problem: import image sequence in adobe media encoder

[yasseram]

Hi

have a problem with adobe media encoder CS6, in media encoder preferences I change the Display Format to 25 frame timecode, I import a serial of TGA (170 frame) to media encoder as a TGA image file Sequence, this serial generated from 3D Max and ToonBoom applications, the specification of TGA serial 1080 50i "1920X1080 - upper filed - 25 fps", when I import the sequence, media encoder recognize the sequence as 1920X1080 - progressive - 29.97 fps, in interpret Footage options window I change the settings of the sequence to upper filed - 25 fps, and I export it to quicktime mov 1920X1080 - upper filed - 25 fps uncompressed

the problem:

the duration of mov file is 06:20 and that is correct for 170 frame as 25 fps but the mov file not contain all tga serial image, the image freeze at time code 05:16 (frame number 142) and duplicate the frame 142 to the rest of movie file

if I don't change the frame rate in interpret Footage options window for the tga sequence which media encoder recognize it as 29.97 fps, the mov file contain all TGA frames but with duration of 05:16 which not 25 fps

in adobe media encoder CS5.5 I don't get this problem at all

1- how to solve this problem ??

2- how to force adobe media encoder CS6 to recognize the imported image sequence as 25 fps frame rate ??

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection CS6

thanks

Message was edited by: yas1amin1mah

[XR21]

thanks for taking care of this

or should I say thanks to JN to pointing this particular point to you

Again this issue is not present in cs 5.5 and is new in CS6 so I hope it can be fixed ... You can ask us for detail it is easy to reproduce.

I have just one more question : when several people on this thread reported this as a bug in the adobe dedicated bug reporting tool aren't we talking to Adobe ? I though I was ?

You are very welcome to offer us to email you but shouldn't the normal bug repporting system be enough?

We had a very interesting discussion with JN about the new CC model that should improve the developper workflow.

I really wish there could be a more transparent way about how the bug are repported and their status because concerning our case we had no idea if the bug repport was taken in account or not. even if repported several time...

Maybe a following to the bug repporters even as simply as short mail answer like

- Yes know bug

- Ok strange need investigation

- Ok new bug thanks

- Or no this is not a bug it's a feature

Could be great !

then idealy a regular repport on the bug status - taken in account - working on - fixed hurray, I dream because I know it would be hard to relink the bug repporter to your actual internal bug following tools - but thats why some companies have opted to open access to their users to bug repporting and following so the users can follow and know the bugs status

I think most of the people would agree to the CC model if this could improve the enhancement/bug repporting/support communication between adobe and it's customers.

If there is any people you know at Adobe 's in charge in the bug repporting and following system, you'd be very kind to make this thread followed to them as JN was very kind to make it followed to you.

Because to me there is a serious problem with bug repporting when a small/identifyed/easy to reproduce and repported bug is still there for the whole CS6 life time (18 months or so no ?)

Anyway any improvement to our working tools are always welcome so thanks for your intervention here!

-----Totally Out of topic ------

I am totally new to speedgrade, because I need it to grade Cinema DNG and I find it's interface's logic very difficult to understand for an AE or PP user... I am totally lost because there is quite nothing you know in AE or PP you can rely on to understand SG... very counter intuitive intuitive interface, sorry it's just my point of view of SG new user but experienced AE user, but maybe people that have experience in Da Vinci would find it more intuitive ...

---- End Out of Topic,  sorry-----

[Patrick J. Palmer]

XR21 wrote:

I have just one more question : when several people on this thread reported this as a bug in the adobe dedicated bug reporting tool aren't we talking to Adobe ? I though I was ?

You are very welcome to offer us to email you but shouldn't the normal bug repporting system be enough?

If you're logging a bug using the official portal for this, you are most certainly talking to Adobe.

You're correct in thinking that this should take care of it and there's no need to contact someone personally ever.

And most of the time that's exactly how it works. The AME team worked on hundreds of bugs and features for AME CC, and for the most part, you don't hear much about that, as that's exactly what the team is dedicated to achieve: creating an application that just does the job and is out of your face as much as that's possible.

When a request isn't addressed, it can be for many different reasons - some of them relate to the fact that software is created by humans.

If something is causing frustration I personally feel it's much better to talk to a person than to figure out whether the system doesn't do what it's supposed to be doing or if there's a technical issue in communicating the concern - hence my offer to contact me.

Having this said: I fully agree with you that engaging in a conversation about how to interact in better and more meaningful ways is time well spent. Gald you made the post on John Nack's blog.

Best,

Patrick

[nordmodulax]

hi patrick,

what did the team have to say about the ridiculous framerate bug with image sequences? I sincerely hope this will be fixed in the CS6 version and not just in CC. I've started working on a project that will involve lots of image sequences needing to be encoded into 25fps clips and will be stuck with CS6 for the time being.

I wrote a detailed bug report about this issue on the adobe support page (or whatever it's called) last year and also included a really modest feature request: have ame remember the last FPS I entered manually for interpreting an image sequence. as of now I have to manually enter "25" each and every time because it always defaults back to 29.97 with a nonsencial "1.00 fps" as the alternative.

last time i tried using ame in production workflow this piece of junk cost me a lot of nerves and wasted a lot of my time. please let know if ame cs6 will become a usable application for people dealing with a bunch of 25fps image sequences anytime soon.

thanks

[ilya_fls]

The bug is still there for the most up to date version 7.0.1

We have to use an outdated version of cs5.5 to get the correct result.

It has been 2 versions since that bug was reported, what is Adobe doing about it?

