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montaj9
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ProRes footage not displaying properly in AE CS5 at 8bpc

May 1, 2010 9:11 PM

Just installed AE CS5 and am frustrated to find that Apple ProRes 422 footage (all flavors: HQ, SQ, LT, 4x) does not display properly when the project is in 8bpc mode.

 

In 8bpc mode:

prores_8bpc.jpg

 

Same frame, in 16bpc mode:

 

prores_16bpc.jpg

 

This behavior does not occur with Uncompressed 10-bit Quicktimes. Only ProRes.

 

Obviously now that CS5 is 64-bit aware, switching to 16bpc mode isnt as much of a problem as it was in previous versions, but I often like to work in 8bpc mode for speed/performance reasons, so its a bummer that I cant do this with ProRes sources.

 

Is there a workaround for this (other than working in 16bpc all the time, of course)?

6496 Views   25 Replies   Latest reply: JonFCG, Jan 28, 2011 11:46 AM
 
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    1. Dan Ramirez,
    May 2, 2010 11:39 AM   in reply to montaj9
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    Hi. This is Dan R. from the After Effects team. I'm out of the office for the few weeks, so please excuse me if I don't respond as quickly as I should.

     

    I'm not discounting what you're experiencing, but the behavior isn't typcial. On my machines, ProRes is working properly at all bit depths. Off the top of my head, I suspect a 3rd party Quicktime codec conflict. Regardless of what is causing your problem, we're committed to making sure this works correctly.

     

    Do you have Final Cut Pro installed? Do you have any other 3rd party QT components installed? e.g., AJA, Blackmagic, Sheer, etc.

     

    Please try the following:

     

    Navigate to your Quicktime codec folder. It's found at harddisk/library/Quicktime and harddisk/username/library/Quicktime. Try dragging the entire contents from these two locations into a temporary location. I use a subfolder on my desktop. e.g. username/desktop/QuicktimeTemp

     

    Restart After Effects and try using ProRes footage in all bit depths again. Does your problem go away? If so, it's likely an issue with one of the codecs that you have removed. You now should have enough information to isolate the codec that's causing your problems.

     

    Dan Ramirez

    After Effects

    QA Engineer

     
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  • montaj9
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    2. montaj9,
    May 2, 2010 5:49 PM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    Thanks for your quick response Dan,

     

    I went through all the QT codecs in the /Library/Quicktime folder, and pinned it down to the "AJAVideoOutputCodec.component" codec. Everything works fine once I drag this one out of the folder.

     

    This component is from the latest AJA Kona3 drivers (v7.5.1), released 3/22/10. I did a clean uninstall & reinstall of the 7.5.1 drivers, but the problem persists, as long as this component is in the Quicktime folder. But I cant remove this component, as FCP wont work without it.

     

    My system specs:

     

    Mac OSX 10.6.2

    MacPro3,1 (8-core)

    16 GB system RAM

    ATI Radeon X1900

    AJA Kona3, latest firmware installed

    AE CS5 OpenGL settings disabled

    Final Cut Studio 3 (all latest updates installed)

     

    I have AE CS4 installed on the same partition as CS5, but do not run them at the same time.

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    3. Dan Ramirez,
    May 2, 2010 10:42 PM   in reply to montaj9
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    Glad to hear we're closer to a solution. I'll make sure we contact AJA on our end about this issue. Please report the issue with AJA directly. I've got a Kona3 card in my MacPro and it's possible the issue is hardware specific so your system *may* be a valuable piece of information for them.

     

    Thanks for participating in the forums!

    Cheers,

    Dan R.

    AE QA

     
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  • KWatkinsNY
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    4. KWatkinsNY,
    May 3, 2010 9:54 AM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    I'm having the same issue. Removed AJA codecs but still not getting 8bit preview...

     
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  • paulgolden
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    5. paulgolden,
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    May 4, 2010 12:56 PM   in reply to KWatkinsNY
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    This may or may not be related, but After Effects CS5 does not recognize Alpha Channels with ProRes 4444 but does in CS4. The same for Premiere CS5 and CS4. I can create a ProRes 4444 RGB+Alpha out of CS5 but not import the same footage in and have it Interpret the footage correctly. I'm only using the trial version of CS5, but this basic level of functionality couldn't be missing like certain plug-ins (or hasn't been reported by Adobe as missing).

     

    Any thoughts?  ProRes is part of my RT FCP/AE workflow....

     
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    6. Todd_Kopriva,
    May 4, 2010 3:09 PM   in reply to paulgolden
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    See this thread for ProRes 4444 alpha issues:

    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/628662

     
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  • yapple_dapple
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    7. yapple_dapple,
    May 10, 2010 8:44 AM   in reply to montaj9
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    Me too - same exact problem.  AJA LHe on a Mac Pro with FCP 6.  All flavors of ProRes are not displaying in AE CS5.

     
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  • yapple_dapple
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    8. yapple_dapple,
    May 10, 2010 8:48 AM   in reply to montaj9
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    It's confirmed that this is AJA driver related for me.  If you go into your video preview preference settings, and switch to "Computer Monitor Only," then quit and relaunch AE CS5, the same project will display properly.

     
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  • KWatkinsNY
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    9. KWatkinsNY,
    May 10, 2010 1:54 PM   in reply to yapple_dapple
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    I can confirm that switching to monitor only changes display...Does AJA know about this? I have send an email. Please do the same...

     

    Thanks

    Kevin Watkins.

