PROBLEM saving as .AVI in After Effects, 2 many options not same quality??

[stifa]

So problem is :
When I import AVI file in Vegas and do simple ColorBalance or cut and render it again to AVI to save it I get SAME file size and quality.That is OK.Vegas is cool.
BUT...
I import file in Adobe After Effects and do the same or just for test I open it and try to Export/Save as AVI I get "not as the original results" I get in Vegas and not the same file size ,a few % less. Whole footage seems to have little more noise and some artifacts appear.
It is not big problem but when you expect AVI to maintain quality it is annoying since After Effects is cool program.
.I was told that AVI is kind of loseless and that you shouldnt notice difference after editing. It is so in Vegas but not in Adobe AfterEffects.

What are the options you use to save again to AVI?
I use Sony HC46 miniDV camera.

I tried File/Export ant that gives terrible results as it uses compression??
I also tried Composition/Pre-render (or make movie) option and it is better but not as same as in Vegas.
I tried using MicrosoftDV and MainConceptDV codecs in render options and first seems better to mu surprise.
Am I doin something wrong?

I have installed:
Vegas
Premiere 1.5
EIDUS 4
Procoder 1.5
Main Concept DV Codec
Canopus HQ Codec

HELP!

[redwudz]

Since you mention DV several times, I assume your 'AVI' is in DV format? The term 'AVI' is the name of the 'container' for a video and doesn't tell you much. It could be a Xvid or DV or a any one of a hundred or more video and audio format combinations and be a 'AVI'. That's just to clear things up about 'AVI's, nothing to do with your problem.

DV is not lossless. It has a 5:1 compression, though that is low enough so that re-encoding should not effect it very much. After Effects may be re-encoding to a lower bitrate or different format, but that's just a guess. If you do a color balance correction when editing, it would have to be re-encoded anyway, but Vegas is apparently not using a lower bitrate. Again, just a guess. If you do simple cut and paste editing, then neither program should have to re-encode. And if you have more than one DV codec installed, I'm not sure which one each program is using.

You might take your original DV before editing and drop it into Gspot 2.60 and look at the reported information. Then do the same with the output of your two editors and see how they compare with the original. The size and running time may be different after editing, but the rest of the information should be the same. That may tell you what the programs are doing to effect the quality.

I don't use either program, so I'm not much help on the particulars of each. But other members should be able to give you more specific advice. I use VirtualDub Mod for DV editing.

[mwkurt]

Can you save your avi file as uncompressed in After Effects? Usually, video applications have that option.
Mark

[stifa]

AVIs are DV.

Anyone heard of Blackmagic Codec?

[Guiboche]

You said you're using the File/Export command. This is completely and utter the 100% wrong way.

The "File/Export" option will export to whatever the current settings in the timeline are.

In order to render properly, you have to use the "Render Que" option. It's under "Composition, Add To Render Que" (I believe that's what it says. I don't have After Effects on this PC).

Then you can use BEST SETTINGS there.

As well, you have to take into consideration how After Effects is treating your DV footage. Since the program will assume that your footage is interlaced, will seperate the fields, and if you don't re-rendered as "interlanced" it won't put the fields back together, but will render 1 field interpolated to the full 480 lines.

Always use the render que.