Cloud Rendering
Render your video on our servers: who can use it, how to start one, what each progress stage means, and where the finished video goes.
What Cloud Rendering Is
A cloud render makes the same video from your current project on our cloud render farm instead of in your browser. The result is the same on every device, it works when your phone cannot finish an export, and you can close the tab while it runs. It is paid with cloud render credits and never uses your monthly export allowance.
| This device | Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid with | Monthly exports | Cloud render credits |
| Size | Up to 4K (by plan) | 720p at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps (free trial: 720p at 30 fps) |
| Clip length | 1 to 600 seconds | 5 to 300 seconds (free trial: up to 30) |
| 3D modes | Yes | No |
| Can you close the tab? | No, keep it open and visible | Yes |
Who Can Use It
Creator and every plan above it include monthly cloud render credits, and any account can buy credits. A free account gets 1 free cloud render, once, of up to 30 seconds at 720p. Without a paid plan, cloud renders carry the ballengine.app watermark. How many credits each plan includes and what a render costs: see Export Limits and Cloud Render Credits.
Starting a Cloud Render
- 1In Basics > Export (or the Export side panel), set Render on to Cloud. Record now starts a cloud render and its ring shows your credits.
- 2Pick the Quality: 720p · 30 fps uses 1 credit per 30 seconds, 1080p · 60 fps uses 2.
- 3Press Record. You can close the tab once it has started.
Tip
- Video > Cloud services also has a Start cloud render button, with your balance and the cost of this render.
- Only one cloud render runs at a time per account.
- If your scene is heavy, you are warned before it starts that it may run out of cloud time. A shorter clip, or lighter glow, spectrum or background settings, finish reliably.
What Cloud Renders Accept
| Rule | Details |
|---|---|
| Resolution | Set by Quality: 720p at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps. 2K and 4K are for exports on your device only. |
| Shape | Square stays square. Other shapes come out as standard 16:9 landscape or 9:16 vertical, so those two are the safest choices. |
| Length | 5 to 300 seconds. A longer clip is shortened and you pay for the shorter length. |
| 3D modes and modes in development | Not available. |
| One at a time | A second render cannot start until the first finishes, even from another tab or device. |
Progress Stages
While a cloud render runs, a small status card follows you around the Studio, and Record and the Cloud option show the same percentage.
| Card says | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Sending your project to the cloud | Your project is being handed to our servers. |
| Getting a cloud machine ready | A render machine is starting. Usually 15 to 30 seconds. |
| Your video is in the queue | Shown after 45 seconds of waiting for a machine. It starts on its own; you can close the tab. |
| Your cloud render is running | The frames are being rendered. |
| Adding the sound and finishing your video | The sound is rendered and the MP4 packed. With a long song this can sit still for a minute or two. |
| Uploading your finished video | The file is being stored for you. |
| Your cloud render is saved / ready | Done. "Saved" means it downloaded to this device; "ready" means press Save. |
| That cloud render did not finish | It failed. The reason is shown, and your credits are put back automatically. |
Where Finished Videos Appear
If the Studio is open when the render finishes, the video downloads to that device by itself. If you closed the tab, the render still finishes: open the Studio again and it is in "Your cloud videos" (under Render on) with a Save button. Video > Cloud services also lists your last ten cloud renders with their status.
How Long Cloud Videos Are Kept
Finished cloud videos are stored for 7 days from when the render started. Each one shows how many days it has left. After that it is deleted and cannot be recovered, so save anything you want to keep. Saving to your device is permanent.
More from BallEngine
Guides, plans and answers for making your videos.