Media Encoder Fails more often than Renders

[Juniperf]

Unsure if this is a shared experience beyond me and some colleagues, but we've noticed that Media Encoder has been steadily failing more often than it succeeds in any job (whether Dynamic Link or not).

After Effects & Premeire can render such projects just fine, but the one advantage to Media Encoder is that you can continue working on projects while the render is happening. So it's unfortunate that, at this point, I can only reliably render in software and not in Media Encoder.

[Mandee241926717z95]

I've been having the same issue and really need a resolve to help save my job workflow. I need my renders to go through media encoder for correct encoding and to open my AE for me to continue to work on projects. it's bad for my job to not be able to work on something consistently.

[Sven S]

Sorry to hear this. As I hear you have issues with AE send to AME. Is it with PPro too? To reproduce this here, please can you provide a sample project and the exact step to repro this. Especially if you are using an AE comp, what filter are you using? When it comes to Dynamic Link (DL), do we talk about Win or Mac and which version? So my only suggestion out of the blue is: Ensure no DL Manager is running (check Task Manager on Win, Activity Monitor on Mac). Launch AME first(!). If this is running then launch PPro or AE. That should ensure you have the correct DL Manager available and everything is setup for the DL workflow. Does this change something? Thanks.

[Mandee241926717z95]

I will need to set up a test project to send to you, as I'm not to share client files. info for now:

Using a Macbook Pro. I mainly use After Effects, did a quick test in PPro and that did seem to send through, it was just an audio file. I will give your recommendation to launch AME first then AE and see if that makes a difference.

[Juniperf]

I cannot provide a sample project either, but I can give system info and steps to reproduce. Note that this is just an example, there's many other edge scenarios (most cases I'd say) where ME fails. This usually occurs after stacking any out of the box effect onto footage in AE. 

As someone with no backend experience with software like this, it appears to me, as a user, that as soon as any footage or composition gets a *little* complicated, the odds of ME failing greatly increase.

Using a 2021 Apple M1 Max Laptop, on macOS 13.4 (22F66)

Steps to reproduce in After Effects: 
- In a composition, place footage and scale it up

- Add Linear Wipe, Animate

- Add Lumetri Color, reposition Lumetri Color as first effect, modify any Basic Setting so it is not on default

- Use shortcut to Add Composition to Media Encoder Render Queue
- Render will not complete

Rendering to ME while in PPro is more reliable, but errors are more unpredictable. Cannot give any steps to reproduce but it seems to be in a similar spirit, bulky or complicated projects have a higher chance to fail. 

[Sven S]

Thanks a lot, we will investigate.

[Mandee241926717z95]

I have tried opening AME before AE for my current projects with no change in its ability to render directly to AME. This morning after a full computer restart I opened AME first. Opened AE to a brand new project. created a basic comp in 4k, added one circled, and animated it for 5 seconds. tried to render this 5 second test directly to AME and this would also not send to AME. So it doesn't seem to be an issue with specific plug-ins used, I can't get any comps to export directly to AME.

I'm on version 23.6 for both AE and AME.

[Mandee241926717z95]

Hello, I'm still having this issue, which is negatively impacting my job. Has there been any other investigations or thoughts to try for this issue?

[EckiAME]

I was not able to repro your issue on a M1 MacBook Pro 16" (macOS 14) using After Effects (Beta) 24.1.0.19 and Adobe Media Encoder (Beta) 24.1.0.23.

Which versions do you currently use?

[Mandee241926717z95]

I am on 23.6 for both AE and AME.

[Mandee241926717z95]

Today I tried to uninstall both AE & AME and reinstall them and still no ability to render directly to AME from AE.

[eckiAMETeam]

I also tried to reproduce in After Effects 23.6.0.62 and Adobe Media Encoder 23.6.0.62. Was not able to reproduce the issue either.

Can you please check the preset used? AME usually uses the last preset again. Sometimes that is not compatible with the source material.