[hypernerd.de]

Wow... just ran into the same problem. I've worked with 5.5 until a few weeks ago and can't believe this is true. After all, an Adobe employee, one year and several people posting bug reports weren't enough? Seriously...

I'm not that much into CC bashing, but if the Cloud brings me automated updates, and random features can get broken randomly from version to version (which is human), Adobe better should work on really quick solutions when in a few years, no one has a 5.5 or something else to fall back in the worst case. Glad for now that I can, but makes me think again...

[Patrick J. Palmer]

I will make no excuses and will spare you a lengthy explanation as to why somtimes things can look so easy whereas the reality behind the curtain can be a little more complex - just stay tuned for a couple of days, I'll have an update for you as soon as we have everyone back from IBC.

Cheers,

Patrick

[Hamacek]

Just a quick check in to:

1. Confirm that this problem still seems to exist (6.0.2.81 Mac 64bit)

2. Check to see if there might be any solution coming soon since this post 6 months back

This bug makes AME unfit for purpose and useless for encoding 25fps animation image sequences unfortunately. Back to Quicktime 7 for me for the moment...

[oksidor]

It is not likely that Adobe will fix this issue in the non-current version that is 2 years old... You need Premiere Pro / AME 7.1.0 or above, but still "Inerpret footage" must be explicitly invoked in the context menu of the job you are setting up.

[sattheone]

Hello Adobe Staff  !!!

Is there a solution to this problem yet???

I having the same problem in Adobe Media Encoder CC.

are you guys listening???

[Oleg_Sidorenko]

Are you using Interpret Footage for the jobs you are adding? After adding your source you must right-click on its name in the list, choose Interpret Footage and configure the frame rate and/or other settings.

[sattheone]

No, That Interpret Footage option is grayed out. Im trying to convert  image sequence to mov

[Oleg_Sidorenko]

Sometimes when I click the "plus" button or choose Add Source from File menu, there is a glitch that doesn't allow me to choose an image sequence. When you add one, make sure to navigate to the folder with your source images, click any one and make sure the option "[format] file sequence" is clickable, and check it. The new job will get added to your queue and will get a name inherited from the file you chose. Right-click that name (or go to File menu after selecting the job), and choose Interpret Footage. It should be available. MOV or not is irrelevant, this command helps AME treat your image sequence differently as source; output container format plays no role at this point.

[sattheone]

I've selected the image sequence but Interpret Footage option is still grayed out.

Check screenshot.

Screen Shot 2014-07-21 at 6.31.59 pm.png

[Oleg_Sidorenko]

You've selected the settings for it, not the sequence. Click the 1920x1080-A...line

[sattheone]

Oleg, Thank you so much.

[Oleg_Sidorenko]

No problem:) Good luck

[sattheone]

Hi, How to export to image sequence to highres mov with custom dimensions ??

[Oleg_Sidorenko]

Can you explain a bit more? Is it "to image sequence" or "to highres mov"? Either way, both are easy. Exporting to image sequence is done via dozens of presets in the "Image Sequence" subfolder in "System presets" presets folder. Exporting to MOV is easy too, but can be done only if you choose QuickTime as a format. Then in the Video tab of the settings you must choose a codec, since MOV is only the container file format.

[Oleg_Sidorenko · Accepted solution]

"Interpret Footage" is finally fixed in November 2013 Creative Cloud video updates. If your version of Premiere Pro and AME is or above 7.1.0, everything should work as expected. Just don't forget to actually perform "Interpret Footage" on your source in Premiere Pro CC or a source in AME CC que, otherwise your image sequence will continue to be interpreted as 29.97fps by default.

[nordmodulax]

So this means AME CS6 will remain broken?

[flying_giraffe]

I **THINK** I have a sollution.

Was banging my head against a brick wall with this for a while myself, rendering a 20minute animation. Doing so to a QT is dangerous due to likelyhood of a crash or error part way through a 5hour + render.

The work-around I came up with was to render an image sequence. Import this sequence into After Effects, set frame rate and then import that After Effects project to AME and render/compress from there.

Hope this helps!

[flying_giraffe]

also - not tried it, but assume the same thing could be done from Premiere Pro as well..

[nordmodulax]

thank you for trying to help. normally i deal with lots of short image sequences instead of a single long one, so saving another copy of an ae project for each time i want AME to compress something would be slowing down the workflow too much. not to mention that the opening ae projects in AME sometimes works fine and sometimes doesn't for reasons i can't figure out.

instead, i'm not using AME at all anymore. when i need to compress image seqs I import a bunch of them into aftereffects, drag them all into the queue, select them all and assign the proper render/output presets. instead of hitting render in ae i submit all of them at once to a background render process using the bgrender script. this way i can continue using aftereffects and switch to a different ae project if needed.

[Alf Kuhlmann]

There is a bit of a problem rendering some final formats in AFX.

Media encoder does a better job with certain codecs.

I know this is true with H264. H264 rendered out of AFX looks flat and washed out in comparison.

I believe this is true with other formats as well.

Since I found a marked difference in quality with H264 between ME and AFX.

I now render all delivery files in ME.

Anything uncompressed or if they are just preview files I render straight out of AFX.

[nordmodulax]

interesting, I wasn't aware AME produced different h264 files than aftereffects. I encounter the washed-out look of h264s when i work on PCs and i was assuming (having read about this issue elsewhere) that it was a gammashift due to outdated quicktime implementation on windows. it did happen on macs too though but I got around it using the free x264 codec in mpeg streamclip to do h264s instead of the quicktime h264 codec. anyway, as of aftereffects cs6 I don't seem to have issues anymore, provided I use the main concept h264 codec by adobe ... at least on mac i can render h264s traight out of aftereffects without noticable gamma shift.