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Poor quality in h.264 export from AfterEffects through Adobe Media Encoder
I tried to export a scene with multiple mattes created in AfterEffects using Adobe Media Encoder. The original scene was shot on the Canon 5D Mark III using the h.264 codec. The default AME setting is h.264 (Match Source and high bitrate). However, it creates a compressed mp4 file of inferior quality. I’ve tried exporting using a couple of other settings such as MPEG2 and Quicktime movie with not much better results. My workflow is to import the scene into my timeline in FCP 7. When I’ve done this using any of these exports, the scene doesn’t play smoothly. My question is how can I get a good quality export from AfterEffects that I can edit in my timeline. Should I try transcoding it in FCP 7 to Apple ProRes?
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6 Replies
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You should render out of AE to a high quality format to use later in any editing software. QT Animation or QT PNG should do the trick. This may have to be rendered for preview in your editing software depending on the machine you work on. Also, with the newer AE/Encoder versions you should be able to render ProRes.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
Thanks, Ted. I tried AVC Intra and that did the trick.
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However,
I just noticed that all the AME export settings are 29.97 fps. My timeline and the rest of my clips are 23.98. It looks OK now. Do you think there will
be a problem with interlacing? -
If you shot on a 5d Mark III, all your shots will be progressive, so interlacing won’t be an issue. Perhaps what you mean is will the difference in framerate be in issue. Depending on what you shot, there is a good chance it could cause some jumpiness or sync issues. I would re-export the clips. Nothing good can come from using the wrong framerate.
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Yeah, I know about 23.976.
Are the AE settings located in Adobe Media Encoder?
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You can change the settings in Media Encoder or right in After Effects in the Render Queue. Click on the yellow text to see the options. It defaults to your composition’s framerate, so check that your composition settings are accurate as well.
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