Chapter 18: Preview and Playback
The Preview Player lets you watch your video template in action before exporting. Preview individual scenes or the entire video, with full playback controls and timeline scrubbing.
Opening Preview
Preview Button
Click the Preview button in the top toolbar to open the preview player:
- Preview Current Scene: Shows only the selected scene
- Preview Entire Video: Plays through the scenes in order, with their transitions
The preview opens as a full-screen overlay with playback controls.
While an AE comp is open (Chapter 28) the current-scene previews — local and rendered, and View ▸ Preview Current Scene — are unavailable: a comp is not a scene of the movie. Use Play in the timeline to play the comp, or preview the entire video.
Preview Modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Local | Canvas-based rendering in browser |
| Rendered | Server-rendered high-quality stream |
Local preview is instant but may differ slightly from final render. Rendered preview shows exact final output but requires processing time.
Playback Controls
Basic Controls
| Control | Action |
|---|---|
| Play/Pause | Start or stop playback |
| Mute/Unmute | Toggle audio |
| Close | Exit preview (Escape key) |
Timeline Scrubbing
The timeline bar at the bottom shows:
- Scene segments: Colored blocks for each scene
- Current position: Playhead indicator
- Total duration: Full video length
Click anywhere on the timeline to jump to that time.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Play/Pause |
| Escape | Close preview |
| Left/Right | Seek backward/forward |
Scene Transitions
Preview Entire Video plays every transition the way the rendered video does:
- Overlap: the next scene starts while the current one is still ending, so each transition shortens the video by its duration. The timeline and the total duration already account for this
- Easing: the preview uses the same easing curve as the render
- Audio: during the overlap, the two scenes’ sounds crossfade; fade to colour and smart object transitions switch the sound at the cut
- Variable values: the preview uses the values in the Variables panel. An optional scene whose condition is false, or a choice scene with no matching variant, is skipped, and the scene before it transitions straight into the next scene that plays (see Chapter 25). Change a value in the Variables panel to preview another version
A Custom URL transition shows as a crossfade in the preview; the clip’s transparency is only applied in the rendered video. Use the rendered preview to check it.
Preview Current Scene plays only the selected scene, so it shows no transitions.
Play-in-Place
For quick element timing checks without opening full preview:
- Hold Space on the canvas
- The current scene plays in place
- Elements animate according to their timeline settings
- Release Space to stop
This is useful for:
- Checking entrance animations
- Verifying timing of multiple elements
- Quick iteration on keyframe animations
What Plays in Preview
Elements
- Text with animations
- Images with animations
- Videos (with sound if unmuted)
- Shapes with animations
- Tables with reveal animations
- Smart objects (static and animated)
- Scene layers (imported scene snapshots)
- Layer effects and adjustment layers
Audio
- Scene sounds (music, effects)
- Audio layers, including volume-adjustment ducking
- Background sounds (continuous across scenes)
- Video element audio
- Voiceover audio (when configured)
Audio only plays when:
- Preview is not muted
- Sound is not disabled in editor settings
- Audio files are loaded successfully
Timing
- Element in/out times respected
- Keyframe animations play
- Appearance animations trigger
- Scene durations honored
Local vs Rendered Preview
Local Preview
Fast, browser-based playback:
- Instant start
- Canvas rendering
- May have slight visual differences from export
- Good for checking timing and flow
Rendered Preview
Server-processed stream:
- Processing time required
- Exact match to final output
- DASH streaming playback
- Shows true render quality
Use local for iteration, rendered for final verification.
Preview Quality
Resolution
- Preview renders at canvas resolution (default 1920×1080)
- Display scaled to fit preview window
- Final export matches canvas settings
- The canvas size is set on the General tab of File ▸ Template Setup…: a preset, or a custom width × height. Custom values must be even whole numbers between 2 and 8192 pixels — the fields do not accept zero, negative or larger values, and an odd value shows an error under the picker because the video encoder cannot render it
Frame Rate
- Preview targets configured frame rate (default 30fps)
- May drop frames on slower devices
- Final render maintains consistent frame rate
- Set on the General tab of File ▸ Template Setup…: 24, 25, 29.97, 30 or 60 fps. A template imported with another rate keeps it and shows it as an extra entry
Audio Sample Rate and Bitrate
- Rendered movies carry AAC audio at 44.1 kHz (the default) or 48 kHz
- The audio bitrate is 64, 96, 128 (the default), 160, 192, 256 or 320 kbit/s. Higher bitrates sound better and make larger files; 128 kbit/s is plenty for speech and most music
- Both are set on the Audio tab of File ▸ Template Setup…, and overridable for a single publish on the Audio tab of File ▸ Publish…
- Editor playback is unaffected: the browser plays the source audio at your output device’s rate
Troubleshooting
Preview Won’t Open
- Check browser popup blockers
- Verify template has at least one scene
- Try refreshing the page
Video Stuttering
- Close other browser tabs
- Check system resources
- Try local preview instead of rendered
- Reduce canvas resolution temporarily
Audio Out of Sync
- Reload the preview
- Check scene duration settings
- Verify audio file integrity
Elements Missing
- Check element visibility settings
- Verify element in/out times
- Ensure elements aren’t outside canvas bounds
Transitions Not Playing
- Set the transition on the scene you are leaving, not on the scene you are going to
- Check the transition duration isn’t zero
- Use Preview Entire Video: previewing one scene shows no transitions
- Check the variable values: a skipped scene takes its transition with it, and the scene before it uses its own transition instead
Preview Workflow Tips
Iterative Review
- Make changes in the editor
- Use play-in-place for quick checks
- Open full preview for scene transitions
- Use rendered preview before export
Testing Checklist
Before considering your video complete:
- All text reads correctly
- Images and videos appear at right times
- Animations feel smooth and timed well
- Audio levels are balanced
- Transitions flow naturally
- Variables display expected values
Multi-Scene Projects
For longer videos:
- Preview individual scenes first
- Then preview entire video
- Pay attention to scene-to-scene flow
- Check audio continuity