Skip to main content
S
Saimurai
Inspiring
July 10, 2018
Answered

Masked blur affects whole image in export

  • July 10, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 4160 views

Ok so spent 4 hours on the chat with tech support and they cant fix this, its been escalated but i get the feeling they'll come back with nothing after chatting with them all morning and getting the impression they wanted to pass the buck towards the end due to some 'interesting' suggestions.

So the issue is, Ive a documentary that Netflix will not take until i have blurred out any logos or webaddresses that are seen in the movie (when the protagonist is typing web searches into a computer). So I used an adjustment layer, masked the logos and addresses in question, tracked them and used a 'fast blur' and finally finished (there were 12 instances in the movie where it happened). Everything looks great and dandy in the project windows etc but when i export, at Prores 422HQ (as required by Distribber/Netflix) the final video shows that the areas of the movie which had these masks are entirely blurred. So not only is the YouTube logo or Google address blurred but the whole screen i.e. The man typing, the computer, everything in shot during those clips, etc.

With chat support we tried the usual stuff having to hand over my screen for them to work on for hours; deleting pref folders in the application support folders etc and renaming them so premiere would make new ones etc, we tried disabling third party plugins, we tried media encoder instead of direct export, we tried changing to software only rendering, we updated adobe application manager, terminated creative cloud desktop and restarted, etc etc He suggested i click 'match sequence settings' and export which worked but of course is not at the quality required by Distribber/Netflix.

Anyone experienced this? Any clues? This needs away today.

Cheers in advance,

Sai

(I havent updated because i refuse to do so in the middle of a project again after the last time).

Premiere Pro CC 12.1.1

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

iMac 27", Late 2012

2.9Ghz intel Core i5

24GB 1600 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M 512 MB

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Saimurai

Ok folks, so unchecking the linear colour and maximum render quality hasn't helped. Will try exporting with match sequence settings and reimport into a the project and drop it into a new seq next.

Ok tried that, and exported at the required Netflix settings, there is a massive drop in quality. I dont understand how that was supposed to work. The match sequence settings export creates a compressed mpeg file. Trying to import that and export at apple prores surely that would never give me good quality?

Ann Bens, could you explain what you meant by  "...rather the opacity of the clip", please.

In the meantime, Adobe have responded with a suggestion im going to try now:

"We would request you to please follow the below mentioned steps :

1) Create a New Sequence

2) Migrate the previous to this new one

3) Remove the Gaussian Blur effect and re-apply it.

If the problem comes again, then this is a creative problem with the export settings.

In that case, kindly create a new preset based on the export settings you already had.

Also, render the project before export.

Check in "Use Previews"

Check out "Max Render Quality"

Sai

Nope that didnt work either.

p.s. also tried to change the fast blur to a gaussian blur and it has the same problem.


RIGHT! Solution. I've just tried a new sequence, copied in a clip that needed parts blurred and instead of using an adjustment layer, i copied the clip again and placed it over the top of the previous clip in a different track. Then i drew a mask on that one, (which hides everything but the masked section) and applied a gaussian blur to that. Rendered it out at my required settings and bingo, it worked.

Gonna go back to the original sequence now and try the same thing there.

2 replies

R
rodneyb56060189
Legend
July 18, 2018

Yippee !   How cool is THAT !

    N
    ncdm.tv
    Participant
    July 10, 2018

    Hi Saimurai, wow, so you and adobe really worked through this, and no luck.. I am having similar issues with masked layers in Premiere playing fine on the timeline, rendering fine on the timeline, and then on export there are differences. Images pop off and on for a frame, dissolved transitions become cuts etc.

    How the heck can we trust this software, very disturbing...

    my workaround, which was what they suggested to is:

    "Use match sequence settings' and export which worked but of course is not at the quality required by Distribber/Netflix."

    But that is the quality of the timeline, so output at settings and then use Encoder to get it to ProRes...

    QC'ing every transition in a 60 minute piece and then fixing stuff with patches is driving me crazy too.

    Our project is full of AVI files, and VBOB files that were not transcoded, so we can't upgrade to 2018 yet, as some of those formats will not be recognized in 2018, a known bug in current "upgrade"

    thanks a lot Adobe.. what a PITA

    j

    S
    SaimuraiAuthor
    Inspiring
    July 10, 2018

    lol thanks for that ncdm.tv although im sorry hear you're going through this as well, its reassuring to know that im not alone!

    Are you saying that exporting at match settings then opening it in Media Encoder and upping it to ProRes is the same in effect as exporting it from Premiere as ProRes? Will there not be a massive drop in quality?

    Just tried to do that with a sample clip containing the effect in question, AME doesn't appear to have an Apple ProRes setting...?

    Tried to queue the export from Premiere to AME and it says that AME is not installed....so it cannot see it...its the same version as premiere 12.1.1 and i just opened it on its own there. Everything is in the right location.

    Trying to get an earlier verison now like 2017...

    Ok 2017 links in premiere ok and opens and........is empty. Queueing from Premiere opens AME but there's nothing in the encode tray......

    fml

    i've literally got a hammer sitting on my desk. i'd better put it out of reach.

    R Neil Haugen
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    July 14, 2018

    Cheers Kevin, ill give that a go when i get back.

    No Ann, i haven't touched it. One thing I always do is click 'Maximum Render Quality' on export though which should mean it isn't an issue, right? Do you think it'll help? Should i not be doing this?

    Thanks folks, appreciate the sugestions

    Sai


    Max render Q,  composite in linear color, and Max Depth are all things that can cause various issues, are only useful in certain specific things, and so ... I recommend leaving them always unchecked.

    Neil

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices