Interface is Slow and Laggy

Also I can caps lock all I want that selecting more than about... 20 keyframes is still slow and laggy as all hell.

But the UI refresh doesn't need to be bogged down by whatever AE is doing on the rendering side! Combustion updated the UI in real time while playing compositions in 2008 and maybe the rendering was heavier and took longer, but the UI was always responsive.

Skew offers some great interaction, but it doesn't tie into any of After Effects' performance enhancements.

Try making edits with Skew while the Preview is running.

Try making edits with Skew in an upstream Comp while watching the Preview running in a downstream Comp.

It's not the interface.

It's that After Effects treats all source footage as uncompressed at the current project settings.  Use the numerous options After Effects provides to make it more responsive.

Maybe start with caps lock.

For the love of god @Warren Heaton10841144 we're talking about the interface, I know rendering in AE has been better for a couple of versions now, but the interface is UNBEARABLY slow, not only on AE, on most of the CC suite.

¿Have you seen Skew? It's replicating most of the AE timeline interface on a script and it's SMOOOTH as butter. I don't see why that kind of UI performance is not possible everywhere.

@SebABF 

"I can't understand how we can have unbelievably complicated rendered PC or game console games yet moving a few rectangles or keyframes about in an interface can be this laggy."

After Effects treats everything as if it's uncompressed at the current project settings.  Our game consoles do not.

Just adding my bit here. Long term After Effects user of nearly 20 years.

I am so fed up of the laggy interface right now! Scrolling through the composition window, trying to select or move a few key frames, changing values, or simply trying to move the time indicator to the correct place is just infuriating, everything has a 1-5 second delay. Most times in big comps when I move the time indicator to the right place, I let go and of course my my mouse to the next thing I want to click on - the indicator also moves with it due to the lag meaning I have to reset it back in the position that I want.

RAM Previews are also incredibly laggy and buggy in the latest versions. I can wait 10-15 minutes for something to RAM preview, and when it does the section that I need the playback is jumpy or doesn't happen at all, or the RAM cache just disappears completely and I have to restart the process.

I can't understand how we can have unbelievably complicated rendered PC or game console games yet moving a few rectangles or keyframes about in an interface can be this laggy.

hff, sorry, I just get heated- like niko there- it's... a bit of a flash point for me. years of frustration and continual disappointment just... hff. it's frustrating enough to push me over the edge.
I'm running the tests on an m.2 drive, which is my boot drive and OS drive. intel 6700k, gtx 1070, 32 gigs of RAM, 2tb m.2, as well as 10tb of bulk hdd storage and a 248gb ssd for simulation caches/massive IO/transcode operations for 3D vfx, to save my other drives from premature wear.
I don't think it gets much faster for storage than what I've set up. I know it's not exactly super workstation level, but AE doesn't actually use it all, as it is, and resolve is faster on similar constraints by far. the important part is that the only difference between the tests is adobe AE's version.

also, yeah, they did have a lot of suggestions. the two streams lasted about four hours total, but of it, about 10-15 minutes is spent discussing their potential solutions, but the one thing they agreed on was:
"There are so many fixes to make, and so much would need to be changed at such a basic level, it would be cheaper and easier to just make a new program that builds on what we all learned from using this one." and I came up with this, and posted suggestions on it years ago. they came to the same conclusion I did, on their own.

as for how it's strange what they're asking for- it's not! most editors that use adobe software have at least dipped their toes in other software. It's obvious why they want both. like me, they grew up on the software. at some point you feel like moving on, but at the same time it's heartbreaking to see what you grew up on fall apart or end. it's painful. it hurts inside, and that's why it's so hard to say "it's time.". https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxsjp5XfIgDJOuBZSGv0rmPECI9eJifOxY
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxv-AEhDd1QLO_KpKZaiLi_2Oh7jCNPrj5 

but just watch 19:50 to 25:40 https://youtu.be/aVNCgmAsI8c?t=1166 and he goes over how, after some time to cool off and talk through it- just... restarting alone doesn't feel like a good enough answer- and it's the process and thought that lots of us are probably going through on our own, separate from one another. and I agree with his solution.

