Rendering settings when using layer blending modes

[jjjnyt]

I'm wondering if there are certain render settings to be aware of in order to achieve the highest-quality result when using layer blending modes to blend solid colors?

[Dave_LaRonde]

No way to know.  What will you be doing with your AE animation?  What's the next piece of software that will use your animation?

[Rick Gerard]

Rendering options have nothing to do with blend modes. Blend modes are not available in the C4D rendering engine or when using Ray-traced rendering. Render settings do have a lot to do with color and compression artifacts. Generally, unless you have spent a fair amount of time studying rendering and video compression you should be using the presets in the Adobe Media Encoder or the presets in the Output Module for rendering. Just match your frame size and delivery format. The output module is better suited for creating visually lossless digital intermediates than it is for creating compressed deliverable files like MP4's.

[jjjnyt]

Thanks Rick Gerard​ for your reply.

I'm exporting to Adobe Media Encoder and in the process of outputting a Mp4 I see a lot of options in the Bitrate Settings and stuff like Render at Maximum Depth is not checked by default.

I was wondering if you need to adjust anything beyond the default in order to get excellent/high-quality color in mp4.

[Rick Gerard]

The only thing you should be messing with for things like YouTube and Vimeo are Max Quality and Multi Pass. These will improve compression artifacts a little bit. The bit rate settings are already at the recommended settings for Vimeo and You Tube so you'll get the fastest turn around on those platforms and the least amount of re-compression.

Sure you can jack the data rate way up, but all streaming services will re-compress your video with a sledge hammer if it does not fit their standards and serve up something that is not as good as it could have been if you followed their recommendations.

Video compression is an art and the folks at Adobe have supplied you with tools that will get you a really good product in the least amount of time if you don't fiddle with the knobs.

You can start messing with your own settings and experimenting a bit but it's a really good idea to do some serious studying before you do. It's really easy to screw things up, especially when you are sending your product to a streaming service like Vimeo or YouTube.

[jjjnyt]

Thanks Rick this is super helpful.

I agree the default settings do a great job at meeting specs for main streaming/video channels.

I'd love to do some more reading on this subject so if you can provide an article or two you think is a good read for this it would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!