• Adobe After Effects

  Nesting a half resolution comp but preserving full res layers

  Posted by Frederic Lumiere on January 21, 2013 at 8:39 am

  Is it possible to build a comp of 100 x 100, place graphics which are 200 x 200 in it (50% resolution), nest that comp in a 200 x 200 comp (200% upscale) and preserve the 200 x 200 resolution of the layers in the final comp?

  The reason I’m asking is because my final comp is 13,068 x 1048 with 900 + layers.

  To simplify the workflow, I built everything in a half size comp (6534 x 524). Put archival film (hd res), animations and graphics in full 13,068 x 1048 in it.

  A the end of the workflow, I placed the half size comp in the full size comp before render. Even by checking continuously rasterize, the quality of the animations isn’t as good as the original.

  Any ideas?

  Thanks!

  Walter Soyka replied 13 years, 7 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Tudor “ted” jelescu

  January 21, 2013 at 10:25 am

  Use the Scale Composition Script (comes with AE)- work at the lower size, scaling down your layers and for the final just apply the script- it will scale up all the pieces. So if your footage has been scaled down to half size (for example) and you work at half the final compo, then after using the script your footage will be scaled back to full size.

  Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
  Senior VFX Artist
• 

  Vishesh Arora

  January 21, 2013 at 10:36 am

  Frederic

  Even by checking continuously rasterize, the quality of the animations isn’t as good as the original.
  

  I tried the same and the quality was retained as it should be.

  Also I didn’t find any advantage of nesting comps in this way.

  I just tripled my render time.

  Vishesh Arora
  3D and Motion Graphics Artist
  Films Rajendra

  Blog:
  https://digieffects.wordpress.com

  2011 3D Demo Reel:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPgIJU_BR8
• 

  Walter Soyka

  January 21, 2013 at 2:20 pm

  [Frederic Lumiere] “A the end of the workflow, I placed the half size comp in the full size comp before render. Even by checking continuously rasterize, the quality of the animations isn’t as good as the original.”

  Sorry for the pedantry, but when applied to a composition layer, that switch is called “Collapse Transformations” [link], and it does exactly what you describe:

  Collapsing transformations can, for example, preserve resolution when a layer is scaled down by half in a nested composition, and the nested composition is scaled up by a factor of two in the containing composition. In this case, rather than performing both transformations and losing image data in the process, one transformation can be performed—doing nothing, because the individual transformations cancel each other.

  Do you have the Collapse Transformations switch enabled on the scaled 100×100 comp layer within the 200×200 comp? Simply enabling it for the 200×200 comp layer within your master comp (without enabling it on the 100×100 comp layer within the 200×200 comp) won’t do the trick.

  Also, I’d think it’d be a more efficient use of memory to eliminate the 200×200 comp altogether and place the 100×100 comp (with Collapse Transformations on and the scale at 200%) directly in your main comp.

  Walter Soyka
  Principal & Designer at Keen Live
  Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
  RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
  Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

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