[David Johnson]

If I’m thinking of the right one, it was probably done with Trapcode 3D Stroke and Particular plugins (can be, but can also be done with a 3D app). Those are both very popular plugins (as is the effect you’re talking about) so I’m sure there are lots of tutorials available via a Google search that’ll give you the specifics. As with almost any third-party AE plugin, the same things can be done with AE’s native tools, but it takes more effort, creativity and time.

[David Johnson]

You shouldn’t take my answer as the complete answer to your question since I’m sure others more knowledgable will chime in and, personally, I think hardware changes too much day-to-day to suggest specific models … you’re probably better off to research yourself.

I would first caution that $400 is unlikely to get you a strong AE machine even though you have some parts already, but it seems you know that already.

Based on my personal experience and that of other editors I’ve known over the course of 20 years, I’d suggest at least match Adobe’s AE RAM specs, a good Nvidia video card (vs. ATI, which always seems to have more issues) and it’s hard to go wrong with an ASUS motherboard.

If you’re a pro and this is the machine that’ll make your livelihood, I’d recommend against even installing any games on your video/graphics workstation unlkess you’re talking about Pac-Man. However, if you’re just doing personal stuff and can afford extra time for troubleshooting your work apps, it should be fine.

I hope my generalities are helpful to some degree.

[David Johnson]

One other thing I thought of that will help you match your AE render to your FCP sequence …

Bring the AE render you’re having trouble with into FCP. When you right click the FCP bin window there is a list of things you can have it show about each file and sequence (video codec, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio codec, etc, etc.). Check all the pertinent ones then go down the list and compare the AE file specs to the FCP sequence specs. Then, when you re-render out of AE, change everything in the output module and render settings to match everything about your FCP sequence.

[David Johnson]

Dave L. answered your question, but I was bored and felt compelled to add two things:

I suppose the first is another way of saying some of the same Dave L. already said … AE can’t use the same shortcuts as other Adobe apps because it does very different things and, therefore, uses the shortcut keys for different things. For example, J & K jump to keyframes in AE instead of move the playhead as in editing software.

The second is in response to your comment “driving me a little crazy.” Um, that’s the idea … didn’t anyone tell you when you signed up that all all video editors are supposed to be crazy!? It’s in the rules!!

[David Johnson]

It sounds like one of two things and I hope it’s as simple as this first one: Are you sure you didnt create the PSD with a newer version of Photoshop than the one you’re trying to open it with? If that’s the case, all you have to do is take it back to the machine where you created it.

If that’s not the issue, I hate to say it, but you may have a corrupt PSD file. If you experienced any unusual computer issues during or before saving the file, that could cause it to be corrupted. I’ve heard of and tried various ways of salvaging corrupt PSDs, but I personally have not had any success with any of them … although I haven’t tried in years since I have for a long time now have been in the habit of saving multiple copies of my work on various drives, etc.

[David Johnson]

I didnt know what Fraps was until I just Googled it … I didnt take the time to read all the specs and details, but my guess is that the files you record with it are in some video codec that AE doesn’t fully understand (possibly a proprietary one or some strange variation of AVI) and an audio codec it doesn’t recognize at all (AE doesn’t like mp3, but it would at least recognize it). You may also be rendering your composition to a different frame rate, which would explain the “lag”. The output module and render settings you choose are important to your results … take a look at the info about them in the AE help.

[David Johnson]

It sounded like an OpenGL problem until I got to the last line where you said: “This problem seems to occur when the comp panel is moved to the Samsung monitor…it does not occur in the ViewSonic monitor.”

As far as the issue happening on only one monitor, perhaps confirm that monitor has current drivers and, if controlled by a separate video card from the other monitor, that you don’t have an issue with that video card … AE hates weak or weary video cards.

You might also try turning off OpenGL either in the main options or by clicking the little lightning icon at the bottom of the comp viewer window and switching it to “Adaptive Resolution”. Personally I don’t think OpenGL is worth all the headache it causes so I leave it off all the time, but I do use it sometimes when doing 3D stuff.

I’d also remind you that After Effects is a motion graphics & special effects program rather than a video editing program so you shouldn’t expect flawless timeline “scrubbing” the way you would in video editing software (like Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro). AE has to render everything you see frame by frame so you can only “scrub” to the degree your hardware can handle.

I hope this helps.

[David Johnson]

Thanks. That’s exactly where I expected them to be, but there was nothing there…I now realize its because the pref file isn’t generated until the first closing of AE…I was trying to copy the “original” prefs before changing anything at all, which I could’ve sworn I’d done before and don’t know how I overlooked that since AE4. The render settings (.ars) and output modules (.aom) still aren’t there, but they too probably only exist inside of AE until I manually export them, which I don’t recall having to do either.

Sorry for the stupid question, but this was a really big deal to me since I regularly work on a half dozen different machines and the ability to transfer various versions of prefs, etc. is a big part of my workflow.

[David Johnson]

I’ve used both as well, but it has been a while and I use neither that often. So, based on my faulty memory, I’d say Psunami is more flexible, but Aurora requires less effort so it depends on your preferences/needs. I don’t at all mean to discourage you from either, but if you don’t have a real need for a water plugin and just want a new toy, I’d say there are plugin sets out there that are far more handy on a day-to-day basis (like Sapphire, BCC or Digital Film Tools). If you’re set on water, I agree it’ll be best to test drive both as they’re both high-quality plugins.

[David Johnson]

i just needed to do a reply to my own post since I forgot to click response notification on my first post…sorry