Pixelation in timelapse video export

[Kevin23772217jful]

Hello, I have been trying to export some timelapses but just recently I've noticed issues with the poor video quality after export. The timelapses were shot on a Sony A7 as 6000x4000 jpegs, imported directly into Premiere Pro 2021 as an image sequence, and exported without any editing/color changes (other than changing the speed).

This an original image:

And this is a screenshot from the video after the export: 

The colors are weird, the video pixellated and it just looks terrible, especially in the sky/clouds. Interestingly, I've used the exact same setting to export over 20 timelapses from this camera without any issues; only recently did I have this. I did another test yesterday to find the same results. I've also tried exporting a timelapse from a drone (also from jpegs) with similar settings and it exports perfectly. 

My export settings are as follow: 

and here are the sequence settings (I didn't change any settings here, though; this was a new project in premiere and I just dragged the images in).

I'm running Premiere Pro 2021 on a Macbook Pro 2020 M1. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Ann Bens]

Try and export to a more common framesize.

[Kevin23772217jful]

Hi! Thanks for your reply. The issue persists, I just changed the sequence to 4K and exported in that resolution but the video still looks bad. 

[Kevin23772217jful]

I forgot to add something; the video looks exactly like the export (pixelated and low quality) when I render the sequence and play it in Premiere. I don't understand what the issue is, as other images from my drone timelapse, and previous timelapses with this camera, with the same settings, seem to work. Thanks!

[Ann Bens]

Preview codec you are using is of low quality and low framesize, hence the not so good render.

Try something like Prores for preview codec.

Try CBR  and turn off max render and max depth.

[Kevin23772217jful]

Hmm... I tried CBR for export at 80 bit rate and turned off max render and max depth, but the video is still bad. however, after I changed the preview to Quicktime, the render looks good!

[Ann Bens]

If the render looks good try export to prores hq.

Then drop this file in the timeline and export to h.264.

[Kevin23772217jful]

Hello! I exported the timelapse successfully using Prores 422 hq, in 4K; the video looks good. However, when I drop the mov file into the timeline and export to h.264 again, the same thing happens; the export video gets all pixellated. I tried both VBR 2 pass and CBR at 80mbps with no success. I deselected render at max depth and quality. What could be the issue?

I could use the .mov file, but it's too large (6.5 gb) and I just want a mp4 file. Thanks!

[Ann Bens]

Have no idea what is going on your computer.

Try turning off decode and encode H.264/265 in the Preferences.

You can use Shutter Encoder to re-encod the file.

[Kevin23772217jful]

Hi, I don't know where to find the decode and encode H.264/265 in the preferences. Can you send me a picture of where it is? Thanks

[Jeff Bellune]

 

[mayjain]

Hi @Kevin23772217jful , 

Please try the latest beta build once. We have done some export quality improvements in the latest beta builds. You can download the latest Premiere Pro Beta build from Creative Cloud --> Beta apps --> Premiere Pro (Beta)

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/creative-cloud-public-beta.html

Please try and let us know how it goes in the beta build. If you still see this issue in beta builds, please share your original footage/Project file. We will check it at our end.

Thanks,
Mayjain

[Kevin23772217jful]

Hello, 

Sorry for the late reply. I downloaded the beta build (version 22.5.0) and used the same settings as before to export the timelapse. However, the issue still persists, and there isn't much difference. I also want to add that I retried creating and exporting timelapses with older photos that worked previously, and now they also are pixellated upon export. I pretty much used the same export settings for these timelapses every time. 

I've attached my project file (the one I made using the beta build) and the images (they probably have to be re-linked in the project). 

Thank you!

[Kevin23772217jful]

Here are the images: (I can only attach 10). They are in order

[Omer5E83]

I had the same Issue. Clouds are pixelated in timelapse video.

What worked for me is the following export settings of Media Encoder (see attached):

1. Changed the preset to "Match source - high bitrate"

2. Change from "Hardware encoding" to "Software encoding"

3. Checked "Use Maximum Render Quality"