HOW TO USE AE7 WITH INTEL MACS

[Graham Jones]

Hi,

Thanks for posting. It’s a little complicated… if you’re hitting the memory ceiling, it will get a LOT slower, and possibly crash. However, if you set your memory settings TOO low, it will also get slower.

The key is to incrementally test until you find the settings that work best for you… ideally with Activity Monitor open and watching to see how different tasks affect the CPU activity and RAM usage.

Hope this helps,
Graham Jones.

[Russ Maehl]

I don’t really know the mechanics of texture maps and memory. How will this reduction in AE’s memory use effect large texture maps? Is there some kind of computation to work out the largest maps possible in a given comp?

Thanks,

Russ

[Daniel Molina]

that is a really good insight. i will definitely try that today.

specs @ work:
macpro quad 3.0
4.0 GB RAM
nVidia fx 4500 card
Kona 3 capture card
Xserve RAID (1.0TB) with firbre channel card.

As you see, I definitely need to make my machine more efficient.

i only have one more question: I have Xcode 3.0 and when i enable openGL in AE7, the preview runs like molasses. Especially when i use my 3D plugin, (3D invigorator). do you have a solution for this as well?

[Graham Jones]

Hi,

Sorry, don’t know about the texture maps… I think trial and error will have to do. It’s a good sign that the Rosetta memory limit seems proportional to the total RAM— adding more memory is again a good recommendation.

As for OpenGL, some users have reported issues with it… Can you afford to keep it off? I know… would be a shame with your killer graphics card. I don’t have any experience with Invigorator… perhaps Zaxwerks’s support department might be able to help.

Can anyone else cast some light on these issues?

Thanks,
Graham Jones.

[Kashaan]

I’ve also found that turning off the feature that extends your desktop to an external VIDEO monitor (on a Blackmagic Decklink HD card) helps real-time preview enormously.

[Schnaer]

One stupid question! How and where do I do this: “lowered the memory settings WAY down (max memory to 30%, Max RAM Cache to 15%)” ?
Thanks

Schnaer

[Graham Jones]

Hi,

Thanks for your post… I suggest you make use of the excellent After Effects searchable online help, and also reading the manual wouldn’t hurt. Try “memory” for a search term. After Effects is a pro program, and you will get a LOT more out of it if you learn the basics the right way, and make use of the right resources when you encounter a problem.

That said:

Under After Effects>Preferences>Memory & Cache… you see the

[Andrew Riss]

Hello

I followed all your instructions and lowered my memory allocation. Yet am still getting frequent crashes when try to create a simple Kaleidiscope effect using CC Kaleidi w/Illustraor art.

I am running AE 7 W/ A MacBook Pro w/ 1gig mem.

One thing I dont understand is, what are ” Rosetta apps” and how do I disable them?

Thanks
Andrew

[Graham Jones]

Hi Andrew,

thanks for your post. “Rosetta” is the tool that Intel Macs use to run non-Intel native programs, like AE. It’s incredibly versatile, but there is always a cost to running an emulation environment. If you open the Activity Monitor application (inside Applications>Utilities), you will see some processes that are listed as “Intel” and some as “PowerPC.” Rosetta runs all of the apps and processes that are not “Intel,” and they all share a limited amount of your memory— it seems to be about 40-45% of your total RAM, but there may be other factors.

I think that 1GB is probably too low to do anything but the most basic work in AE 7 on an Intel Mac. Doing a Kaleidoscope on Illustrator vectors is not “simple” when it comes to how much memory it needs.

The best way to test this is to use Activity Monitor to quit any processes that are not Intel (Select each “PowerPC” process and use the “Force Quit” button). Then go to AE and lower your memory settings to something like 10%. Also make sure you have done all of the other things I mentioned at the top of this thread. If it still crashes, you likely need more memory.

It may be enlightening to keep Activity Monitor running while you are working with AE, to get an idea on what sucks more memory, and what is happening when it crashes.

Hope this helps,
Graham Jones.

[Andrew Riss]

HI Graham,

Thanks, That was my hunch as well. I should get some more RAM.

Cheers,
Andrew