Masked blur affects whole image in export

[Saimurai]

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

[ncdm.tv]

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

[Saimurai]

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.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Saimurai,

You might try rendering the entire Timeline with the Sequence Settings set to the same codec for rendering previews as the output. Then export using Previews. This is called smart rendering. Does it work then?

Thanks,
Kevin

[Saimurai]

Thanks Kevin, I'm out of the country currently, will try this suggestion when i return.

Just checking, Is this changing (in my sequence settings) in the 'video previews' section the 'preview file format' from 'i-frame only mpeg' to 'quicktime - apple prores 422 (HQ)' ? and then rendering my timeline then exporting at my required format? (Apple PR422HQ)

(please note, this is a different project in the screenshots, i only have my laptop with me)

[Ann Bens]

Have you tried turning off Composite in Linear Color.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Just checking, Is this changing (in my sequence settings) in the 'video previews' section the 'preview file format' from 'i-frame only mpeg' to 'quicktime - apple prores 422 (HQ)' ?

Correct!

Kevin

[Saimurai]

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

[Ann Bens]

Might want to turn that off also.

[R Neil Haugen]

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

[rodneyb56060189]

Apparently the mask is not adjusting 'relative' to the frame size being exported ( or different codec, etc. )

This is stuff you already know, but is here just for fun...

https://blog.pond5.com/19134-how-to-create-and-track-masks-in-adobe-premiere-pro/

I'm guessing something is messed up with your export and how the mask reacts to it.

I suggest same as above mentioned...export at exactly same specs as source file ( size, codec, etc. ).  THEN import that export back into PPro into a new project.

The mask should be baked in at that point... Now try your export ( do small section to test )… see if that fixes it .

As per suggestions re: export settings mentioned above ( max depth, etc. ) just do that and keep it simple.

: )

good luck

[Saimurai]

Folks thanks for the help, especially the explanations, i like understanding what has occurred and why.

Thank you R Neil Haugen for explaining that i didn't realise and have always checked that box on export thinking it would just increase the export time and quality with no side effects, should've known it was for specific instances. Ill refrain from that in the future! 'Composite in linear colour' is not something i've ever ticked myself, it's just ticked automatically, but ill change that from here out.

rodneyb56060189 Yep that's what i thought was happening, great suggestions there thanks, looking forward to getting back and trying those. Interestingly, that link you posted doesnt suggest using adjustment layers, rather just applying the mask to the clip itself. Would you folk do the same? or use adjustment layers? It was a tip i got on youtube (How To Blur Logos (Or Anything Else) In Premiere - YouTube)

Thank you folks, I feel like you understand the problem here and therefore these suggestions will solve the issue. Will let you know how it all goes and mark this 'answered' if its sorted.

Sai

[Ann Bens]

I would not use an AL for a mask rather the opacity of the clip.

[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.

[rodneyb56060189]

one suggestion was to NOT use an adjustment layer for your blur effects to blot out copyrighted logos etc.

That means, simply, deleting the adjustment layer. You can use "save as ' and "save as a copy" BEFORE deleting the adjustment layer, so you can always go back to that if you want.

Now apply your blur effect to the CLIPS you want to do that with. Not via an adjustment layer, but clip by clip.

Does that fix your problem ??  You can try a few clips, after deleting the adjustment layer, and applying to a clip or 2..and EXPORT just that little example ( markers or work area bar) and see if it solved your problem.

??

[Saimurai]

Sorry rodneyb56060189 just saw your reply there after i posted.

Yes it was myself who suggested not using an Adjustment Layer when i asked you guys if you would use one. Ann responded about not using one, but i didn't understand what she meant by her post. I asked her a few posts ago there. I tried this originally but found that if i masked the main clip then i am left with only the floating mask as all other video is black around the mask. I just tried doubling up the clips there and realised that's what i was meant to do. Ann was this what you meant when you said"...rather the opacity of the clip"?

Oh you've posted again rodneyb56060189, yes yippee i am glad to finally get to bottom of this! Thanks for your efforts folks,

[Ann Bens]

Sorry about that.

That is how I mostly use masks.

Duplicate clip, superimpose, add mask from opacity, apply effect.

[Saimurai]

Hi Ann,

Thanks for replying, i take it thats what ive done just with different terminology?

[Ann Bens]

Its exactly the same.

[Saimurai]

Great cheers, good to know.

[Saimurai · Accepted solution]

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.

[rodneyb56060189]

Yippee !   How cool is THAT !