Unwanted drop shadow after conversion

[Dazzer_21]

Is someone able to explain this for me? Attached is a screen grab. *Ignoring the difference in resolution* (on the left is a vector placed in Animate and on the right is a blown-up version of the end result in a .mov file), there is a problem I can't work out. I've tried what I think is every combination of file conversion using Media Encoder and Movavi Studio, but it's always the same. The logo develops a drop shadow. Looking further into it, it appears to be anything brightly coloured, although red seems to be particularly noticeable. I've tried placing the file as a high res JPG, a PNG or pasted directly from Illustrator as a vector but nothing is helping. Any ideas or help on conversion settings would be gratefully received.

[kglad]

when you test your swf do you see the drop shadow?

[Dazzer_21]

The SWF file is perfect. It's the conversion to the final required file format that seems to be causing the problems (.mov, H264 encoded). I can't work out how to maintain the quality. Exporting to Video/Media in "Quicktime/default (Animate)" format creates a file for a 10 second basic animation of around 1GB! Running that in Quicktime player, it already shows the drop shadow. I've tried just about every other export option and it's exactly the same. What I usually do after that is run the .mov file through Movavi Video Converter which then chops the size of the file down to around about 10MB (100th the size). I thought that maybe that last step is what was causing the poor quality, but it's the initial export from Animate that's causing it. I'm fast running out of ideas!

[kglad]

is the only problem an unwanted drop shadow inthe video?

[Dazzer_21]

Yes. Other than that, at the proper size (ie not blown up in any way), the quality of the images are fine. It's just this shadow that stands out a mile!

[kglad]

create a new layer

without copying/pasting create that text

remove the previous text

export your video 

[Dazzer_21]

It's an imported graphic. I've got three versions of it in the library; jpg, png and vector. However it is placed, even creating new specific layers, the end result is always the same. It has to surely be an export setting.

[kglad]

trace it

[Mario_CR]

Anything that shows on the SWF will show on the exported video.

Anything that doesn't show on the SWF will not show on the exported video.

Animate merely records the SWF for video rendering, it won't /can't add anything to it.

I'm not sure this is a drop shadow at all, it might be some artifact from anti-aliasing or transparency.

Turn off transparency in the export window. Your target format is MP4 so you're not using it anyway.

[Dazzer_21]

I've had some progress in finding out the issue. It seems to be an H264 issue. When I export using Quicktime/Pro-res 422, the shadow is gone! My issue is that the client NEEDS the output in H264. Another issue I am now experiencing is that I have two sizes of the same artwork. One is 1080p, the other is 1680x675. The 1080p one is crisp in terms of output quality, the other version is blurred all over. Is this some issue with Animate not processing odd sizes properly?

[Dazzer_21]

I'll add that the artwork is optimised at both sizes, so nothing is blown up or altered from one to the other. Both are original artwork from scratch.

[Mario_CR]

You mentioned earlier that the problem could be seen when exporting with the preset Quicktime / Default. This is the base format Animate uses for transcoding to all the other formats. Using Pro-res 422 wouldn't fix anything if that were the case.

I don't see anything wrong with H.264 either, could you please provide the file to check the issue more closely or at least a step by step screen recording of your export process? 

[Dazzer_21]

Attached is a screengrab. Left is the original Animate file. The logo is a vector, copied and pasted from Illustrator. Nice and sharp. The middle is a Quicktime/ProRes422 export. Barring the colour shift, it looks fine with no shadow or artifacting. On the right is an export using the Quicktime/Animate (Default) setting as an H264. Blurry and with a pronounced shadow effect attached to it.

[Mario_CR]

Another screenshot wasn't exactly what i was asking for but I'll do my best.

I grabbed the logo from your image and roughly vectorized it to make my own tests with it.

Results vary with different video players.

Here's an example playing the same H.264 video in VLC (left) vs Windows Media Player (right)

 

Notice the slight drop shadow effect on the right like you mentioned.

My conclusion is that the apparent dropshadow effect is an artifact of the player, not the file itself. Not all players have the same level of support /accuracy across formats.

[Firewood：D]

It's very simple. If you zoom in on a small bitmap, you will inevitably see blurred details.
If it is because of the conversion of the video format, then over-compression will also cause distortion and loss of details.
The different sizes in the video determine the clarity of the picture, that is, 720<1080<2k<4k<8k, corresponding to the clarity level.
If you need a clear picture, please increase the size of your video or do not over-compress it.

[Dazzer_21]

Thanks, but I'm aware of that. As in the original post, *disregarding* the difference in resolution of the images shown, the blown up image on the right shows a drop shadow that isn't on the original vector. It's only blown up because the original is very small and this enables you to clearly see there is a darker shadow when the original is one flat colour red. It is not representational of the quality of the end result. No effects have been applied.