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magnus atom
magnus atom
Participant
December 19, 2024

P: H.264 exports appear glitchy when scrubbed in QuickTime Player or Preview in macOS 15.1 or newer.

  • December 19, 2024
  • 返信数 27.
  • 3763 ビュー

[Moderator: Updated title for clarity and making searching easier. This issue also affects Premiere Pro and Media Encoder.]

 

A month ago I updated my 2021 MacBook Pro to the latest Mac OS Sequoia 15.0.1 and that's when I began experiencing render issues when rendering H.264 from After Effects (2024 & 2025) or Media Encoder (2024 & 2025). The render plays back okay but when I scrub through, but when I scrub through the timeline, in AE, Quicktime, Frame.io, etc, I notice every 4th or so frame has terrible artifacting.

I've been able to work around this for a month by sending ProRes LT to my clients, however now a client is asking for a H264 so I'm stuck trying to figure this out or encode it on an old MacBook that still has an older MacOS version. 

 

If it helps at all, I've noticed when turning Audio Off when rendering through Media Encoder, the problem goes away, but obviously that's not a real solution. Anybody else have this issue and found a fix?

 

I'm sadly debating just buying a new MacBook at this point but not even sure that will solve the issue.

    返信数 27

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    A
    alexandre_2086
    Participating Frequently
    March 7, 2025

    I can imagine it's going to take some time to fix.  The scrubbing pixelation in QT really isn't a real issue to begin with.  It doesn't do it in other media players. The issue that I'm having is that I'm getting my projects rejected exporting h264, period.  It's a hit or miss and I've even tried Software encoding and would get weird gltiches in the same areas.  Only h264 though.  My Intel machine was solid as can be.  

    B
    Brett37091033ni8q
    Participant
    March 7, 2025

    Any updaes on this issue? Backgroudn on why it's happening? Timeline for a fix?

    Fergus H
    Community Manager
    Fergus HCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 4, 2025

    @74350 Great questions! Answers below

     

    "You generally *don't* recommend software encoding, but that's the only option to avoid this weird Quicktime anomaly, correct?"

     

    That is correct. 

     

    "So the only real problem is if a client for some reason decides to go frame by frame in Quicktime and notices the issue. Otherwise, the issue seems to be imperceptible..."

     

    That is correct.

    Fergus H
    Community Manager
    Fergus HCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 3, 2025

    @DAVID 640 As mentioned above, we're very aware of this issue and currently working with Apple on a fix for it. I also mentioned above what you noticed: using software encoding is a workaround. 

     

    In general, we don't recommend software encoding instead of hardware encoding. The differences are usually imperceptible, even in extreme examples (very small type), and while performance differences change based on what hardware you've got, software encoding is much slower. 

     

    Regards,

    Fergus

    D
    DAVID 640
    Participating Frequently
    March 4, 2025
    Thanks for getting back to me on this Fergus.

    Just to be clear:
    You generally *don't* recommend software encoding, but that's the only
    option to avoid this weird Quicktime anomaly, correct?

    But tell me, is it your or your team's perception that playback in
    Quicktime shows NO *perceptible* sign of the anomaly?
    I cannot see any hint of a problem on playback in QT.

    So the only real problem is if a client for some reason decides to go frame
    by frame in Quicktime and notices the issue.
    Otherwise, the issue seems to be imperceptible...
    Or not?

    For me, I think I'm gonna have to go with the software encoding for now,
    (being aware of the caveats you note above) because I guess I am
    still nervous about some playback issue somewhere else in the pipeline.

    I do appreciate that you guys are working with Apple to correct the
    problem...

    David



    --
    DAVID SCHULDER

    646-642-8381
    DLSCHULDER@GMAIL.COM
    https://schuldervideo.squarespace.com
    D
    DAVID 640
    Participating Frequently
    March 2, 2025

    Hmmm... I've just Google-learned that software encoding is generally considerewd "higher" quality, at the expense of speed. True? For my work, I'd be fine with higher quality over speed. Advisable? Thanks...

