Yes, the Adobe plugin in this thread was the first functional test version of the final plugin released with 2.2.0. So you can test it if you install 2.2.0 (the Trial versions also include it).

From the plugin's perspective, bit depth is specified for the Adobe renderer, or more precisely, a pixel format is specified, and then the renderer will render and present such frames to the codec. The pixel formats can be 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit float, both RGB or YUV, etc. That's all the plugin cares about.

Is this solution (your Adobe-specific import/export plugin)  available in the latest release, or just here in the forums? If so, can I also test it?

I must say that I'm somewhat confused about how AE/ Media Encoder handles bit depth.

Regarding the dropdown for bit depth for color, do you mean the "Codec" dropdown or the "Render pixel format" dropdown?

If you select the MagicYUV 12-bit RGB codec for example, it will only allow Adobe to send 16-bit RGB frames to the codec, so you can't get anything lower than 12-bit accidentally (8-bit for example) since the 12-bit codec variant can't handle and won't accept 8-bit formats. So most of the time you can leave the render pixel format dropdown at 'auto'.

Is this what you meant by the dropdown you asked, or was it something different?

One suggestion I do have for all your codecs is a drop down menus for option like Bit Depth for Color etc..

I am never sure if I am setting it properly because the options aren't shown. And when you have been up for 3 days wrapping a job, That can be a bit unnerving wondering if it is rendering correctly while you sleep. ;)

I'll have to package the plugins up, I'll share the files and instructions with you through email.

That sounds great. I will have to buy Media Encoder because I don't currently use it. But if it keeps the color at 12 bits then that's great! Thanks for this. :)