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This is more of a PSA than anything else. Will I give you a subjective answer to this question? No! There is 100% a best file format for 3D rendering, and I’ll lay out the case here!
If you’re an old fogy and industry dinosaur such as myself, you will have “render image sequences in .png” as part of your proverbial vestigial tail.
Why is this the case, you might ask? Because back in some previous era, things were different. Software packages were different, and codecs were different.
After Effects took one look at an .exr sequence and puked or made a loud bleeting noise.
It was obvious that we should not render out a .mov lest our computer crash mid-render and we have to restart the whole .mov render again.
So, we were left with rendering out an image sequence and the winner of the day was .png. Oh, how things have changed. But first…
Before we get into the details of this PSA, let’s make sure we’re on the same page. We’re talking about file formats that you render out of a 3D application like Cinema 4D or 3ds Max.
You render out an image sequence and then re-compile it in a program like After Effects to do your post-processing and compositing before outputting your final video.
There are a handful of options for image sequences: .png, .tif, .psd and .exr being the main players.
PNG is a popular format known for its lossless compression and support for transparency. The complex compression algorithm used by PNG can lead to longer render times compared to other formats.
TIF files are another popular choice for motion graphics. TIF files support lossless compression and are faster to render than PNG files. By using TIF files with LZW compression, you can reduce file sizes without compromising image quality, resulting in faster rendering times.
EXR files are widely used in the visual effects industry due to their high dynamic range and floating-point precision. EXR stands for “EXtended Range” and was released in 2003.
OpenEXR supports high dynamic range, allowing for more details to be preserved in the highlights. This means there’s a ton of flexibility in post to bring back detail in overblown areas. They have incredible accuracy and range with 32-bit files.
OpenEXR offers multiple lossless compression algorithms, making it possible to achieve smaller file sizes without sacrificing quality.
EXR also has fast multi-threaded file reading and writing, leading to better read-write performance compared to other formats.
Yes! There are some awesome benchmark blog posts I’ll link to at the bottom of this article. These brave folks rendered all kinds of formats and have the official results.
The TLDR is that the format you choose plays a HUGE role in the speed of render. By HUGE, I mean like 15-20 TIMES longer (if you’re a PNG loser).
PNGs are so dumb. Sorry to be blunt, I hate them passionately. They are slower to render out of C4D. They can be 15-20 times slower to render out of After Effects than other formats. And they’re slower to work with in AE. And they are awful at preserving image detail and range. So what the heck?
Here’s the secret: They used to be a valid option. But now they’re not. Three years ago, EXR support was completely rebuilt in After Effects, and now the “vestigial tail” of outdated information remains all over the internet. But…it’s dead wrong.
Do you want to know how bad this is? I asked my friend, ChatGPT, a few questions about EXR vs. PNG. Guess what is said? It told me that EXR was slower and bigger, and PNG was the industry standard!
Do you know why this lie is perpetuated even by our incredibly intelligent future AI overlords? Because there is a whole lot of internet data the AI is scrubbing through, and it’s all outdated.
So, maybe by writing this article, we’ll start to give ChatGPT a little truth fodder! Btw, let’s address one of the AI’s concerns with EXR: size!
Again, a myth to be busted! After running test after test, multiple people have concluded that EXR is in fact not bigger than .png after all. Another fail for PNG.
Unfortunately, the EXR has pretty much everything going for it and still gets no respect. It’s faster to render, faster to work with, faster to output, has more data, has more flexibility, and has the same file size. Wow.
Unless somebody knows something I don’t, this case is closed. Definitively. Forever. Until something changes again.
If you’re a 3D artist and want to preserve your renders with the maximum quality, flexibility, and you want to future-proof your renders, then .exr is crowned the champion.
Maximize your efficiency in motion graphics and choose the right file format for faster rendering with your friend, the .exr. Make way for a new future!
I’ll leave this PSA at that. Godspeed, and please spread the good news of all EXR can do for you.
To see the really exciting bars, charts, graphs, and such, if you don’t believe me, here are three great articles with lots of pretty renders.
See my article on 3D file formats here.
The best file type for image quality is EXR.
Neither. You should render in EXR!
Nah. You should render in EXR
They’re old and wrong.
Joren Kandel is an Emmy Award winning artist with 15 years of experience in sports motion design. He is also Founder and CEO of The Pixel Lab, which has become the biggest collection of 3D VFX and VDB assets in the world!