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khomthepreditor
Inspiring
July 11, 2019
Question

Rotobrush Selecting Entire Frame

  • July 11, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 38134 views

Hey all, I'm having an annoying issue with the Rotobrush tool in After Effects that I hope you can all help me out with. I'm very familiar with Premiere, but my After Effects knowledge/experience is lacking for sure, so it's quite possible I'm missing something pretty basic.

I'm working with linked comps created from clips in a Premiere timeline. The only effects applied to the original clips were adjusting speed and framing. I open the comps in AE, and when I go to roto, it gives me a warning my clip framerate doesn't match my comp framerate, and then selects the entire frame. I change my comp framerate to match my clip framerate, and it still selects the entire frame. Here's a video of me doing this: Rotobrush Issue - YouTube

I searched briefly for anyone else having this issue, and it's definitely a known problem, but I didn't see any sort of workaround or solve.

Looking forward to hearing what y'all think!

E: Just some additional notes, this has been happening on both Mac and PC systems, on AE v16.1.2 Build 55.

4 replies

Participant
February 9, 2021

I was really, really surprised to be dealing with an issue in After Effects where I tried using the rotobrush and it would only select the whole frame. I had retimed footage in Premiere to speed it up and then Dymanic Linked the footage to After Effects to rotobrush a portion out and add a logo. It's funny I ran into the exact issues while doing the two main causes of the problem. Thanks to everyone on this thread for the help!

Community Expert
February 10, 2021

The first thing to do if you are having problems with Rotobrush is to delete the Rotobrush effect from the layer, pre-compose the layer, name it "For Roto" or something similar, making sure that you are moving all attributes to the new comp. Trimming the pre-comp might be a good idea if the layer is not as long as the comp. There is no need to open the "For Roto" comp but you do need to open the layer in the Footage Panel using the Layer menu or a right-click and apply Rotobrush there. If you still have problems you might want to open up the "For Roto" comp and add some color correction to the footage so the edges are a little better defined. To tell the truth, I do a fair amount of color correction and garbage masking on most of the footage I'm going to rotobrush because it just works better on most shots if you do.

Participant
February 23, 2021

Hi Rick,
Hope you're doing well. I am having a bit of an issue.
I added color correction to a clip to help rotobrush see the edges a little better.

Then I pre-comp the clip, moving all attributes into the new comp.
How do I now apply rotobrush to the new pre-comp? Searched every menu and lots of Googling, but can't seem to find the answer. Any help would be much apprecated. Thank you.

angie_taylor
Legend
July 12, 2019

Precompose the Layer and then use Rotobrush on the subsequent comp - this should fix your issue without massive workarounds and get you up and running quickly.

Community Expert
July 12, 2019

The only thing that is 100% certain, if you try and rotobrush a layer that has the time stretched you will get a warning and I just discovered that the entire frame will be selected in the latest version of After Effects if you try and use Rotobrush. I don't know if that happened in previous versions because I always make sure that the frame rate matches the comp's frame rate with I'm creating doing roto work.

If the comp was created by selecting a clip in a Premiere Pro sequence that had a speed change the footage in the speed change will show up in After Effects. You can see it in the timeline by enabling the In, Out, Duration, and Stretch columns by clicking on the {} icon in the bottom right corner of the Timeline.

Just pre-composing a Stretched layer will solve the frame rate problem but the frames will all be reinterpreted and the likelihood that you will get the best matte possible goes way down. The bigger the time stretch the lower the quality of the Matte. Pre-composing will get you to a place where Rotobrush will work, but it will work better if you are processing the original frames. There is a fairly simple option to end up with a comp that has the true frame rate of the footage and the correct in and out points.

The first thing to do is to make sure that Synchronize Time of related events is turned on in your AE Preferences. Now follow these steps:

  1. Duplicate the footage layer in the comp created by dynamic link
  2. Select the top copy and pre-compose but this time Do Not move all attributes to the new composition but open it. This will give you a composition that does not have a time stretched layer, but it also does not have any in or out points
  3. Return to the main comp and put the CTI on the first frame
  4. Return to the Pre-comp and the CTI will have moved to the same frame that is in the main comp
  5. Set a new in point using the keyboard shortcut Alt/Option +[. 
  6. Repeat the procedure for the out point of the pre-comp (Alt/Option + ]). You now have a comp with trimmed footage at the correct frame rate for roto.
  7. Complete your Rotobrush and either render the result or use the Pre-comp as a track matte for the original footage

That will get you there and solve the whole frame selected problem. The choice is yours. If Pre-composing and moving all attributes give you a good enough matte then that option has the fewest steps. If you want to get the best results then use the checklist I just posted. It's the most efficient way I can think of to deal with a frame rate mismatch.

khomthepreditor
Inspiring
July 12, 2019

Thank you all for the cautionary tales and incredibly useful advice! You guys are AWESOME!!!

Dave_LaRonde
Inspiring
July 11, 2019

I would export the clip in question from Premiere Pro.  No Dynamic link.  It's fouling things up.

Participant
May 20, 2021

Not The Problem, Never Was. STOP ASSUMING THINGS. You are constantly leading people down paths of false salutions based off of pure assumption and have been for years. 

Participating Frequently
August 23, 2024

But it was the problem for me and his tip work, so what are you so frustrated about?