AE graphics problem in AVID Symphony

[Kevin Camp]

this is probably more an avid question, since things are good in ae… but i’ve worked with avid editors and i have seen problems when avid is set to import the wrong color space. ae works in rgb so the import settings on avid should be set to interpret the file as rgb color space rather than 601. pixel aspect ratio in your case should be set to non-square(based on your comp size).

you are correct to render straight rather than premultiplied. and i would always render to the lossless animation codec especially when you have an alpha.

now the jaggies… are you seeing these when you play out the animation, or just looking at a single frame?

Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Luc Bourgeois]

you might want to try using no compression when making your QT just select none when choosing compression setting, it worked for me. I dont use avid but it might just work the same for you.

Luc Bourgeois
Cygnus Video Productions
702-432-4431
cygnusvp@cox.net

[Kenny Mims]

Yo there, I do this all the time, and have screwed it up more times than you can imagine.

I think I’ve got it right now.

The issue here is the color space YOU work in, and the exact translation back to an Avid System.

EXACTLY AS FOLLOWS:

1. Render your AE material as either ANIMATION, or Avid Meridien Uncompressed.
For the latter, select 601 colorspace (default)

2. Set your render to millions+ to include alpha channel

3. Import into Avid system at 1:1, 601 color , NO or EVEN field priority

This will preserve your original color levels, regardless of what they are.
In other words, if you have zero IRE blacks, they will still be zero (crush) in the Avid system.

You can go as bright as you want (AE goes to 255), but text at that level usually blooms on a CRT,
so try using 90% or 92%.

But, you can let all your flares and starbursts etc. go as bright as you want. Looks great!

Tell the Avid editor to pull up to HIS BLACK.

CAVEAT:
If your AE comp includes video that has already been pulled up (or clamped) @7%,
then be respectful and don’t use zero as your blackest black. Use closer to 7%. The it will look like what you designed
when returned to the Avid environment.

Otherwise, if the finishing engineer scales up the blacks, the already pulled up video blacks will look prety milky.

[Jason Tobias]

I know this is an old post, but I amm having a similar problem and since you mention your experience here, I thought perhaps you could help.

Ive created a graphics sequence for import into avid adrenaline. When i render a quicktime at the default settings in AE (lossless, animation codec) and then import into avid things look jumpy and i can see scan lines from the interlacing. Ive been trying each possible combination of field render and imports over the last few days and what has worked best is what has made the least amount of sense to me.

The footage was all created in after effects- text and a motion background- all progressive. I read in a very old online tutorial that is would be best to set the render for “upper fields first” and then import as upper fields first (https://avidfaq.anglepark.com/AvidFAQ.html)
this still didn’t look right so I went back and reinterpreted the footage for the video background layer to separate the upper fields (per this document https://avidfaq.anglepark.com/AvidFAQ.html)

now things look better than in every other combination (rendering lower fields or no fields, interpreting footage to separate no or lower fields, or importing the footage as non-interlaced, or lower fields first) but still not perfect, not nearly as sharp as when i play the movie in quicktime. Im still seeing some scan lines on the brightest parts of the background layer.

any ideas as to what might help this problem? why would rendering the upper fields be the best way if NTSC is lower field dominant?

the big problem Im chasing is that i just started at a company where they have been working between after and avid for years and when I talk to the old graphics guy he told me he would always export from AE using the default settings and had no problems.
any suggestions? thanks in advance

Jason Tobias