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  • General Render & Preview Advice.

    Posted by John Davies on April 24, 2010 at 11:42 am

    A rather vague thread here, but I’m just hoping for a bit of guidance and possible advice…

    I’m not new to After Effects but being self-taught upto this point I most likely have bad-habits and incorrect ways of doing things when working. I just started working full-time with AE in my new job and so need to iron out any of these habits and improve my work flow, fast!

    I had a new PC delivered yesterday… if I remember correctly, it has 8GB RAM, 500GB & 1.3 TB HDD, Windows 7 x64, 3.4GhZ Quad Core..Graphics/Video Card details I can get, running CS4 until we can upgrade to CS5.

    Am I right in holding the 1.3 TB HDD for all video & project storage, as well as having the AE Cache/Scratch Disks set up on here? We (like everyone else) want to be able to maximise RAM Previews and keep render times to a minimum but are having a nightmare doing so right now.

    I have multi-processing on, told AE to use an 8000MB cache folder, and unfortunately have 32bit software so unable to utilise the full RAM, until CS5 comes along.

    Another thing, is there a recommended format to output to that would provide a fast, low quality render for when “the client’s coming in this afternoon” and we need to get something pumped out in time? What would be the ideal settings for previews,or ones favoured by users here?

    We are currently battling with out of memory errors and incredible render times working with just 1080i footage and a few graphics.

    I know this thread isn’t very specific, in fact not at all, but I’m a very tired man just looking for any hints & tips on anything related to keeping things moving! I can provide all further project & PC info once I’m back in work.

    Many thanks,

    Walter Soyka replied 16 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • Walter Soyka

    April 24, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    [John Davies] “We are currently battling with out of memory errors and incredible render times working with just 1080i footage and a few graphics. “

    That’s because 8 GB of RAM really isn’t very much for multiprocessing with a quad-core machine. Each process can grab up to 4GB, and AE could launch 4 processes on that machine. Turn down the number of processors AE can use, or turn off multiprocessing entirely.

    There was a great thread a couple weeks ago where there was some discussion on what workflow adjustments you might make for better performance:

    https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/977291

    Walter Soyka
    Principal & Designer at Keen Live
    Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
    RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
    Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

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