AE 18.1: Fill Effect giving 8-bit color error

[Mike Foran]

I am working in 16bpc color, and I am having an issue where I apply the Fill effect on a layer, then when I select the effect in the 'Effect Controls' palette, a window pops up with the error "This effect only supports 8 bit per channel color. Using this effect in a 16 bit per channel project may reduce color precision."

Firstly, Fill works in 16bpc mode, so why am I getting an error? Secondly, Why can't I stop this error from appearing, even if it were true? It's very annoying to have to confirm this every time I select the effect.

[Rick Gerard]

What version of AE are you using? What does the Icon show in the Effects and Presets panel? Fill has been a 32-bit effect for a while. What else is going on in the layer?

[Mike Foran]

The version is right in the title of the post: 18.1. There is no yellow splat on the effect to indicate it's rendering in an 8-bit mode. There is nothing else going on with the layer, it just has the Fill effect applied. This is an inconsistent error. It doesn't always appear, but once it does it doesn't stop appearing. I suspect it has something to do with my GPU, which is a Nvidia 1080i, but I haven't seen anyone else having this issue.

[user5188785]

I can confirm this has been an issue for me in the last month or so.  I'm using After Effects 18.1.0 (Build 38) on a PC.

Attaching a video of it happening.

My specs:
Windows 10 Pro

AMD Ryzen7 3800x

128GB Ram

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980Ti - Driver Version 27.21.14.6627

[Mike Foran]

Yep that's it exactly.

[user5188785]

I can confirm that the problem does not occur for me anymore, after the last update (version 18.2.1 (Build 8)).

[adamtanner.tv]

Just want to add that I am also getting this error every time I add, select, or open the effects control panel with a fill on it in 16bpc mode. Extremely annoying!

Windows 10 

intel i9 9900k

Nvidia 2080ti

64 gb ram

[Mike Foran]

@adamtanner.tv check your video card 3D settings. I opened the Nvidia control panel and realized I had a custom setting for GPU features per app. I set it to 'Automatic' and the problem (seems) to have gone away. It was intermittent, so too soon to say for sure, but probably worth a shot.

[adamtanner.tv]

Either the latest patch or the latest nvidia drivers have fixed this issue for me.