[David Johnson]

This probabaly won’t help you solve your problem, but I use the exact process you described with Invigorator projects and have never gotten jagged edges. Maybe check your “object faceting” in Invig. Also, make sure your’re not getting a draft version due to AE’s render settings over-riding your comp’s resolution setting or something like that…I know that’s obvious but it happens.

[David Johnson]

Thanks for the info. That doesn’t explain why I can’t copy it over the network or ZIP/RAR/Stuff it into a file since there’s no external device involved in those attempts. I guess I’ll have to try it, but it seems that I’d lose the AE “project copy” embedded in the file if I split the file…not a huge deal, but that’s how I usually archive my projects and haven’t had this problem before.

[David Johnson]

“initally says 30mins to render it will take about 3 hours in the end”
60% is about right and the estimated render time is supposed to update based on the difficulty of the frame that’s rendering at the moment…so if your comp starts with a simple dissolve and progresses into more complex FX, the dissolve will render quickly, but rendering of the overall comp will slow down and/or speed up depending on the relative difficulty of the frames that follow.

[David Johnson]

[import window does not give me the option of importing as ‘project’
As the previous post points out, I used the wrong term…open PSDs as “compositions”, not “projects” or footage.

[tricky to have to open the PSD composition to make any changes that I want to see in the main comp]
Not really…just turn on the pref called something like “synchronize footage in other comps”, put your main comp in one window and the one(s) you’re working on in another…the changes you make in your work comp(s) will be reflected in your main comp window so you can see what you’re doing. But, that’s really only an option if you’re working on a reasonably fast machine.

[Am I on crack?]
Yes.

[David Johnson]

I doubt it, but I suppose it could be. I use proxies on Macs too, although I don’t recall specifically whether I’ve proxied any PSD comps lately.

[David Johnson]

I just did exactly what you described and AE did recognize the proxy I chose and showed the black box. I’m on Windows AE 5.5 PB right now, but use both Mac and Windows machines with AE 6.5 PB at work and haven’t had a problem with proxies on any of them. Sorry I couldn’t help.

[David Johnson]

Sure…just move to the frame in the PSD comp where you want your proxy to begin, then right click it in the project window for the Create Proxy option.

[David Johnson]

Thanks…just thought I’d ask since I’m home today and my system with ref movie capabalities is at work.

[David Johnson]

Similar to Scott, I’m a long-time Windows user who is now working on both platforms. I’ve never had an audio dropout problem since I’m already in the habit of converting mp3s to wav on PC and aif on Mac. I recently did a very large project (on a Mac) with dozens of small soundFX and didn’t convert a couple of mp3s. If I have a 2-second mp3 soundFX at one point in a 6-minute comp, can it make dropouts occur throughout the entire comp?

[David Johnson]

Tony is very right that “it depends on your needs and your style”, but some definitely worth looking at if you have the budget are: Boris Continuum, GenArts Sapphire, Zaxwerks, DigiEffects, The Foundry, Cycore, Red Giant, Digital Film Tools, Digital Anarchy, ReVision & Panopticum. You can easily spend thousands on very cool AE plugins that you may rarely/never use so I’d strongly recommend deciding what you NEED before browsing the list above…Trapcode’s plugins are relatively cheap despite high quality and usefulness.