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frank_d
Participating Frequently
January 28, 2026
Question

Every time I import an .aep file into current After Effects project, after effects preview panel goes DEAD.

  • January 28, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 54 views

Every time I work on a mdeium to large project, and I want to import one of my templates to speed up some comps, after effects preview panel goes black, and will not work. 

 

Previewing sound won’t work, previewing video won’t work. Scrubbing won’t work.

 

It sometimes comes back after 3-5 minutes. Clearing cache/memory does nothing.

 

Restarting helps, but after restarting, it still takes time to generate preview.

 

It happens across ALL after effects versions, 23, 24, 25, and now 26.

    1 reply

    nishu_kush
    nishu_kush
    Legend
    January 28, 2026

    Hi Frank,

     

    Thanks for writing in. Is it happening with a specific template? In which version of After Effects was the template created? Can you try creating a new template in the current version of After Effects and see if that works better?

    Let me know how it goes. Moving this thread from Bugs to Questions for troubleshooting.


    Thanks,

    Nishu

      F
      frank_dAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      January 29, 2026

      Maybe my use of the term “template" confused you.

       

      So I am working on a project in After Effects. The project is large. I have dozens of comps, animations in each comp, texts, backgrounds, maybe even character rigs, or element 3d layers.

       

      Then I import an .aep fiole that contains a single precomp of a lower third I made. What after effects was used is irrelevant, as it happens with every single one. Once I import the .aep file into my project, the preview panel stops working. Sometimes it get sback to working, other times I need to restart after effects. Clearing cache/memory and all temp disk files, does nothing. 

       

      Switching preview resolution and saving, RANDOMLY helps sometimes.

       

      Most of the times a full restart is needed.

       

      It started happening for me back in ae 2023 and all the way up to 2026, it still happens.

      nishu_kush
      nishu_kush
      Legend
      January 29, 2026

      Does this issue occur randomly, or does it happen every time you import the .aep file? Does it also happen if you import newly created .aep files? I'm asking this to help us determine whether the problem is specific to the files you are trying to import. Sometimes, files created in older versions can cause such issues. Also, what are your system specifications (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS version)? If it’s not file-specific, you may try updating the GPU driver if it hasn’t been updated already.

      Let me know.

       

      Thanks,

      Nishu

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