AE CC 2014 Settings Mismatch Frame Rate

[wowatracy]

I'm trying to take a 23.976 DPX sequence and create a DNx36 QT.  When I generate the QT the timecode does not match the DPX sequence.  In the Output Module I get a Settings Mismatch "Frame rate of output file will be adjusted from 23.976 to 23.976 fps to meet format constraints."  Seems funny that's trying to convert from one frame rate to the same frame rate.

The composition timecode is correct and at 23.976, just the QT timecode changes when it's exported.  This worked fine in AE CS6 but it can't take 12bit DPXs so I have to use CC.

Settings are:

Format: QuickTime

Video Output Format Options: Avid DNxHD Codec

Codec Settings: 1080p/23.976 DNxHD 36 8-bit

Any ideas?

[foughtthelaw]

Have you checked the "Interpret Footage" settings on the image sequence? AE Defaults to 30fps (and I think other rates in different countries) when importing image sequences. This has burned me on more than a few projects.

[wowatracy]

Yes I've been burned by that in the past as well.  I just triple checked it again to make sure and it's set to "Assume this frame rate: 23.976 frames per second" which is the rate I'm going for.  Composition Settings are also at 23.976

[Warren Heaton]

This is an image sequence, correct?  Have you double-checked the Sequence Footage frame per second setting in the Import Preferences?  That could at least explain why your rendered output isn't matching the image sequence. 

[wowatracy]

Yes the Sequence Footage Import Preferences is set to 23.976

[Warren Heaton]

Are you using macOS or Windows?  If macOS and you've upgraded the OS while sticking with CC2014, you could be running into an issue with the deprecation of QuickTime.  While the MOV file format is sicking around, QuickTime as a system driver for time based media is not (Apple announced the deprecation of QT and the move to AV Foundation Frameworks to developers back in 2013).

[wowatracy]

I'm on a Mac 2 x 2.26GHz Quad Core Intel Xeon running OS 10.8.5

It's an older machine and After Effects CS6 ran just fine on it but doesn't work with 12-bit image sequences so we had to start running CC 2014.  I wouldn't be surprised if what you mentioned about the OS, CC 2014, and Quicktime not all getting along.

[foughtthelaw]

Upgrading to the latest version and trying again is a good idea.

[Warren Heaton]

Upgrading to the latest version of AE will also require upgrading the OS.

You can install CS6 and CC2014 on the same machine.  Maybe try using CS6 again just for this.  Adobe Creative Cloud has a option to install previous versions, you just don't want to confuse it with the option to launch and update previous versions that are already installed (if any).

Alternatively (if you have some time to kill and a spare hard drive), you could create a separate boot drive with either macOS Sierra (10.12 or macOS High Sierra (10.13) and AE CC2017.  If trying this, I'd go with Sierra 10.12 and CC2017.  There's a lot to think about with High Sierra, compatibility with CC (Illustrator and InDesign have some know issues that I've already ready about)) and there's a new drive formatting scheme by Apple.  I plan to wait at least 2 to 3 months before going to macOS 10.13.

[wowatracy]

I actually do run both CS6 and CC 2014 on this machine.  I mainly work in 10-bit but more and more of our projects are going to 12-bit and 16-bit DPXs which I have to use CC 2014 for.

I'll let our tech department know about possibly booting from another drive with an updated OS and After Effects.  Thanks for the idea.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Did you ever solve this wowatracy? Let us know what you did.

Thanks,

Kevin