Rendering with Keylight (Shows Missing)

[Sebasrez]

Hi all,

First of all I can't use the latest versions of after effects and premiere because it crashes when trying to start up the program. So I am using the version before. Second, AME sometimes gives this error.

Export Error

Error compiling movie.

Accelerated Renderer Error

Unable to produce frame.

Okay, but when closing everything and opening it again and finally being able to render. The footage that has the Keylight (1.2) on it shows as if missing (with the SMPTE color bars). This is while trying to render it as H.264 (which I would rather do on AE but it doesn't show up). I can render on AE with Quicktime Animation which is a work around but I just don't understand why this requires such a work around to get this working. So, my question is how can I fix this?

I am using windows 10, Nvidia GTX 1080 (which is on its latest update), intel 17-8700k, 32 gb RAM.

Build 13.0 with AME
Build 16.0.0 with AE

[Warren Heaton]

Are you seeing the missing footage while still in After Effects or is this only happening in Adobe Media Encoder?

The footage should only show as missing if, well, it's missing.

Have you already tried opening the After Effects project file, relinking the source footage and then exporting using Adobe Media Encoder Queue?

And, yes, H264 is not available from the After Effects Render Queue.

[Sebasrez]

Hi Warren,

Yes I do see the file in After Effects. It is not exactly missing, it just shows as such on AME.

I tried what you mentioned but it still comes up as missing on AME, even though it is not in After Effects.

[Warren Heaton]

The next step would be to open and check the copy of the After Effect project file that's getting sent to AME.  Those should be in a folder next to the .aep. 

Of course, even though it's a step removed, your workaround of rendering to Best Settings - Lossless form AE and then adding that file to AME to generate the .MP4 is a solid approach (even if not ideal).

Of course, you'll ultimately want to determine what's causing the crash when you launch the most recent versions of AME and AE. For the time being, you may even want to install CC2018.  You can run CC2019 and CC2018 at the same time (our course, I'm assuming that you're not already doing that).

[Sebasrez]

I opened the AME file and it looks fine, still not sure why AME is not rendering out anything footage that has h265 in the comp (just tested and it has nothing to do with Keylight). I can't use the latest versions of AME or After Effects because of the crashing so I have to use the versions before. But either way it is still bothersome that After Effects can use h265 in the composition but AME shows it as missing when rendering.

[Warren Heaton]

From what you’ve described, it sounds like you need to convert your h265 footage to something that’s supported in the older version of AME.

Do you already have a CODEC that‘s meant for editing that you like to use for editing?

Modern file formats (like h265) and legacy file formats (like Cinepak) can be the bane of a content creator’s existence.

[Warren Heaton]

Forgot to mention: I’d opt to do what you’ve been trying to avoid: render something like a Best Settings Lossless file from AE and then transcode that in the older AME.