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AMAX
Known Participant
October 13, 2015
Answered

After Effects 2015 won't preview in real time after El Capitan update.

  • October 13, 2015
  • 58 replies
  • 118923 views

Hello,

Has anyone experienced the following issue and found a solution for it?

Right after Update to El Capitan 10.11 the After Effects 2015 stopped ram previewing in real time.

No matter what i do it won’t work.

I have a latest MAC Pro 2.7 GHz 12-Core with 64GB ram.

The AE 2014 still works though.

      This topic has been closed for replies.
      Correct answer Roei Tzoref

      Everybody who is having this issue please install the latest update: After Effects CC (November 2017) Bug-Fix Update Is Now Available that is supposed to finally close this thread for good! please report if this issue has been resolved.

      if you can't see the update yet, wait a while until you see it. try relaunching Creative Cloud app by typing Ctrl+Alt+R. I see it.

      this update is 14.0.1 and is a bug fix for many disturbing issues especially for Mac users. it does not fix all the bugs that are new with this release - look here for bug#2 and #3 that are still not fixed (bug #1 is fixed I believe): Known issues in After Effects CC 2017 and hopefully a bug fix for those will come pretty soon.

      58 replies

      Show previous replies
      Todd_Kopriva
      Todd_Kopriva
      Inspiring
      January 28, 2016

      We've been working with Apple on the main issue preventing real-time playback on Mac OSX v10.11, and we have a good understanding of the problem. Apple made a change to an API for drawing items to the screen in Mac OSX v10.11 (El Capitan). That change, coupled with some drawing changes for the Timeline panel that we made in After Effects CC 2015 (13.5), causes the entire Timeline panel to be redrawn each time that only a subset of the Timeline panel should be redrawn (e.g., when the preview time indicator moves, the whole panel is being redrawn to the screen instead of just the part that has changed).

      As others have mentioned on this thread, current workarounds include hiding the Timeline panel or changing the view of the Timeline panel to not include the preview time indicator.

      The fix for this issue is targeted at our next update.

      leosfreitas
      leosfreitas
      Participating Frequently
      January 28, 2016

      An answer! A light in the end!!! Oh my good, thank you!

      Todd, what's the expect date to it happen?

      We're all waiting anxious.

      Todd_Kopriva
      Todd_Kopriva
      Inspiring
      January 28, 2016

      I don't want to publicly commit to dates right now, since we need to make sure that we get this right, and we'll likely be including some other major fixes at the same time, and both of those factors add uncertainty to timing.

      G
      georgecasualfilms
      Participating Frequently
      January 28, 2016

      Jumped for joy this morning when I saw a new updated along with Adobe's release notes citing, "improvements to Cache Before Playback previews." After Effects now feels like it's caching slightly quicker but it's still not previewing in real-time.

      Can't believe we're still here. Nothing from Adobe at all...

        leosfreitas
        leosfreitas
        Participating Frequently
        January 28, 2016

        Really? It still not working fine? That update don't arrives yet to me here, but I'm frustated for now.

        G
        georgecasualfilms
        Participating Frequently
        January 28, 2016

        Nope, really really still not working. Such a shame as knowing the scheduling for these updates, we probably won't see another significant one for another couple of months...

        C
        ChadPerkins
        Participant
        January 28, 2016

        FWIW, I'm getting this exact same issue on Yosemite with both CC2015 and CC2014. But rendering wasn't broken until I installed CC2015. I've tried all of the fixes mentioned in this thread (renaming folders, static mouse, changing options, not having playhead visible, maximizing comp viewer, single monitor, etc.) and nothing works, even temporarily. Cached frames won't playback in realtime, period. It doesn't matter what the resolution or content is.

        I know you Adobe guys are working hard to fix this. You're amazing, and create phenomenal software. Thanks for all you do!

        djm99001
        djm99001
        Participant
        January 26, 2016

        + 1

        Even a 1x1 pixel composition with nothing on it is unable to play back in realtime.  The issue is indeed alleviated by hiding the playhead by maximizing the canvas, scrolling off to the side, or any other method that results in not displaying the scrolling red vertical line.

        I won't attribute the mistake to malice, greed, or stupidity on the part of Adobe.  I'm sure they're embarrassed, as they should be.  But it seems that they're also trying to minimize attention to the issue by not formally acknowledging the gravity of the problem--they broke a part of almost every OSX user's workflow.

        If they were interested in building back a bit of goodwill, here's what they could say, in a blog post: "We're sorry that we unintentionally crippled what we acknowledge to be an integral function and we're working hard to fix it."  Also, why not humor us with an insider's explanation of the issue?

          dissidently
          dissidently
          Inspiring
          January 26, 2016

          That would require humility, not hubris. Wrong era, wrong company.

