How to export a 3D animation as an MP4 video for Instagram, Reels or YouTube

To turn a model's animation into a video, open it in Studio, choose Animation under What to render in the Render tab, then pick the clip, how long it runs and the size, and press Render video. Every frame is ray traced by your own graphics card in the browser tab, with the materials and lighting of the look, and saved as an MP4 you download. Nothing is uploaded.

#Make a video

1. 1

   Open the model in Studio

   From the sidebar, the model's Lighting panel or the model's ••• menu. Dress it as you would for a picture: materials, lighting, background. The Motion button on Studio's toolbar (or A) plays the animation on the stage so you can check it.

2. 2

   Choose Animation

   In the Render tab, under What to render, click Animation. This choice only appears when the file is animated.

3. 3

   Pick the size

   The frame on the stage changes to the video's shape. 1080 × 1920 is for Reels, Shorts and TikTok, 1080 × 1350 for an Instagram post, 1080 × 1080 square, 1920 × 1080 for YouTube.

4. 4

   Frame the shot

   Turn and zoom the model until it sits in the frame. The video uses the current view.

5. 5

   Press Render video…

   In the window that opens, pick the Clip, the Length (Once, Loop 2× or Loop 3×), the Camera (Still, or Turn slowly, about 12° a second) and the Quality and Frame rate.

6. 6

   Render

   Each frame appears as it's traced, with the frame count and an estimate of the time left. Stop ends it. When it's finished, the video plays in the window: click Download MP4.

#Preview or Final

Rendering time depends on your graphics card, the size, the number of frames and the model. A 5-second Full HD Preview at 30 fps is 150 frames. Keep the tab open and in front while it works.

#What each plan makes

Options your plan doesn't include show a padlock; clicking one shows what the next plan adds. If a clip is longer than your plan allows, the video is cut to your plan's length, and the window says so. On Free, the one video counts when it finishes, not when you start it.

#Good to know

• Background. MP4 can't be see-through: a transparent background comes out white.
• Browser. Videos need a browser that can encode them: a recent Chrome, Edge or Safari. They write H.264, which phones and social sites play. A browser without an H.264 encoder writes VP9 instead and the window says so: VP9 plays in browsers and on YouTube, but not on every phone.
• Section cut and exploded view. Studio renders the look as it is. The animation moves the parts it animates.
• Pictures too. Switch What to render back to Picture for still renders.

#Common problems

• "Your graphics card stopped the video." Try Preview, a smaller size or a shorter length, and close other heavy tabs.
• The animation doesn't move in the video. Check the clip plays on the stage with Motion. If it doesn't, the clip is empty: export the file again with animation on.