[Brandon Little]

Update.

Still not sure WHY it’s doing this, but I can add a chapter heading above the existing one and it accepts it, though editing it seems to kill the workaround.

Looking at hidden characters doesn’t reveal anything, but I suspect it’s there on the chapter headings themselves.

WORKAROUND:
I can just hit a Tab after the name and it pops that pesky number out where it belongs, but if I update the table, the issue will return and I’ll have to fix the TOC again.

I wonder why it’s just doing that on a few chapter headings?

[Brandon Little]

Ain’t that the truth!

I guess the advice on running that resize script would probably be the best advice in most cases. In my case, it was passing up some screwy masking issues from the sub-compositions, but I worked around it.

(I posted my process and also encourage following the tip for the resize script in case others have the same issue and need help.)

[Brandon Little]

Thanks guys – both great suggestions.

Here is how I resized the project:

1. Precompose everything into a new comp
2. Mark that comp with Collapse Transformations
3. Use Comp Settings to resize the comp
4. Scale it up.

[Brandon Little]

Thanks, Dave.

Yeah, it’s a weird size, but it’s company specs I have to follow. It’s a quick animation of a lower third that will come up and then slide off. The final product will be an AE set and other designers will just type over my text and render whatever they want. It will have widescreen and standard screen formats.

The render I’m doing is really to show others what it’s meant to look like. Apparently, MP4 was the wrong way to go.

[Brandon Little]

I’ve gotten some new opportunities as a graphic designer that I would not have otherwise. Instead of just working on basic page layout, my boss now looks to me as the “go to” guy for general video work.

Being available to help and having a wide variety of competencies has made me a more valuable resource. You just never know where you’ll find your niche and have a chance to be a stand-out member of your creative team.

[Brandon Little]

I’m thinking it’s the MP4. Going to H.264 worked better.

[Brandon Little]

Hahaha…yeah. We weren’t going to key off the white. White is going to be the final product. As long as it’s smooth and even white, the shoot will be a success.

[Brandon Little]

Gotcha. We were actually wanting on white, not to key in something else.

Thanks again.

[Brandon Little]

OK guys, thanks for the input. I’m not about to rotoscope the project!

We are getting a quote from a studio with a white cyclorama, but I was hoping to get an OK solution without shelling out big bucks. We don’t really need the big studio solution, but hey.

Again, thanks.

[Brandon Little]

Yeah, it was just a plain wall, not a chroma-keyable surface. We ran a demo of the setup and had some small success by using a Difference blending mode.

I was told by the person who asked me to give it a try that AE could take a still shot and compare it against a video and use that as though it were a key. This way, you would not necessarily have to shoot on greenscreen. So, I gave it a go with an empty room.

What I’m showing is a shot of a room, then the actor on screen, then the two blended with Difference.

Of course, we are planning on shooting with a much cleaner space, like a blank wall, but if it won’t work at all we’ll have to try something else.

Thanks!