Still Can't Use MPE with MPEG-2 I-frame HD + Alpha

[jhoarty]

I've yet to be able to use the Mercury Playback Engine in P-Pro both CS5 and now CS6 with any Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD + Alpha AVIs output from After Effects in a Premiere Pro Sequence. I get this strange halo around some images, especially if they have a graduated alpha, such as a glow from Optical Flares. If I run MPE in software only mode, this doesn't happen, but of course it's render city. Is there a better format with alpha channel to output to from AE? I really like the efficiency (relatively small file size) and the high video quality of the Matrox I-frame AVIs. I'd love to avoid those 7 gigabyte files for 30 seconds worth of AE video. With the Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD + Alpha AVI's the same 30 secs is more like 330mb.

[Matrox_Support_Sam]

Hi,

Thank you for your detailed feedback. We would like to get some additional information concerning your workflow.
I see you have contacted technical support via phone and you should be sending us some sample files. If possible can you let us know the following information below?

Can you confirm your After Effects CS6 and MXO2 driver version?

Are you exporting directly from After Effects to Mpeg2 HD+alpha?
What is the file size and frame rate of the exported file? 1440x1080 or 1920x1080 etc?

Does the file playback with issue in Premiere only? Have you tried the exported file in AE? Does the same quality issue occur?

Have you tried increasing the data rate of Mpeg2 HD codec?
Have you tried adjusting the color space conversion options under Start > All Programs > Matrox Mtx.utils (or Matrox VFW Software Codecs) > Matrox VFW Codec Configuration.
For more information, see page 182 -186 of the User Guide http://www.matrox.com/video/media/pdf/support/windows/mxo2/doc/en_Matrox_MXO2_Installation_and_User_Guide_7_0.pdf

Please let us know your results.
_________________
Regards,
Sam
Matrox Video Technical Support

[jhoarty]

Sam,
I've uploaded a file to your ftp site. To answer your questions:

Can you confirm your After Effects CS6 and MXO2 driver version? Latest and greatest of both. This issue I'm having first appeared with CS5 when the MPE was introduced by Adobe.

Are you exporting directly from After Effects to Mpeg2 HD+alpha?

[jhoarty]

Sam,
I've uploaded a file to your ftp site. To answer your questions:

Can you confirm your After Effects CS6 and MXO2 driver version? Latest and greatest of both. This issue I'm having first appeared with CS5 when the MPE was introduced by Adobe.

Are you exporting directly from After Effects to Mpeg2 HD+alpha?
Technically, I'm exporting to Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD + Alpha.av

What is the file size and frame rate of the exported file?
1920x1080i 29.97 The Comp preset is HDTV 1080 29.97

Does the file playback with issue in Premiere only? Have you tried the exported file in AE? Does the same quality issue occur?
Yes, this problem only occurs in PPro and not AE, because I believe it's an issue between the Matrox codec and MPE and, of course, MPE doesn't work in AE.

Have you tried increasing the data rate of Mpeg2 HD codec?
Yes, went to 300 MB/s to no avail.

Have you tried adjusting the color space conversion options under Start > All Programs > Matrox Mtx.utils (or Matrox VFW Software Codecs) > Matrox VFW Codec Configuration.
Tried all combinations and it did alter the characteristics of the halo slightly but didn't reduce it or get rid of it like turning off MPE Hardware Acceleration does.

[Matrox_Support_Sam]

Hi jhoarty,

Thank you for providing your details and footage. We have received the files however, we have not been able to reproduce the issue in house.
We are seeing the slight halo over the gleaming moving ball however, we see the same results with Software and GPU acceleration modes.
Is the issue only on playback or after a render or export of the segment?

Do you have any other effects or clips on the timeline when reproducing the issue or do you have the single Mpeg2 Iframe + Alpha AVI clip?
Does the AVI segment have a yellow or red bar over it?

What are your system specs? OS, motherboard, graphic card?
Is your graphic card an Adobe certified GPU accelerated?

Are you viewing the output to HDMI or Component signal?
Do you see the same results in the Program window of Premiere?
Have you tried this same behavior in a native sequence using the external monitor out to a second VGA monitor?

As a reference, i noticed some Adobe forum links with similar transparency and opacity issues using GPU acceleration:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3939400
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/773441
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4014484

Please let us know your results.
_________________
Regards,
Sam
Matrox Video Technical Support

[jhoarty]

Sam,
Is the issue only on playback or after a render or export of the segment?
Both

Do you have any other effects or clips on the timeline when reproducing the issue or do you have the single Mpeg2 Iframe + Alpha AVI clip?
The issue is independent of what's underneath it.

Does the AVI segment have a yellow or red bar over it?
MPE Software: Red
MPE Hardware: Yellow

Are you viewing the output to HDMI or Component signal?
HDMI Output from MXO2-LE
Same Results in Premiere Pro Program Monitor

Intel i-3960X 3.3 GHz (overclocking to 4.5 GHz) Extreme Edition CPU
32mb RAM
GTX-580
Win 7 Pro

Okay, after reading the links you sent me, this sounds like an MPE (Adobe) issue and not a Matrox one. But if my understanding as to why this is happening is correct, I have no idea why you're not getting the same results I am. Are you interested in selling me your rig?!

[Matrox_Support_Sam]

Thanks for your feedback. Not sure why we could not see the same behavior difference in Software vs GPU acceleration. Are you running the latest NVIDIA drivers for the GTX580?

We will keep an eye out for this issue, leave this post open and update you with any new findings.

Please let us know if oyu need further technical assistance in the future.
_________________
Regards,
Sam
Matrox Video Technical Support