Dynamic link of a timelapse – Image degradation - Adobe After Effects

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Dynamic link of a timelapse – Image degradation

Posted by Jake Russell on March 3, 2013 at 6:28 pm

I’m having some serious image degradation issues with a timelapse I shot and am editing in Premiere Pro & After Effects.

Here’s my process:
I took RAW images shot on my DSLR, edited in Lightroom and exported out 4K images.
I dropped the images into Premiere and did a basic edit on a 1920×1080 timeline. Images scaled to 50%.
I selected clips and sent to After Effects via Dynamic link.
I added zoom effects in AE and when I went back to Premiere, the images looked worse than originals.

To cross check that it was After Effects messing it up, I brought the original image side by side with the dynamic link within premiere to check resolutions. Original was significantly sharper.

Any idea how I can adjust the AE settings to get the most out of my resolution settings? Thanks.

Tom Daigon replied 13 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 6 Replies
6 Replies

Tudor “ted” jelescu
March 3, 2013 at 7:27 pm

If you want to do fx work on your images in AE then use the full image- scaling down in Premiere may not be the best.
I would try importing the Premiere project to get all footage in AE this way and not with Dynamic link.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist
Jake Russell
March 4, 2013 at 2:39 pm

Okay, I will try that. Thank you. Is this something I should do for video assets as well? Or does this only apply to still assets?

Separate question: When would I do a dynamic link? Under what circumstances?
Tom Daigon
March 4, 2013 at 10:41 pm

One thing that might be going on here is this…

1. You send clips from PrP to AE via dynamic link

2. You work on moves in AE.

3. You switch back to PrP. In order to view all your DL clips you most likely need to render them in PrP.

PrP is set to MPEG I frame as the default setting for rendering Preview files. These are a a very low resolution to allow quick rendering. They do not affect the process of Exporting your time line, but are just a reference to look at while editing.

This could be causing the resolution change you are noticing.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
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Tom Daigon
March 5, 2013 at 4:23 pm

Jake, have you resolved this problem?

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid
Jake Russell
March 5, 2013 at 4:36 pm

I resolved the problem.

The issue:
In AE, I had 1000 images and split them up into 4 pre-comps. I then did some scaling in on the pre-comp which is where the image degradation came into play.

The solution:
For each pre-comp, I needed to click on the “Continuously Rasterize” option

Thanks all!
Tom Daigon
March 5, 2013 at 4:38 pm

Thanks for sharing your resolution. Good to hear you are back on track.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid

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Dynamic link of a timelapse – Image degradation