Importer Reported a Generic Error - Premiere Pro dynamic link to After Effects 2023 & 2024

[Naythan Lange]

I'm constantly having an issue within Premiere Pro and After Effects when I take a clip & 'replace with After Effects composition' in Premiere Pro.

The error gives me a, 'Importer Reported a Generic Error' on certain clips only, with the clip codecs being accepted with both Adobe Applications. Any solutions?

VIDEO LINK TO SEE ISSUE

Troubleshooting Steps:

-Cleared all media cache files for Premiere Pro & After Effects (issue still persists)

-Renamed clip files & changed clip locations (issue still persists)

-Ejected all external hard drives (issue still persists)

-Reinstalled Adobe Apps & CC Studio (issue still persists)

Info:

-Clip codecs are; Prores (.MOV) and .H264 (.MP4). Clips are not corrupted as this issue has happened to me numerous times randomly across 2023 and 2024 Adobe Versions.

-Clips located on native Mac Studio hard drive

Any suggestions would help, I've tried to get in touch with Adobe & their customer support failed to solve the problem & has wasted hours of my time screensharing. Note: This has happened numerous times over the past 2 years (2023 & 2024 CC versions) and it's about time to solve this frustrating problem.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @Naythan Lange,

I read your notes. Thanks for the details. Since you have an importer error, I suspect the media. There should be no trouble with ProRes footage but you say you have H.264 footage you are dealing with, as well. Have you tried transcoding that footage? What happens after you do so? Sorry for the frustration.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Naythan Lange]

Hey Kevin, 

Thanks for your response! After 4 hours of speaking with one of Adobe's agents & screensharing my issue. We concluded that it is in fact a bug on their end. Pretty odd now this issue never specifically came up within forums. 

We narrowed it down to the issue regarding the speedramps (or time-remapping) within Premiere Pro. My workflow starts in Premiere Pro with the time-remapping, then I import those clips into After Effects to further refine them using graphs & motion blur. Upon certain clips (that have been time-remapped in Premiere Pro) it gives me a generic error.

We isolated the issue when we checked;

• The codecs/media type (it was standard H.264 DJI clips & ProRes converted GoPro footage) - issue continued
• Transcoded that media - issue continued
• Removed all plugins - issue continued
• Started a new project and sequence - issue continued

Reasoning of solution; With all those steps (and the steps mentioned in the first thread) taken place that did not work, we concluded that the issue did in fact lie within the speed-ramp / time-remapping because:

• We tested the same method of time-remapping from Premiere Pro into AE with stock footage provided by Adobe and my footage.
• We tested out my footage & Adobe's stock footage without time remapping (and a few light time-remapping keyframes) & it imported into AE just fine

Again, importing it using my method works 95% of the time. So I'm thinking it must be something to do within that reason.

From there the Agent said he would get back to me via email on an update, not sure how long until they can find a solution to this. Hopefully soon. If someone has encountered this issue & found a temporary solution please let me know as we all know how long Adobe can get a fix around this!

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @Naythan Lange,

Thanks for the notes. It looks like there may be a bug with time remapping and dynamic link. I am aware that time remapping is handled differently between the two applications, so that may be at the heart of the issue. As a workaround, you might avoid doing any speed effects in Premiere Pro, do them all in AE. Do things work OK now? Let us know.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Naythan Lange]

It of course works in AE but the purpose of this thead is to solve the issue I've been dealing with originally so I don't have to edit in alternate methods. Hopefully they come out with an update soon so this can be resolved. Will post an update to Adobe's response to solution when I hear back. Thanks!

[Kevin-Monahan]

OK. Hopefully, a product team member will respond to this unusual issue.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Naythan Lange]

Just a brief update regarding this thread & issue; I have spoke (if you like to call it that) to Adobe via email. After 5-6 email threads going back and forth, Adobe continuously sends me automated, irrelevant messages that does not address the current issue I still have.

Currently do not know where to go from here seeing as they get a random agent every time to reply by email with an irrelevant response. Piss poor customer service every time, maybe it's because they hire cheap customer service overseas that can barely understand English. Oh well, time to head to Davinci.

[Kevin-Monahan]

HI @Naythan Langem,

I saw your movie and read your notes. It looks like the drone clips are the ones throwing the error. Have you tried transcoding any of those clips to ProRes? If you have time to test that, let me know how that works for you. I hope it helps.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Naythan Lange]

Hey Kevin, it happens regardless of what clip, equipment or codec I use; Sony A7siii, DJI, GoPro, .mp4, .mov. 

I've narrowed it down with the previous agent I spoke to on live chat with the issue being the speed-ramping/time-remapping on Premiere Pro. From there, the agent had no clue what to do and said they would get back to me with a solution. That was November 21st and still no response from Adobe regarding the fix.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @Naythan Lange,

Sorry about that. I will move your post to the Bugs forum. I hope the product team can assist.

Take Care,
Kevin

[Harel25647251oaoi]

replace with after effects composition - "the importer reported a generic error"

someone has tips how to solve this? when Im trying to link a clip in premeire timeline to after effects the clip moving there but isnt link...

thanks

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @Harel25647251oaoi,

I merged your bug with Nathan's. Seems to be the same issue. Let me know if it is not. Be sure to upvote.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Naythan Lange]

Still waiting for a solution.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi,

I'm wondering. Has this ever worked, or is this a new workflow? I informed the product team about this error. Can you share your project files with me? PM me if you, like. I hope I can help you find a reproducible case so we can have a good bug for the team to work on. Sorry for the problem. 

Thanks,
Kevin

[defaultk901y1ok2uh8]

I have this issue as well, I compose a lot of real estate media. So lots of speed ramps drone footage etc. 
My workaround is to render out the project and create a new project from the render and cut the pieces i need to render after effects on. 

PITA Yes! 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @defaultk901y1ok2uh8,

I got your message. A lot of issues like this are related to H.264 media, especially 4:2:2 10-bit footage or footage with a variable frame rate. Drone footage, mobile phone footage, and video captured on other consumer devices (action cameras, for example) are notorious for that kind of thing. 

The typical solution is to transcode or to create proxies on ingest. Editing with footage in a solid editing codec should help a lot. I use ProRes LT. You do need to have a good deal of storage while you are working with transcodes or proxies, but you can delete these files after you deliver/upload your finished project. 

If that is not working, try moving your files to a high speed media drive. That could make a difference too. 

I hope the advice helps. Let me know if you need help with the workflow. Good luck.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Naythan Lange]

Hey Kevin,

Thanks for that detailed insight. I believe I found the issue on my end (at least for what worked for me). When I speed ramp each clip, on some clips I receive that generic error (as stated in the original thread). Sometimes when I speed ramp the points conflict or seemingly overlap with eachother and gives a generic error when imported into after effects. I've proved this being the issue and solution on my end by moving each point of the speed ramp slightly away from each other, then when it imports succeccfully I double checked the points on the AE graph resulting with the points being one frame apart (rather than giving the error when they are overlapping).

[Kevin-Monahan]

OMG, that's great info! Thanks for sharing.

Kevin

[laclaqueproduction]

Hi everyone,

I just ran into this new issue, is there an easy solution to this problem ?

[laclaqueproduction]

So, yes Update PR and AE just did the job !