Guide Layers rendering to output

[Willie Frazier]

Ok, so for various reasons, I have been using AE 2020 (v17.6) for the last couple of years.  Today however, I was given a file made in v23, and had to install this version to open the file.

Pretty basic file, and process... I made some guide layers in the comps I needed to modify, and when I was ready to render, I did the Option+Cmd+S for 'Save Frame As File' action... my preferred method of easily exporting a still for years and years now. After rendering, I noticed the resulting output had the guide layers in them... um.. wtf?

So, I did a search and found a since closed disucssion talking about this very thing from November of 2019 reporting the exact same behavior... the post ended with an Adobe person asking for a sample file, saying they weren't sure how to replicate the bug, so I don't know what evert came of this, only that its something that has been on Adobe's radar for almost 3 years and hasn't been addressed... 

To any Adobe personnel who wish to test this, do the following:

 - Create a comp
 - Create a layer in that comp.. in order to replicate my experience, make it a single text layer.
 - Create Place a small image (mine were .tiff) in the comp, and set it to be a guide layer
 - Execute as 'Save Frame As File' command (Option + Command + S)
 - Set the file to a PNG with alpha
 - Render

Some of the specifcities here regarding layer and export file type may or may not factor in, but I include these details to replicate what I just experienced as closely as possible.

This is a pretty serious issue for those of us producing high volumes of iterative content on the daily (I make graphics elements for all of the NHL, NBA, and MLB sports teams), and I would hope to see this addressed and corrected as soon as possible... I cannot and will not migrate out of AE 2022, depsite it having to run in Rosetta until then.

For my machine / OS stats... I did this on a current M1 Pro Max MacBook Pro, running macOS 12.4

I have attached a couple of images showing that the existence of the guide layer, and its visibility on the rendered output... said render was only meant to have the outlined text, to make it clear.

Thanks in advance for your consideration

[JohnColombo]

Hi @Willie Frazier,

Thank you for taking the time to write this up, the detail is much appreciated.

Quick solution: Go to Edit > Templates > Render Settings, and change "Frame Default" to "Best Settings".

We've heard varying reports of this issue over the last few years and it seems to be due to the factory-default setting for Save Frame As > File being "Current Settings", which does show guide layers in the output. So if you've needed to reset your preferences, started fresh on a new system, or didn't migrate preferences, this default would cause guide layers would be rendered in saved frames. You should only need to change this once to "Best Settings" and it will persist after that, including through preference migration.

The "Current Settings" option is intended to output exactly what is seen in the Composition viewer, which would include guide layers, while "Best Settings" disables guide layers and also proxies. Given how much this behavior has been reported as a bug, we are investigating how we can better make the defaults match expectations while still remaining correct from a technical standpoint.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[Willie Frazier]

Thanks John, 

   That was indeed the issue.  To be honest, in my 20+ years with this program, I have never used anything but Best Settings or some custom derivation thereof specific to my project.  I had failed to notice that this new install had set 'current settings' to the default, and the procedure you outline for making 'Best Settings' the default is typically one of the first things I do when I am in new version, though the last time I went to a new version was 3 years ago, largely because I don't like to 'change horses midstream' and I have been on the same work during this time period.

Anyway, appreciate the response and some insight as to the nature of the issue.