    D
    DAVID 640
    Participating Frequently
    March 2, 2025

    Just want to report that I've just discovered the exact same issue: Exports have blocky glitches every 4th frame when advancing frame by frame in Quicktime. This does NOT occur when using VLC. When I re-impport the video to Premiere Pro and check it frame by frame, NO glitches. I should also report that during playback in Quicktime, no distortions are evident. Also, playback on Vimeo shows no distortions. Advancing frame by frame on Vimeo (hold down SHIFT key, L / R arrows) shows NO distotions. I have just recently upgraded to a MAC Studio from a 2017 iMac. Problem did NOT occur on the old machine. ALSO: I have also just confirmed that changing the encoding setting from Hardware to Software makes this problem go away in going frame by frame in Quicktime. SO, WHAT is going on? Will this be fixed? What are the downsides to changing from Hardware to Software encoding??? Thanks!

    Fergus H
    Community Manager
    Fergus HCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    February 25, 2025

    Hi all, 

     

    I'm a product manager in the video team at Adobe and my responsiblties include camea & codec support. I want to provide an update on this issue. 

     

    As Sébastien has mentioned, we've been able to reproduce this issue. It happens when: 

    • The export is H.264
    • The export is done on macOS 15.1 or later
    • The export is viewed using QuickTime Player or via the macOS Preview option (i.e., selecting the file and hitting the space bar)
    • The export is scrubbed, either by dragging the playhead or using the arrow keys to navigate. (Note: the issue does not happen during normal playback in QuickTime Player or Preview; only when scrubbing.)

     

    In this scenario, you'll see pixelation starting on the 2nd frame of a video then repeating every fourth frame after. 

     

    As discussed in this thread, workarounds include exporting in a different format, from a different OS, or using software encoding (instead of hardware accelerated encoding). We're aware that none of these workarounds are convenient. 

    We are currently working with Apple to identify and fix the cause of this issue. We'll update this post when we have more information, including when we have a fix in beta for you to try. 

     

    We're sorry for the inconvenience this is causing; we know it is frustrating. 

     

    Regards,

    Fergus

    A
    alexandre_2086
    Participating Frequently
    February 13, 2025

    I've been dealing with this problem as well ever since I've bought an M2 computer last summer.  I noticed that the video plays fine but gets blocky when scrubbing. I ruled out quickly that it was just a QT issue.  I always test multiple media players out. That's fine and dandy but beware that software encoding may also cause issues as well.  I've been getting calls about glitches and pausing during playback from various clients.  I've never had that issue until I got the M2 computers.  I've tried various settings and have found myself using the same settings that I've used from my old computer because it seems to be the most reliable.  I'm hoping that I don't get any more calls.  I export a ton of content a month.  I guess 3 complaints isn't so bad but I'm expecting more. 

    magnus atom
    magnus atom作成者
    Participant
    February 13, 2025

    Thanks @Sébastien Périer17107209 . I can confirm that switching to software encoding has fixed the problem in both After Effects and Media Encoder. Thank you so much for your help!

    Sébastien Périer17107209
    Community Manager
    Sébastien Périer17107209Community Manager
    After Effects Sr. Quality Engineer
    February 12, 2025

    Hi all, thanks for the patience while I was investigating this issue.

    I am able to reproduce the problem on my side, here are my findings and potential workaround:

    From a test video, encoded in h264 (1080p, Main/Level4.1) on the same Mac M1 device, it will playback correctly in:

    • VLC, Premiere, AE, Frame.io, Quicktime and Preview with Mac OS 14.7
    • VLC, Premiere, AE, Frame.io with MacOS 15.3


    Thanks to @Matteastin for pointing out it is only failing for them in QT/Preview, which made me focus on that path. 

    Now, my test mp4 have been encoded in AME with Hardware Encoding turned on. If I encode them with the exact same parameters but with Software encoder selected instead, the file playback properly in Qt/Preview on 15.3.

    As I'm updating the bug on our side, I encourage you to use Software Encoder in AME as a workaround.

    Note that this only impacts decoding the file on Mac Arm devices, only in Quicktime/Preview, in MacOS Sequoia. The encoded frames are correct, and it might just be a decompress issue happening on Apple's side.

    I've set the bug status to confirmed, and updated the bug on our side.

    Sébastien
    After Effects Quality Engineer

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