AME ignores AE comp's background color?

[-**-]

When I render MP4 from AE by AME (this is now forced by Adobe) then in comps with background set to White rendered MP4 have BLACK background.

WTF? Anyone else?

I missed something?

Besides rendering now everything 3 times slower with AME (ram preview + slow AME startup + AME render = especially peaceful with 5K footage ) it is now need to make always Solid as background in comps??

[Dave_LaRonde · Accepted solution]

That's because MP4's don't support Alpha Channels.  You obviously changed the background color of your comp, which may or may not be reflected in the the background color of your render.  If you want a specific background color, make a solid, make it the color you want, and make it the very bottom layer in your comp.  It's very simple.

So what do you want:  do you want transparency in your AE render, or do you want a specific background color?

And 5K footage renders slowly, just so you know.

[-**-]

Thanks for confirming my workaround.

I dreaming of additional steps in my workflow. I have plenty of time and now I can spend it on re-edit all my previous projects in AE and starting adds Solids for proper render

I can't wait...

But first: before CC 2014.1 I don't need to make BG solid in every comp.

Secondly: in AE I see comp differently than render in AME - so this is non-consistend and non-reproducible - I Dont Get What I See. WYSI-N-WYG?

Third: (I checked this now) when I render from AE to JPGs I receive completely different renders than same comps from AME. again WYSI-N-WYG?

So I can't call this consistent and reproducible in effects of work... it seems that AE goes toward some randomness in Output?

Answering your question: I want to renders works like before CC 2014.1 so I can render all prevoius project without forcing me to additional [unpaid] work.

[codec7115]

Two years later, I'm having the same issue.

However, I'm working with 3D ray traced so I'm not sure adding a solid would solve this. (I tried, only changed the background to white)

It was working fine until I upgraded to 2018, then realized many issues, and downgraded back to 2017 on both AME and AE.

[Onetrick]

Hi There, I don't know if you are still struggling with the above. I have done a few tests having recently started using the Media encoder directly and have found that the bug is regarding elements created in AFX. If you were to create a Jpeg or Psd of the background colour and place that at the bottom of your timeline, it would correct the issue.

[Ofcourse 88]

I cannot believe that the background composition color is completelly ignored by AME when i render it with AME.... Imagine that it worked for my somewhere in past i am sure... See? Imagine that i have composition with the some transparency areas in the background and it is okay, wor this reason is there the composition background color right? It could be useful if i can just put the composition into AME and have two output file formats, one with alpha and another one without alpha (which should use the composition background color...)

[kmunr]

It works. (psd/jpeg) Thank you!

[Ofcourse 88]

i don't get it, what about psd / jpg?

[stefanim10184246]

What do you do for a transparent background?

[zuhloobie]

I have the same problem. In AE CC, I have an orange background in comp settings that renders black in AME CC. This is with the Youtube 1080p HD preset in AME. I changed the comp setting background to red as a test and it still renders black. I added an orange solid layer at the very bottom as a test and it still renders black. Did I miss a setting somewhere?

[zuhloobie]

Okay. So if I have AME open and drag an AE project file from Windows 7 Explorer into AME to render...it ignores the background color.

BUT...if I add it to the AME render queue through AE (comp>add to ame queue), it renders the background color just fine - with the exact same YouTube 1080p HD preset. Anyone know why this only works this way?

Edit: when I say it works, it only works with [1] a solid background layer now - still ignores comp setting background and [2] adding to media encoder THROUGH after effects.

[mariabnc]

2019 and this is still an issue... It's also so incredibly annoying to have to use another app to export videos to mp4 or whatever other format you need. Also, the colors are never ever right, they look so much more vibrant on my AE file, and everything gets pixelated. It's nasty, Adobe, it's nasty.

[RyanNoah]

I also have the same problem. But it's not JUST where there is no background, I have a couple precomps (with a white solid on the bottom layer on each) and a white solid in the background layer under that, and any time there is anything that is completely white, it turns black. Even if it's a vector object that shows up white in After Effects (AE), Adobe Media Encoder (AME) still turns it black.

I tried the suggestion of making a JPG that is all white and putting it in the background, but I still have the same problem. The white solids used to work a few versions ago, but not anymore. AME is the only way I can find to make an .MP4 file from AE, so now the only solution I've found that works is to render the movie within AE, then import that .MOV file into AME, and render an .MP4, but then some of my colors are different on-screen in the new file.

[Goldnhour80]

Hi, I'm very new to AE.

I'm experiencing the issue of rending with a transparent background.  these are the steps I have taken:

- I have disabled the transparent grid

- Changed the output settings to RGB + Alpha/Quicktime

- Render

I then import the rendered file to AME but the background is always there.  I tried everything, I was hoping if you could please help?

I work on Mac and trying to import the file in Premiere Pro.

[cptkorn]

I too am having this same issue. I have my BG set to white, I try to render in AME, and it get blacked out. 😞

[stefanim10184246]

I'm having this same issue, too. If there is no workaround I will literally cry because I need this right now, or I just waited so much time using Adobe.

[KOPACZ5CF1]

This is a very dumb workaround but at least works. 

[kyleb2112]

So the current state of AME is:  Someone workng until 3am on a 50-layer project, finally hitting the render button, and having their 6-hour render destroyed because they didn't add a solid layer along with the 1000 other things they had to remember on the project.  How is this the default?  

The funny thing is, I output video with alpha channels constantly.  I am the user they're apparently thinking of with this scheme.  But I have a perfectly good output render module for that, which, of course never uses mp4.   It's incredibly stupid for After Effects to be showing you one version of a project, and AME to render a thing so drastically different because there was one fiddly extra step you have to do every time.  This is what software defaults are for.

[Clare Eileen26990229mwll]

THANK YOU! That is word for word a description of what happened to me and had to turn up to a presentation without the animation I had planned the other day. Ridiculousness.

[Evolross]

And Adobe wonders why tools like Canva and Promo are taking over. They've made AE and PS so hard to use these days.