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pkaracas
pkaracas Calculating status...
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Problems rendering from CS6 using H.264

Feb 13, 2013 7:57 AM

I'm trying to render out an H.264 from CS6, but getting really glitchy grey pixelated results. So far what I've diagnosed is that if I render from CS6 using format H.264 I get the issue, but if I render out as format Quicktime using the H.264 codec the movie is fine. I tried rendering out in CS5.5 and in both cases there are no problems, which makes me think it's something to do with the way that CS6 handles the H.264 format.

 

Here is the version from AE CS6:

 

cs6.jpg

 

 

 

 

..and here the same file rendered from AE CS5.5

 

cs5.5.jpg

 

 

 

One other thing to note is that the problem doesn't seem to show up when viewed in Quicktime 7.

 

I'm on a 12 core MacPro running OSX 10.6.8 and have AE CS6 11.0.1.12

 

Any help would be appreciated.

5095 Views   11 Replies   Latest reply: tridolphin, Feb 13, 2013 3:41 AM
 
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  • bogiesan
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    1. bogiesan,
    Jun 7, 2012 10:43 AM   in reply to pkaracas
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    The quick answer is don't try to encode from within AE. Render to a full fram codec and then use a transcoder to produce your compressed format.

    Being able to play with QT7 successfully suggests all kinds of weird issues but they're not Adobe's problem, they're Apple's ad I'll steer you toward Apple's discussion forums for QT.

     
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  • BenMarkus
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    2. BenMarkus,
    Jun 8, 2012 4:46 PM   in reply to bogiesan
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    Yeah I'd say maybe try and render it to prores422 HQ and then use Adobe Media Encoder to compress it.

     
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  • Andrew Yoole
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    3. Andrew Yoole,
    Jun 8, 2012 5:34 PM   in reply to pkaracas
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    As the other guys have said, don't use AE to render using temporal codecs.  Temporal codecs like H264 rely on storing partial frames based on earlier information.  AE renders and encodes one frame at a time, so most of the efficiency of a codec like H264 is lost.  The result is that you get much lower overall quality from an AE h.264 render than if you were to encode it externally.

     

    Adobe Media Encoder or Quicktime 7 will encode great quality H.264 files.

     
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  • pkaracas
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    4. pkaracas,
    Jun 11, 2012 4:54 AM   in reply to Andrew Yoole
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    Thanks everyone for the advice! I'll try rendering out using prores422 and then use the Adobe Media Encoder and see how things go!

     
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  • Kevin Monahan
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    5. Kevin Monahan,
    Jun 12, 2012 4:25 PM   in reply to pkaracas
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    Actually, you do not need to render out an intermediate file for an H.264 output any more. So old school!

    You can drag/drop the AE comp into the Queue for Adobe Media Encoder, and then encode that way.

    Way faster and more convenient!

     
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  • bogiesan
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    6. bogiesan,
    Jun 13, 2012 7:16 AM   in reply to Kevin Monahan
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    Maybe.

    There are many practical reasons for rendering movies and then encoding the movies as a s separate operation. For instance, we users seem to have little or no faith in Adobe's ability maintain positive links between any two separate applications.

    Kevin Monahan wrote:

    Actually, you do not need to render out an intermediate file for an H.264 output any more. So old school!

    You can drag/drop the AE comp into the Queue for Adobe Media Encoder, and then encode that way.

    Way faster and more convenient!

     

    But the  best reason is that your comp's effects get flattened and you end up with a self-copntained movie you can archive, distribute, move to yet other applications or bring back into AE as a new source in a new project.

     

    Even nesting with AE has restrictions and bottlenecks that are bypassed and solved by pre-rendering and importing.

     
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  • MonocoProd
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    7. MonocoProd,
    Jun 16, 2012 2:34 PM   in reply to Kevin Monahan
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    Hi Kevin,

    Forgive a neophyte's question, but which file formats are ideal for exporting from a Canon 5dMii output to CS6?  Primary purpose of footage is web usage.  Therea are too many choices (good for pros, confusing for beginners).  Also, a lot of the beginner's training that I've seen starts with pre-rendered files. Is there a video out there that walks through ME and/or AE and the myriad of file types in a step-by-step fashion?

    Thanks very much.

     
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  • Andrew Yoole
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    8. Andrew Yoole,
    Jun 16, 2012 6:07 PM   in reply to MonocoProd
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    FAQ:  After Effects Render and Output Settings

     

     

    Personally, I use Magic Bullet Grinder to transcode all 5D files into true ProRes Quicktimes before I work with them.

     
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  • MonocoProd
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    9. MonocoProd,
    Jun 20, 2012 4:50 PM   in reply to Andrew Yoole
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    Huge.  Thank you, Andrew.

     
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  • espedg
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    10. espedg,
    Nov 22, 2012 1:54 AM   in reply to pkaracas
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    Hi pkaracas..

    how you solved?

     

    i have the same your problem...

    http://forums.adobe.com/message/4865827

     
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  • tridolphin
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    11. tridolphin,
    Feb 13, 2013 3:41 AM   in reply to espedg
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    I had to disable  the auto contrast in the NVIDIA Color Management to get rid of the grey (instead of black) background.NVIDIA.JPG

     
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