AE movie review of effects

[Chris Smith]

Are you doing a RAM preview or just hitting play?

As far as the G5, even when all 9 fans are going it shouldn’t sound too loud. With the exception that when you take off the side panels, the fans kick in to “overdrive” to blow wind directly on the components now that they don’t have a specific channel for air flow. I suppose it’s possible it got hot enough to kick it in that mode without the door removed. But I really don’t think that “heavy number crunching” is going to do that. I wonder if the G5 is placed where it has enough air and can keep itself cool. I’ve bogged my G5s down many a time by rendering and even trying to do real time effects, but I have never heard any of them sound like a jet under normal circumstances.

Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com

[Mcvideo]

Chris

thanks for the response. After i finished my work i hit move time line to 0000 to preview the entire clip (5sec) i hit space bar to play it then i get this slow jagged play as if its trying to render as it plays the clip. Very, very slow.

I did not do a render preview etc. Should i be doing that instead of hitting the space bar to view the clip?

As far as the fan sounding like a jet, i have my G5 under my desk in a corner. Not on the floor though. I do need to put it up on top where it can get better air flow.. Is this why I

[Chris Smith]

Oh, man. No you gotta do RAM previews to watch real time. That is one of the absolute fundamentals of using AE is understanding your RAM preview options. Right now, hit the ‘0’ key on your extended keyboard (num pad zero key). AE will pre render your comp and play it in real time straight from RAM. Just hitting play will almost always run slow because it IS trying to render each frame as it goes. AE works very different from an NLE. An avid AE user will have worn his 0 key down from hitting it every few moments to see his/her work. I had a friend that didn’t know the RAM preview existed for a few years of having a full time job of making DVD menus with it. He would render out to a Quicktime everytime he wanted to watch real time. I showed him the RAM preview and he was both elated and furious that he had wasted so much time and effort.

G5: Make sure your side door and clear plastic shield is firmly attached. Make sure the G5 has enough airflow area both front and back. It doesn’t HAVE to be on a desk, but it’s gotta be able to cycle air through it or it WILL get too hot.

Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com

[Mcvideo]

Glad to know this. This was not on the training video i just received. hmm. I guess nothing is better than being in a actual workshop, in person. 😉

I will give it a try and hopefully i can actually see/preview this in real time. Is t really real time thought? Should i experience any slow movement?

[Steve Roberts]

In the help, it’s under animating layers>previewing animation.

Yes, it will play back in real time, once the frames have rendered.
The amount of material played back depends on the amount of RAM you have free.
You need to edit>purge image caches every so often.
There are different RAM preview options available.
There’s an audio button on the time controls palette for RAM preview.
To play more frames, lower magnification and resolution in the comp window. Purge. For best results, make sure the two (mag, res) match.

For more info, check the help. Read the manual. A training tape is a complement to the manual, not a substitute.

Steve 🙂

[Mcvideo]

Steve

Thanks for clarifying this even further on how to do the RAM preview. That was going to be my next ?. I do use the help for AE/Effects. You are correct, the training video is a complement, something extra but noting like the manual. Same for this site, a extra push/complement to learning AE.

Thanks for informing me to empty/purge my caches every so often. I guess every time i finish a project would be a good time to empty/purge it.

As far as RAM available I

[Steve Roberts]

“As far as RAM available I