Adobe AE renders video at super low quality

Grantapus

Member
Hello, I have a Acer Predator Helios 300 running 2018 adobe AE CC, but when i render the video and watch it, the quality is wayyyyy lower than the preview and the original video (shot on Panasonic fz300).

I have all the settings as high as possible but to no avail. I have tried lots of other "fixes" for this issue i found online but they didn't work.

I DO NOT want to use AME, as it is not free and somehow wasn't included in my copy of adobe AE.


PS:

My adobe AE is completely original and not pirated. I got it straight from adobe's "CREATIVE CLOUD" program.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
What render settings are you using? What settings is the source footage recorded at?

And I can't remember if AME comes with After Effects or not. Look in your Creative Cloud app and see if it's available to install. I'm pretty sure it MUST come with After Effects because otherwise After Effects has no way of exporting the final composition since it does not have an in-built exporter like Premiere Pro does.
 

Grantapus

Member
What render settings are you using? What settings is the source footage recorded at?

And I can't remember if AME comes with After Effects or not. Look in your Creative Cloud app and see if it's available to install. I'm pretty sure it MUST come with After Effects because otherwise After Effects has no way of exporting the final composition since it does not have an in-built exporter like Premiere Pro does.
In creative cloud, there is AME available for download, but not for free. and i kinda blew all my money on other stuff, so im not prepared to pay for AME. Adobe AE does have a built in exporter, which is what I've been using. the source footage is 1080p, at 29 fps. i have all the render settings at highest and its still not working. I had this same problem with Premiere but i fixed it by using a different codec.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
In creative cloud, there is AME available for download, but not for free. and i kinda blew all my money on other stuff, so im not prepared to pay for AME. Adobe AE does have a built in exporter, which is what I've been using. the source footage is 1080p, at 29 fps. i have all the render settings at highest and its still not working. I had this same problem with Premiere but i fixed it by using a different codec.
You should just be able to install it since AME comes with every purchase of After Effects - it may just not be installed by default: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1470741 When I try to export a composition from After Effects all I get is the option to add to Adobe Media Encoder queue (that'll make a video, e.g. MP4, WMV, MOV file etc), Add to Render queue (which just renders it in After Effects - it doesn't export the composition to a video format) and a couple of other options that aren't relevant. There is no built-in encoder to make a video file.

If you're asking about trying to export this composition into a video file, then screenshot your export settings and I'll have a look.

If you're asking about rendering the video and why that's slow, that will be because whilst the composition is actually rendering in After Effects it will render each frame individually and depending on the speed of your PC and the contents of the composition it will take a while. Once the rendering is completed you will be able to play it smoothly in After Effects. When you've finished you can export the composition to a video file.
 

Grantapus

Member
Ok so i attached a picture of the options i get when i click export.

I will also put screenshots of my settings. The rendering of the video doesn't take that long on my Acer Helios 300, as the specs are pretty good on that laptop.
Screenshot (2).png Screenshot (5).png Screenshot (6).png
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
OK so are you just trying to render the composition in After Effects or actually export the composition to a video file?

Looks like there you are just trying to render in After Effects. Is the playback choppy even after the rendering has completed?

What HDD/SSD, CPU, RAM and GPU does your laptop have?
 
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Grantapus

Member
OK so are you just trying to render the composition in After Effects or actually export the composition to a video file?

Looks like there you are just trying to render in After Effects. Is the playback choppy even after the rendering has completed?

What HDD/SSD, CPU, RAM and GPU does your laptop have?
Ok so im trying to just export the video so i can upload it to youtube etc, or to put it into premiere after I'm done the SFX in AE. The problem is the video is just very low quality. it looks like 360p or something. When i look at the video in the preview window in AE, it looks fine. the original video is 1080p at 30 fps. (i dont have a good enough SD card to record 4k)


the specs on my laptop are:

16 gb ddr4 ram, GTX 1060, 7th gen core i7HQ, and a 256 gb SSD. i hope to upgrade it to 32 gb of ram eventually. i also wish it had a 8th gen processor but whatever.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Ok so im trying to just export the video so i can upload it to youtube etc, or to put it into premiere after I'm done the SFX in AE. The problem is the video is just very low quality. it looks like 360p or something. When i look at the video in the preview window in AE, it looks fine. the original video is 1080p at 30 fps. (i dont have a good enough SD card to record 4k)


the specs on my laptop are:

16 gb ddr4 ram, GTX 1060, 7th gen core i7HQ, and a 256 gb SSD. i hope to upgrade it to 32 gb of ram eventually. i also wish it had a 8th gen processor but whatever.
OK I get you. Yeah mate you need to install Media Encoder in order to get it to export to a video - it looks to me like they're just your render settings in After Effects there and for some reason you are rendering at 720p rather than 1080p. You should be able to do it since Media Encoder comes with After Effects. Once you get it installed, use the Add to Media Encoder Queue option in After Effects and screenshot your export settings for me.
 
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