Why is the texture displayed like this when rendering in Adobe after effects?

Question

Video

Hello.
I have such a problem:
When creating a video in Adobe after effects, I use a gradient on the surface, it looks fine, but when rendering, I get the surface as if in layers, that is, not a smooth transition from one color to another, namely layers. How can this be overcome?
Thanks!)

Answer 1

This unwanted effect is called banding. It comes from the fact that when video is compressed, posterization occurs (that is, a decrease in the number of colors used in the image).
Since compression will still influence the occurrence of this effect to a certain extent, it will have to be interfered with a little in advance. If you are using Ramp for the gradient, then there is such a thing in the settings as Ramp Scatter. Increase the value of this parameter closer to a hundred, and you will get less pronounced banding (unless, of course, the compression is super-aggressive).
Another way is to slightly dilute a monochromatic gradient with other colors by overlaying one or two color gradients (transitioning from one color to another, and not from one shade of one color to another shade of the same color) on top of it with very strong transparency, literally - 96- 98%. This color variation will not be visible, but its presence will cause the compressor to posterize the image less.
Other methods are possible, such as adding noise (grain), some very weak texture background, and so on. The point of any method is to destroy the smooth gradient, but in such a way that it is not visible to the human eye, but already affects the compression. So the process can be quite creative.