.ogv and After Effects

[Walter Soyka]

[Patrick Coan] “I thought after I converted the files to .avi…”

Ogg and AVI are both container formats, capable of carrying streams of information in dozens of different formats.

What codec did you use in the AVI when you converted your OGV file? If you just re-wrapped Theora-encoded video from OGV to AVI, it makes sense that AE wouldn’t understand it.

After Effects likes codecs that use intraframe compression, such as DV, DNxHD, and Uncompressed. You could also use image sequences.

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

[Patrick Coan]

Thanks for the info. There wasn’t a lot to specify when I changed the video, but there were device presets; I tried the MS Compatible AVI, and the XviD Fullscreen. I didn’t get any results with those, so I tried .mov (h.264) and this is working okay.

[Patrick Coan]

Wow! Great information. That reminds me of how the .mov’s gamma is washed out after exporting from AE. Unless I create the final video in uncompressed (animation) quality, I’ve got to compensate.

Thanks for the info.

Moderation in all, and all is relative.

[Walter Soyka]

[Patrick Coan] “I didn’t get any results with those, so I tried .mov (h.264) and this is working okay. “

So you’re importing h264 files into AE? I’ll shamelessly lift Dave’s Stock Answer #1:

Dave’s Stock Answer #1:

If the footage you imported into AE is any kind of the following — footage in an HDV acquisition codec, MPEG1, MPEG2, AVCHD, mp4, m2t, H.261 or H.264 — you need to convert it to a different codec.

These kinds of footage use temporal, or interframe compression. They have keyframes at regular intervals, containing complete frame information. However, the frames in between do NOT have complete information. Interframe codecs toss out duplicated information.

In order to maintain peak rendering efficiency, AE needs complete information for each and every frame. But because these kinds of footage contain only partial information, AE freaks out, resulting in a wide variety of problems.

—

If it’s standard def material, you’d be better off using the DV preset.

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

[Patrick Coan]

That’s great information. Now I know that AVI and OGV are containers for a whole subset of encoded video formats. Do you recommend a tool for converting .OGV’s footage to DV intraframe encoded footage?

Moderation in all, and all is relative.