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Smaller Render Files with CS5.5 (10.5.0.253), upgraded from AE CS4 (9.0.3)
Curious if there is anyone who has experienced something similar to this…
I recently upgraded from Adobe AE CS4 (9.0.3) to AE CS5.5 (10.5.0.253) on a MacPro. I exported my render settings and output module settings from CS4 to .AOM and .ARS files. I loaded those files into CS5.5, opened up an old project and did a test render of an existing sequence. The render settings in both versions was a 1280×720 Quicktime Animation, RGB, Millions of Colors (no alpha) with 16-bit 48khz audio. Duration was 1 minute. Nothing changed between them at all and literally just loaded a recent project into CS5.5 for this test.
The CS5.5 render and CS4 render file sizes are not even close to matching – the CS5.5 render was 1.68 GB while the CS4 render was 4.23 GB. They both used the same exact settings for render (verified visually and with the render queue as well).
The only difference I can find between the files is when exploring them in Quicktime. The AE CS4 render is at a 563.96 mbits/s data rate, while the AE CS5.5 render is at a 224.15 mbits/s data rate. However both read as Animation, 1280×720, Millions of Colors. Both renders visually look identical.
This is quite puzzling to me, and honestly I would have never really paid attention or noticed a difference if I didn’t open up an old project for testing purposes.
Has anyone experienced something like this? Anyone have an explanation? Why the smaller data rate in the new version?
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4 Replies
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[Brian DeViteri] “The only difference I can find between the files is when exploring them in Quicktime. The AE CS4 render is at a 563.96 mbits/s data rate, while the AE CS5.5 render is at a 224.15 mbits/s data rate. However both read as Animation, 1280×720, Millions of Colors. Both renders visually look identical.”
That does sound strange — but there’s a quick way to see if they are visually identical or not. Import both renders into a project and comp one above the other. Set the top layer’s transfer mode to difference. Black pixels in the result show where the source pixels are the same; non-black pixels show where they differ.
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 -
Did this in CS5.5 and no differences at all throughout the two renders – watched a minute of solid black. So visually speaking, they are identical, which AE has confirmed.
(FYI, verified those results by intentionally offsetting one comp and there were differences between the two when doing so.)
So the question remains… what is the technical difference in the lower rendered data rate, and why the difference? Any recommendations on who I should contact at Adobe to ask them about it?
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[Brian DeViteri] “So the question remains… what is the technical difference in the lower rendered data rate, and why the difference? “
I just ran a quick test with CS3 and CS5 here, and I’m getting identical file sizes from each.
My best guess for your case is that perhaps the larger file is not using RLE (run-length encoding, the rudimentary form of lossless compression available in the Animation codec) — but this is not a user setting, so I have no idea how it could have happened.
I am as mystified as you are, but as long as the visuals are identical, it sounds like it shouldn’t be a problem.
If you have a project that you can share, I could do a test render and report the file size back to you, if you like.
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 -
Walter – thanks for the help.
Interesting that you do not have any differences at all. I do not have AE CS5 or else I would test there as well. It may be that CS4 and CS5 are equal and that CS5.5 is where the size difference comes into play.
It’s very interesting. I’m not entirely concerned at the moment, unless I run into a problem down the line.
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