Composition changes not appearing in exported video; AME is outputting an old version of the project

[w70977008]

Issue - Despite making changes to a composition and sending it to AME (from the AE menu "Composition -> Send to Adobe Media Encoder Queue"), Media Encoder exports a video that shows an older version of that composition. The changes are not included. This persists between program restarts and PC shutdowns.

Adobe Media Encoder version number - 24.3 build 49 (After Effects version 24.4.0 build 47)

Operating system - Windows 10 Pro (22H2)

Steps to reproduce - Import a CSV file into AE. Use that CSV as a data source for several text layers. Pre-compose the text layers. Save. Send to AME. Make changes to the CSV outside of AE. Confirm that the new data is appearing in AE. Send to AME.

Expected result - All changes made to the composition are reflected in the exported video.

Actual result -  The exported video is not based on the actual current state of the composition, but a past state. The old data is showing up.

[w70977008]

I should also note that this is using the "Mercury Playback Engine Software Only" renderer in AME.

[ChWard · Accepted solution]

Hi, thanks for reporting the issue. Once you make changes to the csv you need to save to project in After Effects again before sending it to AME. Could you try saving after you made the changes and then send the updated project file to AME? Thx!

[w70977008]

I have tried that. It persists in spite of multiple changes (and saves) on both the CSV and AE project file. I also tried saving the CSV with a different name and using that to "replace footage" in the AE project panel.

[EckiAME]

Can you try deleting the cache?

[w70977008]

I did try that, purging all memory and disk cache from AE. Didn't make a difference.

However, as of this morning it's no longer happening. I've continued working with this project file quite a bit since my initial post so I'm not sure what changed. To get around the issue I was rendering intermediary frame sequences in AE then replacing the contents of the compositions with the sequences before sending to AME. I'll provide an update if the issue reoccurs.

[EckiAME]

Thanks for the heads up. Your solution sounds tedious. If you ever come across a repro, please let me know.

[hellopaul4]

I am having this exact same issue today (and last week - so updating PPro and AME did not help). I'm using AME 25.0x43 Beta, and PPro 25.0.0x43 Beta and AE 25.0.0x30 Beta.

I suspect it could be something to do with this:

Some time ago (years?), I vaguely recall Adobe saying that DL'd projects will now look for the latest version of an AE project when dynamically linking. I have an old version of the AE project and a new version...and indeed PPro happily links all its DL comps to the new version, and indeed displays the correct DL comp in my timeline in PPro perfectly...but if I export via AME, it references an old version. Sometimes. Just to catch me out and embarrass me in front of my clients.

I have now exported the project directly from PPro, and it exported with the correctly linked comp. But it's very annoying that this bug (still!)  exists - I have had to cut short a long weekend so I could race back and fix one caption because AME linked to an old version which screwed it up last week and I failed to spot it amongst the 40 exported videos.

Regarding purging - I do not use disk cache in AE at all, and this problem persisted across at least one version update and several shutdown/restarts. I "cleaned" the Media Cache Database in AME, quit AME, and resent the offending sequence from PPro to AME again, and the problem persists.

If I delete the old version of the AE project that AME seems to be referencing, and re-send the encode from PPro to AME, unsurprisingly, AME displays the Media Offline graphic when the DL'd comp should be.

[w70977008]

I think I might have isolated the problem. Assume you have a handful of compositions, structured like so:

• [Export-A]
  • [Main-A]
    • CSV (file)
    • [FancyTextBox] #1 (controlled by reference to CSV)
    • [FancyTextBox] #2 (controlled by reference to CSV)
    • [FancyTextBox] #3 (controlled by reference to CSV)

• [Export-B]
  • [Main-B]
    
    • [FancyTextBox] (controlled by reference to Main-A's FancyTextBox #1)
    • [FancyTextBox] (controlled by reference to Main-A's FancyTextBox #2)
    • [FancyTextBox] (controlled by reference to Main-A's FancyTextBox #3)

FancyTextBox contains a colored rectangle under a text layer. The contents of the text layer are controlled by the essential graphics panel, so it can be used as a template. Main-A contains three instances of the FancyTextBox comp and an imported CSV file. The first row of data in the CSV drives the text content of the first instance of FancyTextBox, the second row drives the second instance, and the third row drives the third instance. Export-A contains a scaled-down instance of Main-A. Main-B also contains three instances of FancyTextBox. However, rather than being driven directly by the CSV, Main-B's instances of FancyTextBox are driven by Main-A's FancyTextBox instances. In other words, the text content of the first FancyTextBox in Main-B is determined by the first FancyTextBox in Main-A, and so on. Export-B contains a scaled-down instance of Main-B.

In After Effects, this structure displays & renders without error. Sending Export-A to Media Encoder also works as expected: changes made to the CSV show up in the final render. Sending Export-B to Media Encoder, on the other hand, often results in the problem described at the top of this thread. Copying the CSV into Main-B and editing its FancyTextBoxes references so that they're driven by the CSV (like Main-A's are), you get the correct final render. So the glitch seems to arise when you attempt to control a layer's essential graphic properties using the essential graphic properties of another layer, when that other layer's property is controlled by a CSV file — but only when rendering with AME.

[EckiAME]

Asking our friends over at the After Effects Team…

[EckiAME]

Can we get a project? I can private message you the instructions in this forum.