Can't render H264 from Render Cue!!!!!

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

I've got a 1920 x 1080 24fps comp and I'm trying to render it with the render cue as a H.264 1920 X 1080 24fps file and I get this every time:

After Effects: AEGP Plugin Media IO Plugin
There is a mismatch between Output Module settings and Transcode Settings. Please verify your settings and try again.
Invalid framesize/framerate for this Level. Please lower the Frame Dimensions, Frame Rate or increase the Profile and Level and try again.
Media IO2 error: 0cx00b002
Frame dimensions out of bounds

( 5027 :: 12 )

I've tried looking this up and I'm not finding much.
I've checked all my settings, they look correct.

Any suggestions?

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

Well, it tells you everything you need to know, does it not? So by all means, change the profile level in the MPEG-output panel or choose a different flavor of H.264. Also check for whether you have sound enabled or not or accidentally change the framerate in the panel. Remeber: These settings must match in the conventional Output Module settings and the specific setting of the MPEG Encoder sub-panel!

Mylenium

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

Ok, lets start from the top. Can you tell me how you would render the exact same movie as I'm trying? The info you posted is exactly the same as I've found online and I'm doing everything right, yet it bonks on me.

If someone could please demonstrate how they would export my movie it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

I'm not sure where it goes wrong for you. I can render such files without problems even on my old Pentium 4 here at home. Have you checked your pixel aspect ratio settings? Have you double-checked to set the 24fps in the MPEG-exporter sub-panel?

Mylenium

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

Pixel aspect is correct. Where's this MPEG-exproter sub-panel you speak of? Are you talking about clicking the Output Module button in the Render Cue, then selecting H.264 in the Main Options Format selector, then clicking the Format Options button in the Video Output area?

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

So I think I know what's happening. For some reason I don't have the encoding option for h.264 1920 x 1080 in the After Effects render cue.

Here's my comp: <http://www.venture-multimedia.com/ae/1.jpg>
Here's my Render Settings: <http://www.venture-multimedia.com/ae/2.jpg>
Here's my Output Module Settings: <http://www.venture-multimedia.com/ae/3.jpg>
Here's my Video Output Format Options: <http://www.venture-multimedia.com/ae/4.jpg>

Look at the drop down list in pic #4. There is nothing there for full HD 1920 X 1080. If I select NTSC DV and then set frame size to 720 x 480 pixels in the Stretch options in Output Module before encoding it renders no problem. If I select Custom, it fails everytime.

Am I missing something here, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks,

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

There are indeed no dedicated presets for HD formats in the standard H.264 export, but again: I have no problems whatsoever to customize the settings and export a HD comp that way. :-| I'm, really at a loss as to what may cause your problems. Have you tried upping the level to 4.0 or 4.1? Also, do you get the same problems with VBR?

Mylenium

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

Alright, done some testing and here's the results.
I only changed the Level from 3 to 4 and it renders. Unfortunately, Quicktime or iTunes can't open the files, it's a format they don't understand(.m4v). Why can't this thing work right?
What are your settings when you export 1920 x 1080 H.264 @ 24fps?

[Myle...@adobeforums.com]

Ah, I see. But for QT you can always resort to their own H.264, can't you? It uses Level 3.2, I think, so naturally you may encounter issues. I do use my files in VLC or SUPER© for fullscreen playback on computers, but for other applications other formats are more suitable.

Mylenium

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

I have no clue what you just said.

Does anyone in this forum export 1920 x 1080 H.264 24fps from AE???

If so, how do you do it, because so far, it looks like AE is incapable of doing it.

[Jonas_Hum...@adobeforums.com]

Scott,

Ae only renders single-pass, so for the most effective compression, render out a lossless file (QT Animation, for example) and use "Export" in QuickTime Player Pro ($29) to get a multi-pass compressed H.264.

- Jonas Hummelstrand
<http://generalspecialist.com/>

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

Wow, I have heard that you should not use the Export function in AE because the render cue is so much better. Yet, the render cue doesn't even export H.264 IN 1920 X 1080.

Why wouldn't AE include this in the render cue?

Anyway, thanks for your help!

[Rick_...@adobeforums.com]

There's a big difference between compressing and rendering. AE's render engine only looks at the current frame, mixes and blends all the pixel info from each layer, interprets motion between layers by distance not by pixels, and then builds a new single frame.

Compression is the science of looking forward and backward in time, predicting the placement of pixels with similar values and then deciding how much information you can throw away and still maintain image integrity. Asking AE's render engine to spit out 3 to 10 frames so that a multi pass compressor could examine the frames and make the call would do two things. First, render times would go up exponentially, and secondly, render times would go up exponentially. AE will do a very good job of rendering to h264 single pass, but multi pass rendering even in something as limited as QT Pro, produces dramatically better results with the same data rate. It takes a dedicated program like Sorrensen Squeeze to really produce spectacular results at low data rates.

Hope this helps you understand the process a bit better. I'm perfectly happy to render losless and then process further either in a NLE or a compressor. I never render video that may need to be processed again for any reason to a delivery codec.

[Scott...@adobeforums.com]

Ok, I get it, thanks for that last post. So, why can't QT read the .m4v file AE created? What good is the file if QT can't read it?

[Jonas_Hum...@adobeforums.com]

Scott,

Render to something with lossless compression, such as QuickTime Animation @ 100% and then use Export from QuickTime Player Pro to get a compressed H.264 with good compression.

Wait, I've said that before, haven't I?