     
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  • yapple_dapple
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    10. yapple_dapple,
    May 10, 2010 3:04 PM   in reply to KWatkinsNY
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    Done - submitted a support note on AJA's web site.  I'm glad there's a temporary workaround, although I'd really like to use my video monitor with AE!

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    11. Dan Ramirez,
    May 25, 2010 12:56 PM   in reply to yapple_dapple
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    I've reported this issue with AJA personally as well, so hopefully it will be fixed soon.

    Thanks,

    Dan Ramirez

    AE QA

     
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  • montaj9
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    12. montaj9,
    Sep 4, 2010 11:42 PM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    I just installed the 10.0.1 update, and the blue and pink problem is back. Argh!

     

    I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the AJA Kona3 8.0 drivers, but it doesn't fix the problem.

     

    FWIW.

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    13. Dan Ramirez,
    Sep 10, 2010 2:40 PM   in reply to montaj9
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    Dan from the After Effects team again. I'm also able to reproduce this issue now in the latest CS5 dotfix. I've been told the latest AJA update(not yet released) fixes this, but I haven't yet tested this. Once I test this fix, I'll report back here when I've verified that everything is OK.

    Dan R.

    AE QA

     
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  • JonFCG
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    14. JonFCG,
    Sep 15, 2010 8:57 AM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    I am also having this issue with Kona LHi & all quicktimes.  Turning off Monitor Preview and then restarting AE seems to temporarly fix the problem... have you heard of an ETA on the AJA Kona driver update???

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    15. Dan Ramirez,
    Sep 17, 2010 11:43 AM   in reply to JonFCG
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    I do expect the fix to come in the next AJA driver update, but unfortunately; I've been unsuccessfull getting a time estimate. I will post to this thread if I do get an estimate, or if the public driver is released.

    Thanks,

    Dan Ramirez

    AE QA

     
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  • Andre Farkatt
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    16. Andre Farkatt,
    Nov 5, 2010 6:10 AM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    Hi, any news about the fix for this ?

    We need to use AJA for monitoring AND ProRes for ingest... so it's been a nightmare since this bug occured.

     

    Thanks

     
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  • KWatkinsNY
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    17. KWatkinsNY,
    Nov 5, 2010 8:59 AM   in reply to Andre Farkatt
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    Not that I have heard about. I simply work in 16 bit.

     

    Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 07:11:07 -0600

    From: forums@adobe.com

    To: watkinsworldwide@hotmail.com

    Subject: Re: ProRes footage not displaying properly in AE CS5 at 8bpc ProRes footage not displaying properly in AE CS5 at 8bpc

     

    Hi, any news about the fix for this ?

    We need to use AJA for monitoring AND ProRes for ingest... so it's been a nightmare since this bug occured.

     

    Thanks

    >

     
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  • Andre Farkatt
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    18. Andre Farkatt,
    Nov 18, 2010 12:41 PM   in reply to KWatkinsNY
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    It's a shame for AJA and Adobe not fixing this...

     

    And working in 16 bits for us isn't a "solution" as we work with HUGE projects and it almost double or triple render times...

     

    Waiting desperately for an AJA update for it's drivers, OR Adobe update OR quicktime, whatever...

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    19. Dan Ramirez,
    Nov 18, 2010 1:45 PM   in reply to Andre Farkatt
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    I tested the fix in a beta version. Adobe's work is done here. I've asked AJA for a rough estimate on when they will release this driver and they were unable to give me an answer. I'm not sure what to tell you besides contact AJA and pressure them to accelerate this fix.

     

    Thanks,

    Dan Ramirez

    After Effects

    QA Engineer

     
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  • JonFCG
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    20. JonFCG,
    Jan 10, 2011 8:59 AM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    AJA has released the update and so far so good!  Thanks for your help Dan!

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    21. Dan Ramirez,
    Jan 11, 2011 3:11 PM   in reply to JonFCG
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    Hi John. Could you post which driver version you're using? I can't find anything newer than 8.0 for the Kona3.

     
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  • JonFCG
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    22. JonFCG,
    Jan 12, 2011 6:19 AM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    I use the AJA LHI which has been updated to 8.1.  http://www.aja.com/support/konaNEW/kona-lhi.php

     
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  • craulmedia
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    23. craulmedia,
    Jan 17, 2011 3:25 PM   in reply to JonFCG
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    8 Months, repeat 8 MONTHS!? have passed now and AjA released Drivers for LHi ONLY and that's huge Bollocks.

     

    Anyway, dead end, AjA is not on my list anymore.

     

    I'm about to boycot AjA products from now on. They already drove me nuts several times with poor driver updates and plugins.

    They once were standing for quality but now this title is washing away.

    I'll go back to Blackmagic Design Products and may take a look what Matrox has to offer.

     

    If AjA is messing around with loyal customers, the customer will be gone.

    I'll not recommend their products to anyone anymore! Basta!

     
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  • Dan Ramirez
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    24. Dan Ramirez,
    Jan 17, 2011 4:28 PM   in reply to craulmedia
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    AJA didn't just update the LHi only. They also updated the Kona3G and some of the other newer cards. I talked with their tech support last week and he assured me my Kona3 will have a driver update very soon. Check AJA's website again tomorrow. I think he told me Tue, but I don't want to quote someone wthout being 100% sure.

    Dan Ramirez

    AE QA

     
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  • JonFCG
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    25. JonFCG,
    Jan 28, 2011 11:46 AM   in reply to Dan Ramirez
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    FYI, Kona 3 drivers have been updated:

     

    http://www.aja.com/support/konaNEW/kona-3-3x.php

     
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