination, it reads Save the project to give renders a home.
The preview guesses the extension and sequence layout from the output template’s name. The queued item uses the actual template output. Inspect the Render Queue when using a custom template, especially if the preview’s extension differs from the format you chose.