Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues
by del chapple (del...)
on
Apr 26, 2008 at 12:17:57 am
I had an issue this morning rendering out a Animation Codec 1080 23.98 from AE CS3 on OSX. Though the file appeared fine in QT Player once I dropped it into a matching sequence in FCP6 for Tape layoff to HDCamSr at 23.98 i would get a duplicate frame every 7th frame of the video on the 8th frame. this happened from both the clients AE QT and my render straight from the sgi image seq.
Re: Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues by Joey Foreman on Apr 26, 2008 at 12:36:00 am
Why render twice? Render the sequence from AE to the final delivery codec - your camera's. Then import into FCP and add it to the sequence. The animation codec should not be used in FCP timelines.
Re: Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues by Joey Foreman on Apr 26, 2008 at 3:08:36 am
Just that it's going to have to be rendered to something else anyway. Unless you Animation as the sequence codec. But then you won't won't be able to preview on a monitor and it will drop frames all over the place.
Re: Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues by Darby Edelen on Apr 26, 2008 at 6:52:45 pm
Good reasons =)
Although I do think using Animation is worthwhile if you're expecting to have to deliver in multiple formats, that way you don't lock yourself into a specific codec straight out of AE.
You have a lossless file that can be re-compressed/re-rendered to any codec. Also, FCPs rendering takes much less time than AEs, it can definitely add up over the course of a 2 hour feature, but for 30 second spots and the like that may be finding their way to DVD and web as well as broadcast, it's not a bad choice.
Darby Edelen Lead Designer Left Coast Digital Santa Cruz, CA
Re: Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues by Joey Foreman on Apr 26, 2008 at 10:03:45 pm
I'm going to renege on this one and say that I was just wrong. I forgot that i've been working with some Uncompressed 4:2:2 AE Renders in FCP and they play fine. I'd just assumed they wouldn't display - at least not in full motion - on an NTSC monitor, but I just tried it and it looks fine. And it's 24P to boot. I guess FCP converts on the fly now which is wonderful.
Re: Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues by del chapple on Apr 28, 2008 at 3:52:17 pm
Animation Codecs are what most of our clients deliver HD content to us in. Its usually a win win situation. there are never any color space issues ie illegal levels because they simply cant be in a RGB space. Its was just this particular Spot. The clients AE 23.98 render in animation produced static 7th and 8th frames in FCP. I was suspect of the clients animation because QT player wasn't reading the FPS correctly. I then rerenderd from a new AE comp the SGI image sequence in 23.98.. Again FCP would not import the correctly into the time.So i just rendered the SGI in FCP and all became kosher the birds started singing again..
Re: Animation Codec AE Render to FCP issues by Dave LaRonde on Apr 28, 2008 at 3:03:21 pm
[del chapple]"I had an issue this morning rendering out a Animation Codec 1080 23.98 from AE CS3 on OSX."
Here's another thought, one that I didn't see in a VERY quick inspection of the thread.
Did you REALLY render out of AE at 23.98? If you did, you need to change the frame rate to 23.976, and life will be good.
Both camera and editing software makers have a VERY nasty habit of calling the NTSC film frame rate 23.98. It isn't. It's 23.976. Why? I guess they figure 23.98 is sounds less intimidating thatn a frame rate taken to three decimal places.
And so, when you work in an application that actually calls a spade a spade like AE, 23.98 can cause you frame rate problems.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
