www.ssontech.com

pryzm · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

When exporting the solution via the "After Effects via .ma" it seems that SE is whacking off the last frame. I noticed this in the tutorial

http://ssontech.com/content/setoae.htm

as well. Has anyone else noticed this?

There is information there (SE gets all the frames), but the export doesn't bring send it over. (Doesn't seem to bring it in to Maya when using the Maya ASCII exporter either)

thanks

pryzm · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

I don't mean to be in a rush, but I'm at a loss and a deadline is looming (Friday). I have been trying to take apart the .ma file to see if I can make it work to no avail. I know that the information is getting out of SE because LW can see all of it when I export to it.

I'm confused that Maya and .ma formats aren't getting the same information.

Does anyone have any info on this? (even to tell me I'm out of luck)

thanks again,

ssontech · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:37 pm Post subject:

After Effects misinterprets the situation if the Start at frame 1 checkbox is off when you export from SynthEyes. It always takes the frame# of the last animated frame in the camera path to be length of the shot----which is wrong if frame 0 is the first frame. Ie with 150 frames, ranging 0 to 149, it decides the shot has only 149 frames. So if the checkbox is on when you export, SynthEyes makes all the frame numbers larger than one (1 to 150), AfterEffects gets the answer we want----and all is well even if you have AfterEffects configured to display frame numbers starting at frame 0 --- it subtracts 1 frame off correctly.

(Sorry for the delay but it took a while to figure out what is was doing.)

pryzm · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

No problem, I appreciate the detailed response. I have a fear with this written media that things could come across as if I was upset. I hope I didn't.

So if I understand correctly:

I have a project that is 63 frames long (0-62 in SE)
Make sure the "Start at Frame 1" is checked, and that should give me 00000 and 00062 in AE.

hmmm...

I don't know if it matters, but I'm using AE 7.0

It's seems sporadic at best. When I first read your reply, I went and did it (even though I had exported both ways previously) and it worked. I then tried another file, and it didn't work.

Okay, tried another file and what is REALLY odd is that it comes in TWO frames short. This has never happened. Even dissecting the .ma file it says [1:41], and yet when I import the in/out info says 00000 and 00039.

Okay, I figured I would try a few things and post as I go. I hope it's okay. I have exported from SE to AE using both the AE via .ma, and the new AE via .ma (don't know if that matters). Both export the exact same file, but both come in one frame short. I looked in the .ma files and both are written exactly the same ([1:63]). I then looked at the file that did work and it was written exactly the same (all files had the Start at frame 1 checked.

I then loaded the file that apparently worked previously, and it did not work the second time.

I had tried all this (frame one setting) prior to my previous posting, but I got new hope when I received your post especially when it worked at first! But now, I'm back to square one, although it does seem like it could be an AE issue. hmmph.

Again, thanks Russ for the time you took on this to figure it out. I hope I didn't sound ungrateful. If there is anything else you could suggest it will be appreciate greatly.

ssontech · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject:

I'd double and triple check that you are reading the right files into AE. I'd be very surprised if AE reads the same file different ways different times. That sort of thing is most frequently user-induced variability. I didn't see anything like that when I was working with it --- used AE7 on Vista.

I'd scrub your existing set of exports so there are none left that start at 0, then re-export them with start at one on for sure, close AE, then try opening them again. I'd expect it to be very repeatable. You might also double-check the actual length of the shots. Start at 0/start at 1 issues are a well-known morass...

pryzm · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

Russ,

Thanks for the reply. You are going to think that I am absolutely loony.

I erased all of my .ma files and started from scratch. I load up a file in SE, and export it as AE via .ma (CS3 version).

I load it up in AE and its 1 frame short.

I have a second file (I've tracked two objects in the same scene, but have saved them out as two separate files as camera tracks) that I've exported, and load that into AE. It correctly loads.

Starting with a new project, I then load the second file first and the first file second. It loads the first file 1 frame short, and the second file 2 frames short.

Keeping both files in the AE comp, I load the second file again. It loads with the correct number of frames.

I'm beginning to think this is a problem with my AE. I would be willing to bet that if I sent you the files, they would load fine. I even tried this in CS3 (I have to use AE7 for this shoot) and I get the same results, and they are repeatable.

Absolutely crazy. Do you mind if I sent you the .ma AE files to see if it's something with my machine? I can send the SE files as well.

Thanks again for your help, especially after hours!

ps. On occasion, I'll get one to load correctly and I'll hurry up and do the work I need. Hopefully I'll get them all to load correctly at least once!

pryzm · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

okay, I have at least some good news that is repeatable. If I close AE before I load a new .ma file, and I load all of them separately then it loads as it should.

If not, it does not. It's a lot of extra time, but at least it works. I don't know what could be causing it. But at least it might be narrowed down.

If you have any thoughts, they are really appreciated. Thanks for taking the time, not too many companies are willing to do what you do with tech support. I for one, really appreciate it.

ssontech · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:42 am Post subject:

Yeah, I played around with this a bit more last night and did find the same thing----start AE7, import the file, it is fine. Import it a second time (even into the same project file after doing nothing at all else), and it's short a frame.

We'll just have to call it a special AE7 "feature" I think.

Note that you can easily recover, simply by changing the length of the composition back to the correct value in AE7. The last frame's worth of animation is there, ready for use.

pryzm · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

thanks Russ, I'm glad I wasn't losing it...

I'm pretty sure I had changed the end of the composition in trying to get things to work. Although, it looks like I might have forgotten to slide the layers to the end of the comp after changing it. Thanks for the solution, it knocks a whole bunch of time off the job and helps make the deadline.

Top notch program, with top notch service!