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David Emmenlauer
Known Participant
January 20, 2020
Answered

After Effects 17.0.2 Renderings much darker, imported videos also much darker

  • January 20, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 20133 views

Hello, I recently upgraded After Effects to version 17.0.2 and noticed afterwards that clips in my compositions suddenly appear much darker. The composition is in Rec709 with 32 Bit color space, I didn't change sth there. In the project, that I set up some time ago, I rendered parts of the composition out as Quicktime ProRes422 and re-imported them for performance reasons. There is white text in this composition, and it also appeared white in the rendered and re-imported clip. Now, the same clip is light grey at the same spot, and when I turn on the original text-layer, the difference is striking. I first noticed the diffenence, when I looked at renderings today and found, they were much too dark. These were exported as Quicktime ProRes from after effects and in a next step encoded as mp4 via media encoder (also newest version). I noticed, that the rendering from after effects was already turning everything darker, but the encoding via media encoder darkened the clip additionally. I reinstalled after effects 17.0.1 and the problem is gone, no luminance shift any more. See screenshot for comparison between clips with and without the issue. Does someone experience the same issue or know an answer to this? I'm working on a macbook pro 15 inch 2018 with Mojave 10.14.6 installed. Thanks!

Best, David

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Rameez_Khan

Hi all,

 

After Effects 17.0.5 includes a fix for color management with ProRes HDR footage. Can you please confirm if your issue is resolved in the 17.0.5 patch?

More information on fixed issues here: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/kb/fixed-issues.html

Thanks,

Rameez

6 replies

D
DemolitionMan14
Known Participant
February 12, 2022

I have 3 Macs (Mac Pro 2019, Macbook Pro 2019, Mac Mini 2018).  When I import the footage into After Effects on the Macbook Pro and the Mac Mini the colors are correct.  When I import the same footage into to After Effects on the Mac Pro it is significantly darker.  It crushes the shadows to the point of no detail.  I created a case with Adobe Enterprise and they told me it was an Apple issue.  Apple replace the machine with a brand new one and newer model GPU (AMD Radeon PRO W6800X Duo 32 GB).  The only places I see any color issues is in Adobe and VLC.  Apple Fiinal Cut shows correct colors.  Please Help.

Rameez_Khan
Rameez_Khan
Legend
February 14, 2022

Hi DemolitionMan14,

 

Thanks for your detailed post.

Which version of After Effects are you using exactly on all the three machines? FAQ: How to find the exact version of After Effects...

Let's look at some preferences on your Mac Pro.

  • Navigate to AE Preferences > Import and see if "Enable Hardware accelerated decoding (requires restart)" is enabled.
  • Under Preferences > Display, see if "Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, and Footage Panels" is enabled
  • Next, under File > Project Settings > Color, check if Color Management is turned on

 

Make sure all of these preferences are set to the same options on all the three machines.

 

Report back to so that I can suggest next steps.

 

Thanks,

Rameez

D
DemolitionMan14
Known Participant
February 14, 2022

22.2

 

All settings match.

 

Color management is set to None.  Then it says assume working gamma 2.4 (Rec. 709)

 

 

M
Marek5EF5
Participant
October 13, 2021

Hi there,

I am still experiencing an issue where pre-rendered comps appear darker than the original comp - even when imported into After Effects. 

 

 

 

S
serge-m
Known Participant
October 13, 2021

Hi,

 

within the "Project" window click on the specific footage/movie and go to "File/Interpret Footage/Main...". Then under the tap in "Color Management" check "Preserve RGB".

This keeps the original color profile or grading in the imported movies. Always check this box, if you get movies from your clients !

    I
    idoevolve
    Participant
    March 3, 2024

    worked! thanks brother

    W
    weccleston
    Inspiring
    July 4, 2020

    Just FYI - I had this same issue and 17.0.5 did NOT fix it.  What did eventually work was setting the project's Working Space to "None" (essentially turning off color management).

      J
      JamesAC
      Known Participant
      August 2, 2020

      Hey!

      This fixed it for me for a while, just updated to the newest AE and it's the same problem except now there's no solution. This is a massive pain, the footage looks fine in everything else PP included... into after effects and it's horrible.

      Please sort this.

      Rameez_Khan
      Rameez_Khan
      Legend
      August 4, 2020

      Hey JamesAC,

       

      Sorry to hear about this.

      Have you turned off color management? Would you be able to share a side by side screenshot from Premiere Pro and After Effects of the preview and color management settings? 

       

      Thanks,

      Rameez

      J
      JamesAC
      Known Participant
      June 7, 2020

      Hello, 

      Im, in 17.1 and I'm still having this issue. Whatever the quicktime codec or resolution it comes out much much darker.

      Any advide would be urgently welcomed 

      Thanks

      Rameez_Khan
      Rameez_Khan
      Legend
      June 8, 2020

      Hi JamesAC,


      Can you check if my post above helps or not?

       

      Thanks,

      Rameez

      J
      JamesAC
      Known Participant
      June 8, 2020

      Hey,

      Mine was set to Adobe RGB, I will try an expost set to none and let you know

      thanks 

      Rameez_Khan
      Rameez_KhanCorrect answer
      Legend
      March 18, 2020

      Hi all,

       

      After Effects 17.0.5 includes a fix for color management with ProRes HDR footage. Can you please confirm if your issue is resolved in the 17.0.5 patch?

      More information on fixed issues here: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/kb/fixed-issues.html

      Thanks,

      Rameez

      D
      David EmmenlauerAuthor
      Known Participant
      March 20, 2020

      Dear Rameez, 

      the issue is resolved for me, I installed the newest update and after rendering out a Quicktime ProRes the colors fit! Thank you very much!

      Thanks, 

      David

        Rameez_Khan
        Rameez_Khan
        Legend
        March 20, 2020

        Awesome! Thanks for reporting it and sticking with us.


        I'm happy to be the voice of our users 🙂

        Rameez

        Rameez_Khan
        Rameez_Khan
        Legend
        January 20, 2020

        Hi David,

         

        Thanks for posting in the community.

        This sounds like a weird issue for me. I don't think we made any changes to color in this release but I will double-check with the After Effects team.

         

        I will keep you posted.

        Thanks,

        Rameez

        D
        David EmmenlauerAuthor
        Known Participant
        January 21, 2020

        Hi Rameez, 

         

        thanks for your quick response, and thanks for keeping me posted! When I can do sth. to help, please let me know!

         

        Best,

        David

        Rameez_Khan
        Rameez_Khan
        Legend
        January 22, 2020

        Hi David, 

         

        I am talking to an engineer about this. Would you be able to provide a sample file for testing?

         

        Let me know.

        Rameez

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