Draft quality input layer

Report · Jul 20, 2011

Hi guys,

Im building a plugin using region recognition of flat colors. Then I m building up region list by color and gathering it in clusters.

My problem is when using "Best quality" setting, After Effects generate some kind of anti aliased lines that I really dont want to have in my input (it make the number of region considerably bigger). It seems that this anti aliasing process occurs BEFORE the effect computation.

I would like to get an input layer without the anti aliased lines (i.e in draft mode).

I can render it with aegp suites but it s really slow. I would love to be able to specify when checking out layers the pixels I want and their quality.

Does anyone know how to do it?

Thanks in advance.

Report · Jul 21, 2011

hi marc.

as far as i know, what you're asking for is not possible.

when AE renders a comp, each layer is rendered using it's current settings, and you can't request any other quality or downsample.

you can only do that, as you said you did, using aegp suites to render an item.

you can have your plug-in set the render quality on that layer to draft, but when rendering via the render queue, all layers are likely to be rendered as "best" regardless of their settings.

sorry.

no good news.

😞

Report · Jul 21, 2011

Ok...

Actually I performed some more test... And it seems that aliasing is performed after rendering of effects.

My problem is when i pre-compose a layer with aliasing and then apply my effect....

It seems that draft/ best quality mode is recursive when changing it in After effects...

I wonder if it will be when if rendering in draft mode from the API...

Im thinking about creating a plugin that would just remove anti aliasing from a picture...

Report · Jul 21, 2011

the anti aliasing for the RESULT of your layer occurs after the effects are renders, because the transformation of the layer occurs after the effects have rendered.

so you're looking on two separate issues here.

1. making the input of you layer be in draft mode.

you already know the problems and solutions involved.

2. making the result of your plug-in not antialias when the layer is scaled/rotated.

you have two ways of doing that:

a. setting the layer quality to draft. that tells AE not to antialias during the transformation of that layer.

b. writing an artisan plug-in, and render that whole comp according to your logic.

personally, i would expect the user to pre-compose his animation, and apply the effect on an untransformed layer.

p.s.

an anti-anti-aliaser? (or just an "aliaser")

cool!

🙂

Report · Jul 21, 2011

Thank you for your always precious help Shachar.

I tested the solutions of rendering in draft mode from the API... It does not work.

Why? is because you will get the right non antialiased layer IF this layer motion that result in anti aliasing has been defined in the current composition

But if you precompose your motion, you will get a anti aliased layer anyway.

This is really confusing! because when using AE, the change in draft/best quality is recursively applied to all inner composition of your current composition layer. But in the API, it seems to be not recursive... you end up with a layer anti aliased in another comp, and a draft of anti aliased layer that is ... anti aliased...

I dont know if this explanation is clear, but the result is that the solution of re-rendering in draft mode will work only in some cases and not all cases.... which means it not reliable.

So I m really thinking about building up a anti-anti aliasing, or aliaser. A combination of color reduction algorithm and other algorithm

Report · Jul 22, 2011

well, you have to change the quality of the layer where the transformation occurs.

so yes, you have to change the quality of the layer inside the comp on which the effect is applied.

now, i don't know exactly how you intend for the plug-in to be used,

but is it not possible that the plug-in will be applied directly onto a video layer that has already been anti-aliased, and there's nothing you can change about that?

if your plug-in can cope with that, can it not cope with a layer set to "best" quality?

(of course if the transformation occurs in side a comp, and not after the applied effect)

Report · Jul 24, 2011

Of course changing the algorithm is possible. There is some drawbacks to do so.

1) more computation cost

2) not accurate result

Why? because I m working with cartoon animation, which drawings are fully aliased! so you can get region recognition by color for really simply and efficiently. sou you can build precise and exact mask really easily!

You add anti-aliasing in that and evrything just fails....