Hello,
I am a longer-time lurker, first-time poster on Creative Cow.
I also encountered the same issue as OP when constructing 50+ Special Effects for my film “The Brave Fighters.” (View entire film for free: https://www.TheBraveFighters.com
My solution: Verify that that Pixel-Aspect Ratio and FPS are consistent throughout all Primary and Nested AE Compositions.
Thanks.
-Edward