Please also post what is displayed in the encoding log. You can click on the result to see it.

[Mandee241926717z95]

 We use these engage settings for our client's needs. This process has worked for me with my work and machine for the last year and a half, it's only now with the latest update that I am no longer able to render directly to AME from AE. I thought I was seeing some consistency that if there was a plug-in used or a larger amount of layers then it wouldn't work, and if it was a more simple project it would. However, that has not proven to be the case. most days no projects will be sent directly through. 

you asked to see the encoding log but I'm not sure what you mean to see, as nothing is in AME directly from AE so there is nothing to click on. can you clarify what information you're looking for?

[eckiAMETeam]

When you send the job to AME, you see the render queue. After the failed export, you can click in the file link to get the encoding log with additional messages.

Also, can you try to export as H.264 using a standard preset to verify if it's the export in general or the format that is causing the failure?

[Mandee241926717z95]

I don't get that far. When I go to File > Export > add to adobe media encoder queue nothing happens. Nothing shows up in media encoder. if the program isn't already opened it will open the program, but there will be nothing in the queue to click on or check anything with. It just doesn't send over to render at all, no error messages. 

[eckiAMETeam]

Asking our friends from After Effects…

[Sven S]

Please can you attach the used preset? Possible there are some wrong settings in it, which results in this issue. It sounds that you get them somewhere and not build it by yourself. Is this correct? Thanks.

[Mandee241926717z95]

It looks like we use settings that we pull into Media Encoder that are epr files. I tried to attach those and zip and attach but epr's and zip's are not allowed to be attached it shows me.

I have 5 coworkers using the same set up and they have updated to the same 23.6 and they are all not having the issue and are able to send their content through using the same programs, settings, and encoders. 

[eckiAMETeam]

I will PM you with instructions. Thx.

[JohnColombo]

Thanks @eckiAMETeam!

@Juniperf and @Mandee241926717z95,

It sounds like you both are seeing the same issue: After Effects comps sent to the AME don't appear in the AME queue, yes? The AE background render process (which is used by AME to render AE comps) might not be starting up correctly. If you try to drag the AE project directly into AME, are you able to select a composition from the dragged-in project? Do you see a process called "aerendercore" in your Activity Monitor?

A log from the background instance might be helpful as well. Inside AE, select Help > Enable Logging and restart AE. Then try to send your comp(s) to AME. After that, use Help > Reveal Log Files to show the logs folder and share the revealed LiveLink Log.txt file with us if it exists.

Thanks for any further info you can provide,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[Mandee241926717z95]

Thanks for reaching out! There does seem to be a disconnect between AE and AME. I followed the steps you outlined above and the attached is the report I got.

[JohnColombo]

Hi @Mandee241926717z95,

Thank you! That log does show that an attempt was made to send a comp to AME, but it is not the LiveLink Log.txt that would have been created by the rendering instance of After Effects. Were you able to see if the "aerendercore" process started up when you sent the comp to AME? And did dragging an After Effects project into the AME queue work?

Thanks for any further information you can provide,

- John

[Mandee241926717z95]

These are the files that come up for me when I Reveal Log Files. I don't see one called LiveLink Log.txt within the folders that pop up. the only txt I found is what I shared. 

When I drag the composition over I get a dynamic link error. For a quick test I navigated through AME to find my AE file and select a comp and that did seem to add to my AME queue. I will have to try to test some of my other spots for this method. not ideal but much better than sending to render queue, stopping all AE work and then render that again via AME.

[JohnColombo]

Thanks, @Mandee241926717z95. The lack of a LiveLink Log.txt does make it sound like the aerendercore process isn't starting up. Can you confirm that you don't see that process when trying to send a comp to AME or when trying to render an After Effects comp through AME after adding it manually? 

[Mandee241926717z95]

That is correct, I don't see any processes happening when I attempt to send from AE to AME.