After Effects unsupported format error


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By mistercat - 5 Years Ago
Why does anything rendered in iClone into mp4 format always cause an error in After Effects? Would be nice to not have to export everything to AVI for it to work since the file size difference is 7MB vs 1GB for uncompressed AVI.
By mtakerkart - 5 Years Ago
I suggest you to render images sequence. After effect support it very well.
By mistercat - 5 Years Ago
I would still like to know why the RL mp4 codec settings don't work.
By james_muia - 5 Years Ago
Rename the .mp4 file to .AVI, I get that issue sometimes as well with certain renders.
By cinemyscope - 5 Years Ago
Actually the question is “why would you use a lossy, compressed format for your source video”?  AE is a Compositing Software.  The assumption is that you import the highest possible quality footage into AE for compositing.  If you really need to compress it you do it after compositing, not prior to.  Even then you should save an uncompressed version.  AE doesn’t accept your MP4 because it’s not a file format anyone would use. Some high end editors/compositors don’t even accept AVI files anymore though those can be rendered uncompressed.  Dpx/Cineon sequences are pretty much standard.  If that’s not possible use png, tiff, or targa sequences.  AE, being an an Adobe product will also accept psd sequences.  Do not use jpg sequences as they are highly compressed too!
By james_muia - 5 Years Ago
cinemyscope (10/12/2020)
Actually the question is “why would you use a lossy, compressed format for your source video”?  AE is a Compositing Software.  The assumption is that you import the highest possible quality footage into AE for compositing.  If you really need to compress it you do it after compositing, not prior to.  Even then you should save an uncompressed version.  AE doesn’t accept your MP4 because it’s not a file format anyone would use. Some high end editors/compositors don’t even accept AVI files anymore though those can be rendered uncompressed.  Dpx/Cineon sequences are pretty much standard.  If that’s not possible use png, tiff, or targa sequences.  AE, being an an Adobe product will also accept psd sequences.  Do not use jpg sequences as they are highly compressed too!


He's actually talking about a bug that happens in IClone when you render out a scene in .mp4 and adobe premiere/after effects doesn't recognize it. Other renders work fine but this particular render doesn't load. The workaround is to rename the file to .avi.

Adobe After Effects will load .MP4 files, and saying that "MP4 is not a file format anyone would use" is not completely accurate. Sure, professionally speaking no one would want .MP4 but amateur filmmaking, it is fine.

Yes you're right, that you always want to start at the highest quality and then compress from there. However, not everyone is using IClone professionally or submitting films to film festivals. Some people like me for instance, just make films and put them on YouTube for fun. The difference between .TGA and .MP4 is barely noticeable unless you have a lot of night scenes or something. Also, hard drive space is a thing, and .MP4 does save space at the slight loss of quality. For me, .MP4 works fine.

So it's really just a matter of preference. If you want the best quality sure, go the uncompressed .AVI or .TGA route. Depends on what you're doing so it's best not to assume what someone is using the software for.