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Thomas34472871rz8q
Participant
Mar 12, 2026 1:33 PM UTC
Question

Playback/preview is pixelated

If i press spacebar and let it play, it gets blurry. Using mouse for fast preview or scrubbing on timeline, everything is fine. i’m on 100% magnification percentage. Resolution on Full. Cleared my cache. Updated to the latest After Effects 2026. But still nothing is working. Was working perfectly fine but suddenly this happened. On the picture, you’ll see its pixelated while it’s playing compared to the one that’s still (maybe need a bit of a zoom-in but trust me its very noticeable. Had this on other projects as well… Its a bit annoying.

 

    3 replies

    Community Expert
    RobShultzCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Mar 13, 2026 1:36 AM UTC

    This is usually because your graphics card can’t keep up with the playback and the final product should render out fine. You may want to try updating your graphics drivers.

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    Thomas34472871rz8qAuthor
    Participant
    Mar 13, 2026 12:34 PM UTC

    I’m working on a Macbook Pro m2 MAX 2023 with a 32gb RAM, 30 core. Shouldn’t that be enough you think?😅

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    nishu_kush
    nishu_kush
    Legend
    Mar 13, 2026 1:56 PM UTC

    Hi Thomas,

     

    I had a close look at the screenshots that you shared. I can’t find any difference in the screenshots. I am sure the pixelation must be visible on your end, but as the expert suggested, the export should be crisp.

     

    Thanks,

    Nishu

     

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