          T
          TengTeng101
          Participant
          January 25, 2016

          +1 for this problem to be fixed

          The workaround is just about getting me through, but playing a game of 'hide the playhead' every time I want to preview is just getting ridiculous. Please Adobe please fix it...

            J
            jeff-7117
            Known Participant
            January 18, 2016

            It would have been better for everyone, including Adobe if they had come out in the beginning and noted this issue in the release notes for the latest update.  Something simple like "known issue: ram preview does not play real time in OS X 10.11 with timeline panel in display."   This would have prevented a lot of frustration from the community as to why the software was not performing as expected, and cut down on the countless forum threads and anger about the RAM preview issues in OS X 10.11.

            The bad part about all of this is that it appears at least from our perspective that this didn't get caught until after the release to the public, thus the outrage that we can't get "real time" ram previews when CC 2015 was apparently good-to-go on OS X 10.11.  If this is actually true, then one has to question how Adobe did not catch this in beta.

              leosfreitas
              leosfreitas
              Participating Frequently
              January 18, 2016

              I agreed!!!

                akiu60529853
                akiu60529853
                Participant
                January 17, 2016

                Now it's happening to me too. Preview doesn't play realtime, and my OS is the latest version of Yosemite.

                I'm debating myself whether I should upgrade to the latest AE which still seems to have the same problem.

                Has anyone tried the latest ver of AE on Yosemite?

                Or should I just go back to AE2014?

                LArobWalkerAE
                LArobWalkerAE
                Participating Frequently
                January 17, 2016

                CC2014 is the most bullet-proof version, in my experience.

                The latest version of CC2015’s Preview can be made to work if you make sure that during previews: a) the timeline is not being redrawn (i.e. somewhere off-screen); b) waveform/vectorscope displays are not on. However, the first two or three seconds of audio sometimes plays, sometimes not., at least on the first pass.  This is my experience on a MacPro 5,1 OSX 10.9.5, GTX780+GTX780i.

                  akiu60529853
                  akiu60529853
                  Participant
                  January 18, 2016

                  I decided to go with CC2014 since CC2015 doesn't seem to be working even though I made sure with the timeline and waveform/vectorscope display.

                  the island
                  the island
                  Participant
                  January 4, 2016

                  Best workaround for this... Open after effects in "Open in Low Resolution" (get info on the app icon and check the box) Everything work fine after that.

                  K
                  koralfx2
                  Known Participant
                  January 4, 2016

                  Unfortunately, this is not a working solution.

                  (dual monitor system, undocked timeline on second monitor)

                  Gameboy_DK
                  Gameboy_DK
                  Participant
                  January 5, 2016

                  Hi everyone,

                  I found another workaround to the problem. In the timeline settings (right-click on any timeline-tab), choose Panel Group Settings and change it from Small Tabs to Stacked Panel Group.

                  Seems to do the trick regarding realtime RAM-preview, even though I prefer the Small Tab setting. Curious to hear if it works for anyone else.

                  Kindly Thomas

                    www_lyricsparoles_com
                    www_lyricsparoles_com
                    Participant
                    December 19, 2015

                    Is this happens with the simple text or solid layers or is specific to any project(s)?

                    Have you tried renaming Adobe folders? if not, please do and check.

                    howiemnet
                    howiemnet
                    Inspiring
                    December 21, 2015

                    www.lyricsparoles.com‌ - this happens even with no layers in a comp. Renaming the Adobe folders hasn't made a difference.

                    Can anyone tell me whether it's sufficient to install an older version of AE (which one?) or am I going to have to reinstall OS X Yosemite (arrrg)?

                      J
                      Joe_Walker-PLUO9I
                      Participating Frequently
                      December 21, 2015

                      I reinstalled Yosemite. Problems solved.

                      Backup user directory to an external, wipe the drive and reinstall. Download CC apps again.

                      It took less than 2 hours and a few days of work to finesse all of my settings back, plugins reinstalled etc. — but it's worth not having to stress over El Capitan.

                      Only new Mac buyers seem to be left out in the rain (which is unacceptable).

                      Good luck.

                        J
                        jeffwylie
                        Participant
                        December 18, 2015

                        Same issue here.

                        MacBook Pro Retina driving a LG Ultra-wide 21:9 at 3440x1440 over Thunderbolt.

                        In my experience it has to do with the overall After Effects window. Taking the entire app window and shrinking it down on my monitor restores real-time playback for previews. This feels like it is an overall UI issue with the AE app, especially on high resolution monitors.

                        Really need a fix for this.

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