[Ivan Myles]

What is the length (min:sec) and size (MB) of the exported file? Determine whether the file is actually 102kbps. If so, we can troubleshoot the export settings.

[Ivan Myles]

Create a second sequence to animate the clip, and embed the sequence in the main timeline.

[Ivan Myles]

Yes, Target bitrate is the same as Average bitrate.

B-pictures = 0 translates to M=1

GOP Limit = 15 translates to N=15

[Ivan Myles]

What program are you using to compare the files? Have you tried importing to Premiere Pro and viewing with the YC scope?

Is GPU acceleration enabled?

Did you define a color space in AE?

Are you using a Dynamic Link from AME to the AE comp, or rendering from an intermediate file?

Please post screen shots of the export settings and, if possible, a comparison of the luminance distribution (YC scope) using Premiere Pro.

[Ivan Myles]

What I/O ports are available? USB2, USB3, eSATA, Thunderbolt, Firewire?

[Ivan Myles]

Take a look at Expression Encoder 4 if using a Windows system.

[Ivan Myles]

Depending on what effects are applied, it might be best to create a Dynamic Link between the AE composition and the Premiere Pro sequence. If using an intermediate codec, uncompressed 4:4:4 DPX image sequences provide excellent quality but require substantial storage space. Uncompressed YUV 10-bit 4:2:2 MOV or V210 AVI files are two-thirds the size of DPX. If file size is an issue and uncompressed is not an option, consider 10-bit AVC-Intra or GoPro Cineform. I experienced luma shifts with QuickTime DNxHD in CS6 and no longer recommend it.

Your source material is YCC, the final delivery codec will probably be YCC, but AE is RGB. Try to minimize the number of color format conversions and stay above 8-bpc. For best results set project bit depth to 16-bpc or 32-bpc in AE, Maximum Depth in Premiere, and use Dynamic Links or a 10-bpc intermediate codec.

[Ivan Myles]

[Bevis Lowry] “So just to be clear, the compression factor is not something that I can set anywhere in the export settings; it’s something I should decide on myself, keeping in mind that .8 is very high and .4 is still really good.”

Yes. Note that these values apply to H.264. Higher targets would be more appropriate for other codecs. For example, some stock footage is encoded with ProRes, which is not as compressed as H.264; the compression factor would be closer to 3.0-4.0 bpp.

[Bevis Lowry] “In the equation, is the total LxHxFPSxC divided by 1024? In other words, is it (LxHxFPSxC)/1024 or LxHxFPSx(C/1025)?”

The math works the same either way. It’s just a unit conversion from bits per second to kilobits per second (kbps). You should actually divide by 1024 again (i.e. LxHxFPSxC/1024/1024) to get Mbps, which is the unit of measure Adobe uses. Since these targets are all approximate, you could use 1000 instead of 1024, if desired.

[Bevis Lowry] “what is the significance of 1.0 compression?”

A data rate of 1.0 bpp does not have any absolute relevance. For reference, uncompressed video with full chroma subsampling requires 24 bpp at 8-bits per channel depth. Therefore, a data rate of 1.0 bpp just means the video is compressed by 1/24.

[Ivan Myles]

L x H x FPS x C / 1024 = Bitrate (kbps)

where:

L = Frame length
H = Frame height
FPS = Frame rate
C = Compression factor (bits/pixel)

Blu-rays and DVDs typically have C set to 0.60-0.80. I tend to use 0.40 for very good quality encoding.

For maximum H.264 quality please refer to the following post:

Re: Media Encoder CC – H.264 pixelated result

If you set the bitrate to max, send the job to the AME Queue instead of exporting directly from Premiere Pro.

[Ivan Myles]

Slide a clip one frame at a time using:

{ALT} + {LEFT ARROW}
{ALT] + {RIGHT ARROW}

Use {ALT} + {SHIFT} + {L/R ARROW} to move five frames at a time.

Reference: Default keyboard shortcuts in CS6