Glossary
Render
Also called: Rendering, Export
Definition
To render a video is to compute every final frame from a project, combining graphics, animation, effects and audio, and encode the result into a playable file such as an MP4.
What “render” means
While you edit, most tools show a lightweight preview. Rendering is the step that produces the real thing: for each frame, the software draws every layer at full resolution, applies effects, then encodes all the frames together with the audio into a video file. In 3D work, rendering also computes lighting, shadows and perspective.
Render time depends on resolution, duration, frame rate and complexity. A 60-second vertical video at 30 fps is 1,800 frames, and each one has to be drawn and encoded. That is why render farms, cloud rendering and queues exist.
Why it matters for short explainer videos
For explainer production, the render is the expensive step, in time or in money. The usual way to keep it cheap is to settle everything that can be settled before rendering: the script, the order of scenes, the timing. That’s the role of the storyboard and the animatic.
It also explains why small changes can be costly in traditional workflows: changing one line of narration may shift the timing of everything after it, which means re-rendering much of the video.
Example
A creator approves a storyboard, renders a 90-second explainer, then spots a wrong figure in scene 6. In a classic editing workflow, they fix the text and re-export the whole timeline. In a scene-based workflow, only scene 6 is rebuilt, and the scenes they didn’t touch are reused.
In Motiongist
How Motiongist handles it
In Motiongist, rendering happens in the cloud. Before every render, the studio shows the exact credit price, line by line; you confirm it, and the render can’t cost more. A render takes from a few minutes to about fifteen depending on length and queue, and you get an e-mail when it’s ready. If it fails, it’s retried, and if it still fails, the credits go back to your balance.
A revision costs half the base price because only what changed is rebuilt. The storyboard review before rendering is free.