Can't play clips in realtime speed on AE...

A

Admir

Well-known member
Hi!

We just got ourselves AE cs 5.5, but the clips just won't play in normally. The video is lagging pretty bad, and you can't work with it the way it is now.

We also use Premiere CS5.5 and it's working like a charm, but AE is not. Have we missed something basic? Is AE really that much more demanding on our computer than Premiere? A friend came over with his AE CS4 and we tried out that one also on this computer and same thing there, unusable. Should all the clips be rendered in AE before work?
It sais in the right corner that the clip is not being played in realtime (18 fps instead of 25).
We have tested different clips all filmed by a HMC151 in AVCHD format.

Computer specs.

1 TB 7200 rpm HD
Nvidia GT220 1 gb ram
AMD Phenom x3 2.4 ghz
4 gb RAM
 
AE really isn't an NLE like you're wanting it to be. That's normal, but don't let that deter you from the power inside AE. What you need to do is click the "RAM Preview" button, and let it go through one time, then you can watch it in real time. Though, every time you make a change, you'll have to do that all over again.
 
Thanks for the tip! It seems that it worked, is this normal that after every single change you need to do the RAM preview? Or is is our computer not having enough power?

While we're on it; If I'm editing in premiere, and need an effect in a certain place in the clip, what is the best way to export it to AE, edit it, and then import back to premiere with the effect on it?
 
Yep, every change requires a new RAM preview.

I'm not a Pr user, so I'll let someone else take that one, but you don't need to export from AE I don't believe. Try this (just for kicks):

Create a video in AE, then save the file (save, not export), then import that AE project file into Pr. It wouldn't surprise me if that worked.
 
Admir said:
Thanks for the tip! It seems that it worked, is this normal that after every single change you need to do the RAM preview? Or is is our computer not having enough power?

While we're on it; If I'm editing in premiere, and need an effect in a certain place in the clip, what is the best way to export it to AE, edit it, and then import back to premiere with the effect on it?
Click to expand...

google Dynamic Link


You're welcome. :D
 
I suggest you to increase your RAM for working in AE with HD files.
Check that "Render multiple frames simultaneously" in Memory & Multiprocessing is opted in. This allows you to use all your cores for rendering and RAM preview.
For simple playback, you can always work in half res. This should improve your experience.

All the best
 
So now I tried everything you've suggested, besides inserting more RAM memory (really nice of you to give me advice, big thanks)... Even after the preview rendering, the clip still lags... I'll just give up after effects for now..
 
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Admir said:
So now I tried everything you've suggested, besides inserting more RAM memory (really nice of you to give me adivce, big thanks)... Even after the preview rendering, the clip still lags... I'll just give up after effects for now..
Click to expand...

It sounds like you don't know what exactly After Effects does and how it operates. Should you try to jump back into it again, I'd recommend checking out some tutorials and reading up on the manual.
 
Well I can't say that I do know to 100% how it works, but I know what it does. I can use the program, and it works, but the lagging is just terrible! We're going to install it on an other computer when we get one and test there. We have read the manual and searched on internet, and done all the steps accordingly to that, but still it won't play the clips as it should.

Accordingly to Adobe, our computer "should" be able to do the work for AE, but it isn't- so I guess the problem is the hardware.
 
No offense, but you obviously don't know how AE works. NOTHING IS REAL TIME. Period. You have to RAM Preview every time you make a change. When the bar over the comp you're working in is green that means that portion of the comp is loaded into RAM. If the clip is still lagging then you're doing this wrong somehow. The only caveat that could be a problem is if you have external video turned on in the pref's, but I doubt you do and that usually only affects audio sync.

Maybe you can share your computer setup? I doubt it's the problem as most modern computers can handle AE in it's most basic functions just fine. Also, if you have AECS5 it's a memory hog, I have 18GB in my machine and sometimes it's not enough.
 
One thing you have to know about AE is that it is not a video editor. It works on a per-clip basis. Since it's not made for editing watching things in real time is only needed at times to check your effects and animations, and thats when you ram preview.

Since you work on it at the clip level it renders as it plays. So that you can see the effects you are applying at full quality. In a video editor like Premiere or FCP it will play lowrez video (if the computer can't keep up) until you render the timeline.

The program sounds like it is working just fine via the description you have laid out.
 
Thanks for the info! Yes I am very aware that AE is not used to edit with. What you say sounds logic and correct, but I still don't understand why, even after RAM preview, the clip won't play in normal speed. How am I supposed to add an animated effect on a clip that isn't at least 70% of the normal speed? I won't be able to judge the animated effect and how it works with the videoclip?
 
I'm sorry I thought I read that you mentioned the ram preview worked. If the ram preview is playing slow then you will need to beef up your system.

Rereading your specs though I don't see why a ram preview wouldn't work. I've ran ae on less than that before. I'm at a loss then, sorry I couldn't be much help.
 
Maybe you can post your file Admir so we can take a look at what's going on, or a screenshot or something. In the Info palette it'll show you how fast it's playing back at, maybe take a look at that and see what the FPS is.
 
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