Hey Guys,

I have a 16 bit AE composition via dynamic link in an premire cs 5.5 timeline. for some reason it only seems to render in 8 bit, even with the "maximum bit depth" switch enabled.

am i missing something?

thanks!
-daniel

How would you render out with 16 bits? and using what?

H.264 is 8 bit only.

Uncompressed, Cineform, Blackmagic codecs have options for 10 bit

Normally 16/32 bits of latitude are used for effects within a project, and rendered out in 8/10 bits for delivery.

As far as I know DPX might be the only "codec" allowing 16 bit renders.

Maybe this will help: Adobe Forums: import 16 bit tiff files in premiere pro cs5 ? (http://forums.adobe.com/message/3002784)

Personally, the best way is to finish in AE rather than take it back to premiere. This way, you can go all the way to 32 bit if you want to. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info!
So is there any way to prevent this strange pastel like results when exporting to WMV, MPEG or H264? (Old GIF Files hat those dither/diffusion options^^)

Even with Max Bit Depth enabled the Preview inside Premiere has this sort of 'fragmentation' (is there an official term?) which is kind of odd, because the Premiere CS 5.5 Help states "Maximizes the color bit depth, up to 32 bpc, to include in video played back in sequences."
I've also tried to export to mpeg2 4:2:2 without any luck :(

It's called banding, and it happens when you apply strong effects on 8-bit files that are already too 'compressed' to begin with.

You'll have to work in 16-bit to avoid these issues. Here's a start:

Edit native in premiere and lock
Transfer project to after effects and work in 32-bit float - apply all effects here
Grade in AE
Render video out of AE as master
Import in Premiere as new project (if specs have changed) to add/edit/mix sound and remaster as required with AME to container format (if that is your final delivery).