Precomp inside precomp, bad resolution after rendering

[Rolf5E3D]

I have put a precomp inside a precomp inside a precomp. I get bad resolution after export, much worse then when the precomps where not inside each other this way. Is this to be expected? I do this way to get a cleaner workspace.

[Warren Heaton]

Assuming that you're rendering using the Best Quality Render Settings and the High Quality Qutput Module, the rendered movie file should look the same as the Comp at Full Resolution.

On the off chance you're somehow scaling something down in one Comp and then scaling it above 100% in a containing Comp, you can enable the Collapse Transformations Layer Switch in the containing Comp to tell AE to look at the Source Footage resolution as it renders; however, this will disable some AE options for the nested Comp.

Collapse Transformations Layer Switch enabled for nested Comp

If the Layer Source is a Comp, this is Collapse Transformations.

If the Layer Source is a vector based file format (usually Adobe Illustrator or EPS), this is Continuously Rasterize.

- Warren

[Rolf5E3D]

Thanx! This high quality module, where do I find this?  I think I have best resolution but I am not 100% sure. I will try your suggestions. I think when I have this comp inside comp its called nested? Is there something I need to do, when I put precomps inside precomps to do it right, some settings?

[Rolf5E3D]

I see now that I have used the media encoder, I see the options you suggest when I choose the send to render que instead, whats the difference between these?

[Rolf5E3D]

Can I choose mp4 when I use the render que? I dont see this option. Also I have used avi-option but then the files become extremely large?

[Rolf5E3D]

I have tried collapsed transf. Now looks great, even 1080p i good enough. Thanx!

[Warren Heaton]

@Rolf5E3D 

Good news.  Can I trouble you to mark my answer as "Correct"?

"High Quality" is a new Output Module Template for the After Effects Render Queue.  It's the modern version of "Lossless" which has been around for decades.

Yes, "nested" is the term used to describe a Comp being used as the Layer Source in another Comp.  This can also get referred to as "pre-Comp" as well as "Child Comp".  Sometimes we need to nest Comps to control the order in which After Effects renders things, but we can also do it based on how we want to organize the parts of our animation.  It's similar to a Layer Group in Photoshop or a Sub-Layer in Illustrator.

The After Effects Render Queue is AE handling the render with the full range of options available in the Render Settings.  The format options available by exporting via the Render Queue tend to favor higher end choices - that is, footage that will be used as source after it's rendered.  While the Render Queue is rendering, AE cannot be used.   The Adobe Media Encoder Queue uses a copy of the After Effects project and allows us to continue to use AE while it's rendering.  Adobe Media Encoder (AME) should render at Full Resolution with things like frame rate, Effects use, and Proxy use at the current Comp settings.  It defaults to Work Area, but the time span can be adjusted on the AME side.  AME supports common delivery formats like H264 and HEVC in addition to higher end formats like ProRes and DNx (just to name a few).

No, you cannot choose MP4 in the AE Render Queue.  You may find YouTube video on doing so in AE, but that's covering a much older version of After Effects that was QuickTime based.  To render MP4 directly from AE, you'd have to go back to After Effects CS6 and Windows 7 or macOS 10.12 Sierra (the last version of macOS before Apple started to deprecate QuickTime as a system driver for time based media).  Back then, we would have been rendering an H264 MOV which is an equivalant of a H264 MP4 today.  If the file had to be MP4, the filename extension ".mov" could simply be changed to ".mp4".

Yes, an AVI with the options available in AE is going to be very large as it defaults to being uncompressed.  Fortunately, there's a good selection of CODECs for editing and a good selection for delivery.

It's good to hear that Collapse Transformations is what was needed.  Sometimes bad resolution after exporting is the result of low resolution source footage not holding up to being rendered.  An MP4, mp3, or JPEG may look great outside of After Effects and in the Comp windows, but fall apart when rendered.  That's almost always a result of the files being low bit-rate.  If you can avoid these formats as source, all the better.  If you have to use MP4 as source, then 35 Mbps would be the minimum target bit rate with 50, 100, 200 or 400 being better.  If you have to use mp3, 128 kbps would be the mimnum target bit rate with 256 or 512 being better.  If use JPEG as source, it should have been saved at "High" or "Maximum" quality.  If you have to use low bit rate MP4 or mp3 as source or highly compressed JPEGs, it doesn't hurt to to a test export with them at the start of your project to see how well or how poorly they'll hold up.