After Effects 2026: ProRes 422 HQ exports incorrectly tagged as Rec.601 instead of Rec.709 at non-standard resolutions

BUG: After Effects 2026 – ProRes 422 HQ exports incorrectly tagged as Rec.601 instead of Rec.709 at non-standard resolutions

Product: Adobe After Effects 2026
Operating System: Windows 10
Export Format: Apple ProRes 422 HQ
Severity: High – Incorrect color metadata in professional master files

ISSUE SUMMARY

Adobe After Effects 2026 appears to assign incorrect color space metadata to Apple ProRes 422 HQ exports at certain non-standard resolutions.

When exporting a composition at 1536 × 576, the resulting ProRes file contains Rec.601-related color metadata, even though Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 was explicitly selected as the output color profile.

The same export settings produce correctly tagged Rec.709 files at 1920 × 1080.

Interestingly, exporting directly to H.264 from After Effects at 1536 × 576 does not exhibit this issue.

This suggests that the problem is specific to the ProRes export pipeline and may be related to resolution-dependent color space handling.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

TEST 1 – STANDARD HD RESOLUTION (WORKING CORRECTLY)

1. Open Adobe After Effects 2026.
2. Create a composition at 1920 × 1080, 25 fps.
3. Enable color management and set the project working color space to sRGB IEC61966-2.1.
4. Add a composition containing colored graphics or a color reference chart.
5. Add the composition to the After Effects Render Queue.
6. Select Apple ProRes 422 HQ as the output format.
7. Under Output Module Settings → Color Management, explicitly select Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 as the output color profile.
8. Render the composition.
9. Inspect the resulting ProRes file using FFprobe.

RESULT:

The exported file contains the expected Rec.709 color metadata:

color_range=tv
color_space=bt709
color_transfer=bt709
color_primaries=bt709

The file is also correctly recognized as Rec.709 when reimported into After Effects.

TEST 2 – NON-STANDARD RESOLUTION (INCORRECT BEHAVIOR)

1. Create a composition at 1536 × 576, 25 fps.
2. Use the same project working color space: sRGB IEC61966-2.1.
3. Use the same graphics and color values.
4. Export through the After Effects Render Queue using Apple ProRes 422 HQ.
5. Explicitly select Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 as the output color profile.
6. Inspect the exported file using FFprobe.

ACTUAL RESULT:

Despite selecting Rec.709 Gamma 2.4, the exported ProRes file contains:

pix_fmt=yuv422p10le
color_range=tv
color_space=smpte170m
color_transfer=bt709
color_primaries=smpte170m

The color primaries and matrix coefficients are incorrectly identified as SMPTE 170M (Rec.601-related), while the transfer characteristic is identified as Rec.709.

When reimported into After Effects, the file is automatically interpreted as Rec.601 NTSC rather than Rec.709.

This causes a visible difference in color reproduction compared with the original composition.

Manually assigning an sRGB input profile or enabling Preserve RGB can eliminate the visible difference in our tests, demonstrating that the automatic interpretation of the exported file is problematic.

ADDITIONAL TESTS PERFORMED

A. EXPLICIT REC.709 OUTPUT PROFILE

The output color profile was manually changed from the project working color space (sRGB) to Rec.709 Gamma 2.4.

At 1920 × 1080, the resulting ProRes file was correctly tagged.

At 1536 × 576, the resulting ProRes file still contained SMPTE 170M primaries and matrix coefficients.

Therefore, explicitly selecting Rec.709 does not resolve the metadata issue at the problematic resolution.

B. DIRECT H.264 EXPORT FROM AFTER EFFECTS

The same 1536 × 576 composition was exported directly to H.264 using the After Effects Render Queue.

RESULT:

- Correct color reproduction
- Correct Rec.709 color metadata
- No comparable color shift

This suggests that the issue is not caused by the composition resolution alone, but by the specific export format or its associated color processing.

C. MANUAL CORRECTION OF PRORES METADATA

The problematic ProRes file was processed using FFmpeg.

The color primaries, transfer characteristics, and matrix coefficients were explicitly set to Rec.709 using the prores_metadata bitstream filter.

After correction, FFprobe reported:

color_space=bt709
color_transfer=bt709
color_primaries=bt709

After Effects subsequently recognized the corrected ProRes file as Rec.709.

This confirms that the color metadata written during the original ProRes export is a significant part of the problem.

However, further investigation would be required to determine whether the encoded pixel values are also affected.

EXPECTED BEHAVIOR

When exporting Apple ProRes 422 HQ with Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 explicitly selected as the output color profile, After Effects should write appropriate Rec.709 color metadata regardless of the composition resolution.

The exported file should be interpreted consistently by After Effects and other color-managed applications.

Non-standard resolutions should not silently cause Rec.601-related color metadata to be written when Rec.709 has been explicitly selected.

ACTUAL BEHAVIOR

At 1536 × 576:

- ProRes files contain SMPTE 170M primaries and matrix coefficients.
- The selected Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 output profile is not reflected correctly in the exported metadata.
- After Effects automatically interprets the exported file as Rec.601 NTSC.
- The reimported video appears different from the original composition unless its color interpretation is manually adjusted.

At 1920 × 1080:

- The same export settings produce correctly tagged Rec.709 files.
- After Effects interprets the exported files correctly.

PROFESSIONAL IMPACT

This issue is particularly problematic for professional workflows involving:

- Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising
- Digital signage
- LED walls
- Multi-resolution video delivery
- Broadcast graphics
- Intermediate ProRes master files

These workflows frequently require non-standard resolutions specified by publishers or display manufacturers.

ProRes files are commonly used as intermediate masters for subsequent encoding.

Incorrect color metadata can cause downstream applications to interpret these files using the wrong color space, potentially resulting in visible color differences and inconsistent deliverables.

The issue is especially concerning because the exported files may appear technically valid while containing unexpected color metadata.

RELATED ISSUE IN ADOBE MEDIA ENCODER 2026

A potentially related issue has also been reproduced in Adobe Media Encoder 2026.

When converting ProRes files to H.264 at 1536 × 576, Media Encoder produces files tagged as 5-5-5 instead of Rec.709 (1-1-1), accompanied by visible darkening and increased saturation.

This behavior persists even after correcting the ProRes source metadata to Rec.709.

Changing the H.264 output resolution to 1920 × 1080 produces correctly tagged files with visually correct colors.

A separate bug report has already been submitted for this Media Encoder issue.

The two problems may share a common underlying cause related to resolution-dependent color space handling, although this has not been confirmed.

REQUEST

Please investigate the color metadata written by the After Effects ProRes exporter at non-standard resolutions.

Specifically:

1. Why does a 1536 × 576 ProRes 422 HQ export contain SMPTE 170M primaries and matrix coefficients when Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 is explicitly selected?
2. Why do identical export settings produce correct Rec.709 metadata at 1920 × 1080?
3. Is After Effects automatically selecting a Rec.601-related color matrix based on resolution or another property of the video?
4. Does the issue affect only the metadata, or are the encoded YUV pixel values also being transformed incorrectly?
5. Could this issue be related to the resolution-dependent H.264 color handling observed in Adobe Media Encoder?

I can provide sample ProRes files, FFprobe output, screenshots of the After Effects color management settings, and comparison files demonstrating the issue.