"Stuck" Image in Transparent Background

[Marc Trzepla]

After Effects 11.0.2.11

Mac OS 10.7.4

A "ghost" frame from an old movie is stuck in the transparent / checkerboard background.  Always the same movie / frame.   Even in a new comp without any layers this old quicktime movie shows up.  Was a moving movie, this ghost effect is now just a single still frame.   Put one item in the comp and it disappears.  Turn off the eyeball for all of the layers and the ghost image comes back.

Does not show up in final renders .. yet.   Mostly in just (Auto / Half) rez comp viewer previews.

I've tried deleting prefs.    Cleared disk cache.    Cleared Conformed Media Cache.  Restarted the program.    Restarted the computer.      It's been like this for weeks.

Now it has started showing WITH other layers "on".  This is new.   Makes it tough to work.

IT department says they have no idea, that "we'll have to wipe your entire computer" but before going THAT route wanted to see if anyone else has ever had this problem and if they've discovered a solution.

Thanks,

Marc

In these examples below this "rooftop scene" not only isn't supposed to be in the image, it's not even in the AE project file.       

Here it is actually with other layers set to "on" which has never happened before:

[Mylenium]

Sounds liek a graphics hardware issue. Turn off all that stuff:

http://myleniumblog.com/2012/05/15/make-cs6-work-for-you/

Mylenium

[Todd_Kopriva]

We fixed a lot of caching bugs in After Effects CC (12.0). Have you tried in that version?

[haknudsen2]

I am having a similar issue.  Every new or empty comp on this computer has this ghost image.  If I "Save Frame as"--"File"  I get a png with the ghost image.  If I try "Save Frame as"--"Photoshop Layers"  I get error, "cannot save a layered file because there are no active video layers at this current time."  If I have media encoder render it as mp4 no ghost image.

Using AE CC 12.1.0.168

[grolarmedia]

I'm working in AE CC 12.0.0.404

Same exact thing happening here. Ghost frame is always underneath my layers. Its weird because if I only have one layer, when I move the position of that layer, the ghost image follows...but if I hide the layer, the image is still there. The image renders if there is not a layer on top of it.

[Todd_Kopriva]

Start by clearing the disk cache (which you can do from the Edit > Purge menu).

Also, you should be using After Effects CC (12.1), which includes a lot of bug fixes.

[haknudsen2]

Already cleared cache several times...Restarted computer...

Like I stated in my original post using CC 12.1

Any other ideas

[Todd_Kopriva]

I was responding to grolarmedia.

[grolarmedia]

Thanks for the help. I cleared cache, updated AE and restarted and it looks like its back to normal. So definitely a caching issue. Thanks again and good luck haknudsen!

[Elias Adams]

Purging cache and data worked for me!

[secret spy25529923euvx]

It worked for me, thank you!!!!!

[schischu]

I'm having the same problem on my windows 7 notebook. Everytime I open a new comp a ghost image out of an other comp is there. I noticed I can only see it with the resolution set to 1/3 but after a restart of my pc an other ghost image from an other comp apears when I swith to 1/4. So now I have to diffrent images in the background one on 1/3 and one on 1/4. The image is only visable when there is no layer at that moment.

I already deleted the cache etc.

I have version 12.2.0.5.2

[schischu]

It's crazy. I installed new ram and ssd today, so I installed everything including windows 7 home professional 64 bit from scratch including after effects CC of course.

After working for about 4 hours the problem occures again!

[Todd_Kopriva]

We're having a hard time reproducing this. I've forwarded this to one of my coworkers who has been trying to get more information about this bug. If she responds asking you for more information, please help her out so that we can isolate and fix this problem.

[schischu]

Thx Todd!

Here is some more info

my machine: dell xps 502l

Windows Home premium 64 bit

intel  i7-2670

16 gb ram

Geforce GT 540m

Yesterday I did some rendering, and while exporting at the half resolution setting the ghost image showed in the final rendering during empty moments in the comp, just as it did before at 1/2 resolution in comp window. it also showed up in the ram preview also when it was saved to a avi file and in the normal preview,

Exporting at full resolution was no problem. Note that now after the reinstallation of everything the image changed and so far it only appears when I choose 1/2 resolution in the composition video. Before different images also appeared in 1/4 and 1/3 but never in full resolution. I deactivated cuda for raytracing but no difference.

But the problem seems to only occur in compositions with a resolution of 5184x3454. When I create a comp with this settings it has the ghost image in the background. Creating a comp with just 1 pixel difference and the image is gone. Changing the resolution in an existing comp who has the image will make it go away. Changing it back, brings it up again. Note that 5184x3454 is the original resolution of the footage (imported jpeg frames as a sequence)

Of course I wiped the cash and everything multiple times.

All drivers are up to date

[ManKar]

Hello People out there!

I am facing the same issue

Since a few days I have a very annoying ghost issue in After Effects. (cc 12.2.1.5)

I really have no clue what the problem is and how I should solve it.

Sometimes, when I set the opacity of a layer to 0% I can still see it. It is like a ghost. Even if I turn the little eye off or delete it, the Footage/Ghost won't go away.

I also tried to Empty the cache (while disabling refresh) and cleaned the database and everything, but the problem is still there.

(Also when I restart After Effects or my whole computer)

Sometimes it even shows me, that my ghost is part of another footage (while soloing layers), but I already checked that footage while revealing it in composition and checking the footage in the explorer. I also tried to safe it to a different filetype and relink it, but it was still not working.

Here a a few pictures of my problem below:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../ae_issue1.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../ae_issue2.PNG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../ae_issue3.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../ae_issue4.jpg

Sometimes, when I scrup with the slider through the composition it appears and disappears and when I loose my click, it is sometimes there and sometimes not.

It is even in my rendering, which is really bad because, because the video is due tomorrow :S...

Das anyone of you know if I did something wrong or if it is a programm bug?

I am really desperate right now!

my machine: HP Z220 Workstation

Windows 7

Intel (R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3,4 Ghz

16 GB Ram

Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen

All drivers are up to date.

Sincerely,

Mandy

[freebird2000]

Am having the same problem in AE CC 2014 (13.2.0.49)

Create new comp. No layers added. There is an image from old comp that appears. It cannot be selected or turned off. When I add a layer the "ghost" disappears, as long as new/only layer is turned on. Turn off layer and "ghost" reappears. Def seems like a cache issue. Have trashed all cache files, nothing makes it go away.

Adobe? Anyone? Please help.

[bogiesan]

Ah, but does t actually render? I've seen this artifact on lots of systems but they do not actually appear in the finished product.

Try a test render.

[Ninok]

Same problem.  2 separate projects. Once it was a piece of footage, the 2nd time it was a shape layer.

It does in fact render if I do a test render. Purging image cache does remove the stuck image, but only temporarily.

Problem occurs when there are no layers in the comp, or no layers are "active" (either eye is turned off, or the layer is simply further down or in front of the playhead in the timeline as not to be rendered).

I've found a temporary solution to be to place a small solid (or anything) outside of the render region (or camera view) but have the layer still span the entire timeline. This somehow acts as a placeholder and makes AE perhaps evaluate the frame / screen even though its blank since the object is outside of the render region / camera view.  This in effect removes the stuck image.  If you have a moving camera, it can be useful to parent your placeholder object to the camera outside of its field of view so that it never gets seen should the camera turn it its direction. 

[jaredsales]

I too am having this same problem.  It occurs after I purge the cache. It is also happening when I load the project on another machine.  It is very frustrating and there doesn't seem to be a fix across versions.

Edit: tried putting the solid layer as recommended and it does work on some of the frames, however the issue is still occurring in other places. Trying to render this and then having to chop out those frames is annoying and will also leave me out of sync for a sound mix.

[bighc]

I am actually experiencing this exact problem on my machine. I am running 2015 CC, and when my movie should be fading out to black, a random frame from an earlier clip becomes the background. Have tried all the above suggestions, still no help. This is a big issue both for me and my client. Hope you Adobe guys take this seriously.

[jaredsales]

I really feel for you. I'm still having this issue and have had to tell my client that it is a widespread bug that has been reported for years to Adobe and has gone unaddressed. Client has grown extremely impatient as I've now had to resort to outputting a 45 minute piece shot by shot and reassembling.

It is interesting that this issue has persisted for 3 years and the initial response was "upgrade to CC2014" now Adobe doesn't even try to address it. 3 major versions of After Effects have been released since this thread started, probably more if you look at the other threads across the Internet with the same problem.

You would think for the $50 a month I spend I could get some sort of response from Adobe. But no. No one from Adobe has even attempted to respond or reach out to find out specifics so they can address it.  I'm attempting to find a comparable piece of software so that I can finally be finished using this buggy product that they don't even stand behind.

[Szalam]

If you'll note the responses from Adobe in this thread: they are having a hard time pinning this bug down because it is very difficult to reproduce. The vast majority of people are not experiencing this issue. So, please, file a bug report and provide as much detail as you possibly can about your particular setup - hardware, OS, and software. The tiniest little detail might be the solution to the whole problem. What kind of hard drives are you using? What are your cache settings? What sort of security software do you have installed? What other video/graphics/3d software?

Do these weird phantom images persist if you import your composition into a brand new project? After a complete system restart?

Etc.

[chrish272727]

same issue happening here, just started today (july 15, 2015) using an imac 27 inch late 2013, 3.4 ghz intel core i5 processor, 32gb ram 1600 mhz ddr3 with NVIDIA Geforce gtx 775m 2048 mb. Updated to new apple software this morning as well, which puts me on Yosemite version 10.10.4. The issue was not happening prior to the os update. Now it appears even when building a composition-->new composition blank comp.

[Alberto Bedin]

Same problem for me! Random old project still frame on blank composition. By the way my random frame is QUITE EMBARRASSING. Today I was so close to send a final render to a customer with the random frame!!

AE CC 2014 up-to-date

Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit

32 GB RAM Corsair DDR 4

Video nVidia GeForce GTX 980 Strix

Intel Core i7 Extreme 930

Please Adobe fix this!!