-
AE and H.264?
Hello, I am rather new to AE and have what may be a simple question.
I created an AE project by importing an XML file from FCP using the popcorn script.
Thing is the original FCP files are H.264, now I know it is a very hard to work with codec and AE has been going very slowly and I just realized that maybe the H.264 could be the problem.
First question, would a different format be better to work with?Since I am bringing it back into FCP which works greatly with ProRes, would that be a suitable format to use?
Last part, if H.264 could be causing problems, is there an easy way to make AE change the codec of all the video used? Or would I have to batch convert the files then reconnect?
I greatly appreciate your help! I apologize if I am not using the correct AE lingo, as I said I am new to it, but if I’m not feel free to correct me so I know in the future! Thanks!
-
3 Replies
-
What AE version are you using?
As a rule, it is best to bring in AE uncompressed footage.
ProRes would be better than H264.
For details search for Dave’s Stock Answer #1- Dave LaRonde explains in detail issues related to compression.Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior Compositor/VFX Artist -
I agree with Ted on ProRes.
There are a important notes about using ProRes with After Effects, depending on which version of AE you are running. Check out Todd Kopriva’s blog entries:
- ProRes 422 colors in After Effects (CS3-CS4)
- ProRes 4444 colors and gamma shift when working with AE and FCP (CS3-CS4)
- ProRes 4444 and ProRes 422 in After Effects CS5
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 -
Thank you for all the input. I read your notes and feel Ihave a better idea of what to do.
I have half the project finished with the H.264 project using rotoscoping so I don’t want to start over, is there anyway to convert/render the layers in my composition to a more friendly format while still retaining what I’ve worked on? Thanks
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up