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Darren23487528p3fl
Participant
September 20, 2022
Answered

Performance issues when working with .ai file

  • September 20, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 250 views

Hello everyone !

 

I'm trying to work with a .ai file in After Effects but the performances are making it impossible. To be more precise : the file I'm trying to work with has 43 layers, no effects or anything fancy, just solid shapes. I imported the file as a composition and converted the vector layers into shapes. Now AE is barely responsive and it takes ages to do anything, even simple stuff like scrolling down the layer panel or zooming into the previz. I have tried lowering the previz resolution, turning off rasterization, emptying the cache, hiding layers I didn't currently need to work on, etc. Nothing seems to work. I was wondering if anyone had had a similar issue and managed to fix it.

 

Here are my PC specs :

Windows 11 Pro 64 bits (version 21H2)

CPU : AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.80GHz

GPU : Geforce RTX 3070

RAM : 32GB

AE and Illustrator projects are both on an NVMe SSD.

AE version : 22.4.0 (Build 56)

 

Let me know if you need more information in order to help, thanks for reading !

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Mylenium
quote

To be more precise : the file I'm trying to work with has 43 layers, no effects or anything fancy, just solid shapes. I imported the file as a composition and converted the vector layers into shapes.

 

That alone could have produced hundreds of property entries for each actual vector path, merge paths operators and so on. Unless you really want to go in there and e.g. animate a path's shape it is simply not necessary to convert nor is it the most efficient way to work as you already found out. This is one of those things that isn't really something you can tweak away due to how AE works. So for all intents and purposes it may be best to start over using the actual AI artwork. If you need specific access to individual objects, groups and paths, isolate them beforehand in Illustrator by moving them/ copying them to their own top level layer and only convert them when needed. Likewise, organize your other layers in such a fashion that it makes handling easy without having to jump hoops in AE. 43 layers may not be much in AI, but it sure is already something that would make for a reasonably complex comp in AE.

 

Mylenium

2 replies

R
Community Expert
Rick GerardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 20, 2022

Shape layers always take longer to render than Vector Layers (AI) files. Unless you are directly animating a vector path, using shape layer animators, converting shape layer paths to motion paths, or using the C4D rendering engine to extrude a 3D shape layer, there is no advantage at all in converting a Vector layer to a shape layer.  When you convert you lose brush strokes, raster effects, gradients, and a bunch of other things. Make sure you are not wasting time and system resources. 

    Mylenium
    MyleniumCorrect answer
    Legend
    September 20, 2022
    quote

    To be more precise : the file I'm trying to work with has 43 layers, no effects or anything fancy, just solid shapes. I imported the file as a composition and converted the vector layers into shapes.

     

    That alone could have produced hundreds of property entries for each actual vector path, merge paths operators and so on. Unless you really want to go in there and e.g. animate a path's shape it is simply not necessary to convert nor is it the most efficient way to work as you already found out. This is one of those things that isn't really something you can tweak away due to how AE works. So for all intents and purposes it may be best to start over using the actual AI artwork. If you need specific access to individual objects, groups and paths, isolate them beforehand in Illustrator by moving them/ copying them to their own top level layer and only convert them when needed. Likewise, organize your other layers in such a fashion that it makes handling easy without having to jump hoops in AE. 43 layers may not be much in AI, but it sure is already something that would make for a reasonably complex comp in AE.

     

    Mylenium

      D
      Darren23487528p3flAuthor
      Participant
      September 20, 2022

      I see. Now that you say it, when I open one of the shape layers it's got a whole bunch of different properties and groups, so yeah I imagine if it did that with all of them it might be a bit much.

       

      Thanks for your answer! 

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