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AE half resolution preview not accurate
Hey all,
I have a major issue at the moment. I typically preview at half resolution to use less CPU/RAM, and unfortunately, I just finished an entire project only to realize that when I render or preview at the full 1080p resolution, any text layers that have layer styles enabled are rendering completely wrong. See below:
Half Res (OK):
Full Res (Error):
As you can see, the glow/emboss FX are rendering completely wrong at full resolution. Is there any setting or preference I can change so that I can render at 1080p but retain the FX properties from half resolution? Or do I seriously have to go in and adjust each nested layer by hand?
Thanks!
AE CC (Version 12.1), 23.976 fps, 1080p
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7 Replies
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Good point, I totally agree. Unfortunately, I start to run into trouble with certain FX and deeply nested layers, especially if I have motion blur enabled. Ugh, so frustrating. 🙁
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Hi James,
FIRST: You can copy/paste layer styles, so if you need to put the same setting on a number of layers, copy one after fixing and then paste on the other layers. Also, if you adjust settings on one, and have multiple selected, they should all update.
ON WORKING AT HALF REZ:
Be careful working at a resolution other than “full”, as many things like plugins, not just styles, can render incorrectly or in unexpected ways.If you want to improve performance while working, use ADAPTIVE RESOLUTION.
On Viewer:
In Prefs, set the limit to the level that works for you:
And for RAM previews, in the RAM Previews panel set a lower resolution, as that is independent of your main view resolution.
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
This looks to me like your project bitrate is set to 8-bit, and the smooth blending doesn’t work well at that bitrate; try increasing the bitrate to 16-bit or 32-bit.
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It looks like I’ve found the culprit, but I’m still not sure what to do about it. The text layer for “STOP” has both layer styles, motion blur, & layer FX applied, and the trouble is clearly coming from the layer FX, NOT the layer styles. When I toggle the FX off, the layer styles work as they should, but enabling the layer FX causes the weirdness pictured above. It specifically seems to be a glow effect causing the issue. Any idea what’s going on here?
Andrew & Blaise, thanks for the great suggestions. I’ve tried 16-bit and 32-bit, but unfortunately, both give me worse results. It looks like I’ll have to be much more mindful of how I preview my work. I really hate adaptive resolution (silly, I know!), so maybe I’ll just have to toggle between half/full res more often. Really hoping I don’t have to go in and manually copy & paste. 🙁
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Oh! I think see the problem. The problem is likely the effect order: Glow is being rendered before Emboss, which means the Emboss is happening at the outside of the Glow edges, NOT around the text, like I assume you want.
Precompose the text with the Emboss effect inside the precomp, and apply Glow to the precomp in the main comp, and I bet you’ll be in business.
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You CANNOT use many plug-ins/effects directly on layers where/when you are using layer styles (and certain other half-baked layer features).
Either put those effects on an adjustment layer, or pre-comp the “STOP” layer moving all attributes into the precomp.
Then apply the effects/plug-ins onto the precomp layer in the main comp.
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
Blaise Said: “Precompose the text… “
LOL beat me by seconds… LOL
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com
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