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nantabrian
Participant
Aug 23, 2020 4:50 PM UTC
Question

my red line in Current Time Indicator doesn't move

hello, I have a problem with my CTI.

When I first opened my after effect, the red line CTI is doing fine, but after few minutes when I play preview the video & audio is playing but my CTI doesn't move.
Could anyone help me with this problem?

    35 replies

    sky_crystal7739
    Participant
    Jul 29, 2025 9:55 AM UTC

    after effects 2025 25.3.2 same problem

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      Alperen2454746654qh
      Participant
      Jul 30, 2025 5:55 PM UTC

      same problem, only on linked premiere pro files. Havent been fixed and its been 4 years, absolutely insane...

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      Riddhay330032857zuj
      Participant
      Apr 21, 2025 4:21 AM UTC

      Hi, I had the same problem, but I fixed it.

       

      go to edit, preference, preview, under catche frame when Idle and then catche range up to 'entire duration'

       

      That should work

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        russellm1050964
        Participant
        Nov 5, 2024 12:10 PM UTC

        Hope I'm not stating anything you have already tried.  But checking the 'Show overlays and layer controls' in the Preview window fixed it for me. Nothing else worked.

         

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          abobus00000
          Participant
          Jan 23, 2025 4:19 PM UTC
          There is another solution that involves using the debug console: 
https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-bugs/red-cti-gets-stuck-on-the-timeline/idi-p/15100260
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          Community Expert
          Byron CortezCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          Dec 28, 2023 4:34 PM UTC

          You could try changing the GPU acceleration in the menu File / Project Settings... / Video Rendering and Effects

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          Byron.
          hellopaul4
          hellopaul4
          Inspiring
          Jun 20, 2024 9:07 AM UTC

          @Byron Cortez The problem exists regardless of GPU/CPU acceleration - it seems to be an issue related to linked PPro comps.

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          defaultg6b7iz2fnvmx
          Participant
          Jul 15, 2024 12:12 AM UTC

          did you find the solution ot ?

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          Julian34492292irr2
          Participant
          Dec 28, 2023 3:10 PM UTC

          Problem still persists in 2023, going into 2024.

           

          I press play, video plays, but there is NO red line. Furthermore "Toggle Mask and Shape Path Visibility" is also disabled when I hit play and does NOT become re-enabled until I move the blue line manually.

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            hellopaul4
            hellopaul4
            Inspiring
            Dec 30, 2023 12:40 PM UTC

            I still also have this problem, in the latest public and beta releases of AE. Also, once AE gets into this confused state, Page Up/Down, Home and End have no effect. The only way to update the view is to drag the CTI. Quitting and relaunching AE fixes the issue - for a while, then it will nearly always return after a while of use. The contents/effect/layers etc. of the current comp makes no difference.

            Oh yes - and I regularly find myself turning mask and shape visibilty back on after it mysteriously turns itself off.

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            TillP
            Inspiring
            Jun 20, 2024 8:45 AM UTC

            same issue here! version 24.5   Win10. 

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            Community Expert
            Byron CortezCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            Dec 7, 2021 3:32 PM UTC

            Tampoco te aparece este indicador rojo mientras se está reproduciendo?

             

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            Byron.
              hellopaul4
              hellopaul4
              Inspiring
              Dec 7, 2021 4:02 PM UTC

              Nope - no red line at all.

              It doesn't always happen - not sure what triggers the problem, but if I relaunch AE, the problem goes away, and playback work OK with the red line moving properly - for a while.

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                Loudret
                Participant
                Mar 10, 2022 3:46 PM UTC

                Did you managed to solve this problem in the end? I'm having the same issue with all my projects in the most recent build as well.

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                hellopaul4
                hellopaul4
                Inspiring
                Nov 22, 2021 2:00 PM UTC

                Looks like this bug is back, over a year later, on AE Beta 22.1.1x62.

                 

                I have a 30sec comp, all rendered (green bar all the way across), and it'll play back fine if I hit the spacebar, but the CTI does not move at all. I have my Preview settings set to: On (Spacebar) Stop: Move time to preview time. When I hit the spacebar again to stop playback, even though I'mm seeing the correct frame in the Comp Viewer, the CTI remains unmoved. If I then use Page Up/Down to move the CTI, the CTI moves, but the frame in the Comp Viewer remains static - ther is no longer any relation between the CTI and the displayed frame. Only if I drag the CTI does the image in the Comp Viewer update. I've seen this bug before, but I think it was fixed a few releases ago. If I quit and relaunch AE, the issue will go away for a while....but then come back.

                 

                Also, if I play back the comp (it has audio) from the first frame, sync is fine. If I start playback from anything other than the first frame of the comp, audio sync goes waaaay out. This loss of sync issue is not fixed by quitting and relaunching AE.

                 

                My Nvidia drivers are fully up to date. I'm, using a Windows 10 system, AMD 5950X, 128GB RAM, 24GB VRAM RTX3090 GPU.

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                hellopaul4
                hellopaul4
                Inspiring
                Nov 23, 2021 9:49 AM UTC

                This issue has been fixed (again!) in build 68! 😁

                😒

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                Community Expert
                Byron CortezCommunity Expert
                Community Expert
                Aug 23, 2020 5:12 PM UTC

                Ok but what are you making, what effects are you applying, what is the composition resolution, etc. After Effects read frame by frame to make a preview and it depends on various factors to play fluidly.

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                Byron.
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