"don't kill After Effects. it can still exist. It has a reason to exist. Make a new program- one that can compete on equal terms with others, in their own playing field. AE is, however, one of the last layer-based compositing software. Rebuilding After Effects would also be good. Now that we can identify what makes After Effects' workflow powerful, we can make the program in service of that and make something wonderful."

also the MP4 thing doesn't count. we had mp4 and it was taken away to force us to use media encoder, which most of us hate. I personally exported in prores then transcoded in premiere to avoid it. it... really just isn't good or performant and feels like being beaten over the brow because we don't treat these programs like one entity enough.

@nubnubbud 

My bad, I should have said for the following:

• Looks like you're asking for help! Please check to make sure you've included the following information. Edit your post (or leave a top-level comment) if you haven't included this information.
  • System specs - macOS Windows - Speccy
  • After Effects version (full version numbers, not marketing version like CS6 or CC2019 or 2022)
  • Footage specs - MediaInfo can tell you the codec and container

If this information was posted earlier in this thread, I'm sorry that I missed it.

Again, faster performance is a direct result of faster hardware, even if it's on the same computer.  As I am sure you're aware, upgrading to faster storage media can make a noticeable difference and upgrading processors (if that's an option) can make a huge difference. Of course, there's only so much we can do on our end.  We are seeing significant optimizations on the After Effects side.  Hopefully, we can figure out why you're not benefiting from this on your end.

JustAlexHalford and OutofOrder offer some good performance suggestions even if they are incorrect about a few things here and there or go about it unprofessionally (being crass is probably part of OutOfOrder's appeal).  Have you tried their suggestions?  Wren at Corridor Digital creates some outstanding content.  It's a little strange that Corridor Digital asks for no new featrues during a complete applicaiton rewrite and then ask for new features, but at least the things they ask for have either been implemented (Native H264 Encoding) or are in procress (ACES Color Management).  Each of those things have been on the Adobe User Voice for awhile.

@Warren Heaton10841144 
okay it's condescending and misguided that you're telling me the program is getting slower because my computer hasn't changed- if I hadn't changed my computer... it should have gotten faster, if indeed adobe's optimizations did anything useful at all. though, as for using the same computer for CS6 and AE22- and I still remember, back in 2015 I was working on some 6K footage. that's what I based this around- because it wasn't that bad. not, it's horrendous, on my newer workstation, with CS6- and even worse with AE22. that's my main concern.

Yes, effectively!
my computer is about 5 years old, but I'm running both CS6 and AE22/AE23 on it in parallel.
I've done these tests in a controlled environment, after restarting my computer. it's not a cleanroom, I do have some startup stuff and some performance monitors and my drives aren't empty, but I immediately noticed a performance reliability downturn, and an average preview performance drop, in the same file (made in CS6 and converted to AE22 by the automated script.) There was no effect in my test that both could not use. it was a couple solids, one with a blend mode, and some text moving, and two green screen footages on top of each other, in a 4K composition.
I've been using these programs since CS3, I think, on bargain bin high school computers with maybe 4 gigs of RAM at best. I did everything from sound design in audition to editing in premiere, photography and effects in photoshop and after effects- I'm no expert, but I've been using it to produce footage for over a decade now, and I feel I have at least some handle on it in general, seeing as my complaints as a freelancer mirror those of others who actually work in studios.

the fact of the matter is... https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxqoQ4eS3V5d1njuXDnjHEgNvjcaVbKJsp ...yeah. and https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxRKVxSZbTuOH6u4tlJ5DmP5B49vbyh2SF ... and https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxn5_DhGxpTsdlrHuhxuCw9WYXnEsiolQ9 and a huge proportion of tutorials on after effects these days focus solely on making it... just... function at acceptable levels. like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlkDSCuygss this guy who, with an $11,000 workstation struggles to render 1080p in realtime with no effects.

after effects just does not work any more. I myself only use it for a few specific effects. When I let my subscription run out, I'm just going back to CS6 and davinci resolve, because no features after CS6 have made my work better or faster, and resolve, even if it's a bit odd and needs a cleanup, lets me see what I'm doing. which, believe it or not, is important in a visual medium.

you don't understand. I don't want it faster. I want it to use the resouces it asks for. I want the program that's advertised, the service I'm paying for, and I want a better computer to be able to run it faster.