Enhanced HDR support

Learn about previewing your work in HDR to view exactly how it will appear on HDR-capable high-end monitors once exported.

  Use new beta features

Enhanced HDR support is now available for testing and feedback. Try it now in After Effects (beta).

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When working with HDR (High Dynamic Range) content, previewing them in HDR is crucial to ensure your final project looks as expected on a wide range of display devices, such as HDR-capable high-end monitors. With the latest After Effects (Beta) version 25.2x72, you can accurately view your HDR projects on HDR-capable hardware. This update allows you to import HDR media, place it in a composition, and preview your work in HDR on your monitor or using external hardware. This way, you get an accurate view of what the final output will look like when exported.

Poznámka:

For HDR colors to be displayed in HDR, you will need an HDR display, and your operating system HDR display setting enabled.

Create an HDR project

  1. Launch After Effects and create a new project.

  2. Go to File > Project Settings to set your Color options.

  3. In the Color tab, do the following:

    • In the Color Management section, set Color Engine to Adobe color managed.
    • In the Color Settings section, set Bit Depth to 32 bits per channel and select a Working Color Space that supports HDR, such as Rec.2100 PQ.
    Project Settings dialog box is open and under the Color tab the settings are updated to preview HDR content.
    Use the Project Settings dialog box to adjust the settings for previewing HDR content.

  4. Now import a supported HDR file into After Effects. 

  5. Check in the Project panel if the color profile of your HDR footage is correctly recognized.

  6. If the profile isn't correctly detected, you can use the Interpret Footage option. To launch the dialog box, select the footage in the Project panel, right-click, and select Interpret Footage.

    The Interpret Footage dialog box is open and the Override Media Color Space is set to P3 D65 PQ.
    Use the Interpret Footage option to adjust the Color Management and Color Settings if they aren't detected correctly.

  7. In your composition viewer, select the Show Channel and Color Management Settings   icon and enable Use Display Color Management.

    The Show Channel and Color Management Settings is open and enable Use Display Color Management is checked.
    Use the Enable Display Color Management options to ensure color space consistency across various devices.

  8. Once done, you are now previewing the HDR footage in After Effects.

Color managed formats in After Effects

Here are the formats that are currently supported:

  • Quicktime Prores SDR
  • H264/HEVC
  • MXF: XAVC
  • AVC
  • XAVC-H
  • Raw formats: ARRI, Canon, Sony, ProRes, and Red

Previewing with Transmit

After Effects also supports previewing your HDR content through Transmit.

Preview to a secondary monitor

If you're using an HDR display directly connected to your computer, enabling Mercury Transmit to that monitor will automatically send an HDR signal. If your monitor supports several HDR modes, make sure to select the appropriate one.

The Enable Mercury Transmit is checked and device selected to view compositions on an external display.
Mercury Transmit lets you view your compositions on an external display, such as a video monitor connected via third-party hardware like Blackmagic or AJA devices.

Preview to a display using a hardware interface

If you're using Mercury Transmit with dedicated hardware, such as Blackmagic or AJA devices, you will need to select the proper profile in the device settings.

Third-party hardware support

Support for AJA and Blackmagic will be added in the future. If you are using an HDR-compatible AJA device, you can already select the 10-bit HLG profile to display HDR out of After Effects.

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Additional resources

Help us to make the next releases of After Effects our best yet.
Submit feature requests, view, track, and vote for issues/feature requests using the After Effects beta support community.

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