ACES 1.2 from Octane looks washed out and grey in After Effects (whites not matching)

Thu Oct 16, 2025 12:20 pm

Hey everyone,

I’m struggling with a color mismatch between OctaneRender and After Effects when working in ACES 1.2. My EXR looks washed out in AE, with dull whites compared to the Octane Live Viewer.

Here are my settings:

OctaneRender 2025.3 (Build 1.7.0) in Cinema 4D 2025.3.3

Color mgmt: ACES 1.2 config file (downloaded from the Github https://github.com/colour-science/OpenColorIO-Configs)

ACES Tone Mapping: Enabled

Render settings: HDR Float 32-bit, Color Space = ACEScg

Imager OCIO view: ACES : sRGB (so I assume it’s rendering in ACEScg but showing sRGB on my monitor)

Live Viewer: OCIO sRGB

EXR output: 16-bit

After Effects 2025

Color Engine: OCIO Color Managed

OCIO Config: ACES 1.2

Bit Depth: 16 bpc

Working Space: ACEScg (compositing_linear)

Display: ACES/sRGB

Footage color space: ACEScg

Everything should match, but my AE preview looks wrong. Whites look grey, and it’s definitely not the same as Octane’s Live Viewer.
Did I miss something obvious? Why does AE make the image look washed out even though the settings seem correct?

Here is a link to the exact AE and C4D files I’m using https://www.dropbox.com/t/foZth9jQrp6biJ6I
As well as screenshots of all my settings and results below.

Thanks in advance (this one’s driving me crazy)

Mon Oct 20, 2025 9:20 pm

Hello, have you reviewed this link? It could be helpful...

https://tomwitte.com/blog/aces-settings-for-after-effects

Mon Oct 27, 2025 11:37 am

corsac wrote: Thu Oct 16, 2025 12:20 pm Hey everyone,

I’m struggling with a color mismatch between OctaneRender and After Effects when working in ACES 1.2. My EXR looks washed out in AE, with dull whites compared to the Octane Live Viewer.

Here are my settings:

OctaneRender 2025.3 (Build 1.7.0) in Cinema 4D 2025.3.3
Color mgmt: ACES 1.2 config file (downloaded from the Github https://github.com/colour-science/OpenColorIO-Configs)

ACES Tone Mapping: Enabled

Render settings: HDR Float 32-bit, Color Space = ACEScg

Imager OCIO view: ACES : sRGB (so I assume it’s rendering in ACEScg but showing sRGB on my monitor)

Live Viewer: OCIO sRGB

EXR output: 16-bit
After Effects 2025
Color Engine: OCIO Color Managed

OCIO Config: ACES 1.2

Bit Depth: 16 bpc

Working Space: ACEScg (compositing_linear)

Display: ACES/sRGB

Footage color space: ACEScg
Everything should match, but my AE preview looks wrong. Whites look grey, and it’s definitely not the same as Octane’s Live Viewer.
Did I miss something obvious? Why does AE make the image look washed out even though the settings seem correct?

Here is a link to the exact AE and C4D files I’m using https://www.dropbox.com/t/foZth9jQrp6biJ6I
As well as screenshots of all my settings and results below.

Thanks in advance (this one’s driving me crazy)

It seems the values are clamped in the EXR?
Are you still encountering this issue?