After Effects 2025 freezes when using video assets

Hi all,

Really sorry that this thread went unnoticed.

Is After Effects generating a crash report? If yes, please share so that we can investigate. If not, please share the following steps to generate and find the crash log:

1. Start AE
2. Help Menu => Enable Logging
3. Restart AE
4. Reproduce the crash
5. Restart AE and go to Help Menu => Reveal Logging Files...
6. Find the "After Effects Log.txt" file
7. Share the text file or copy and paste its content here.

I'll get the crash log checked by the product team and get their feedback. Sorry again for the delayed response.

I am having the exact same issue with After Effects 25.1.0 on Mac Sequoia 15.1   Playing back or scrubbing in a comp with a video asset in the timeline causes after effects to freeze and require reset.  Turning off multi-frame rendering fixes the issue, but then I am not able to access the benefits of multi-frame rendering.  Hopefully an Adobe employee will monitor this thread and will be able to fix what seems like a bug that multiple users are experiencing.

More details on the behavior:

If I drag proRes footage into a comp when multi-frame rendering is on, I experience this issue.  If I turn off multi-frame rendering, it seems to fix it, at least for now.  I can sometimes then re-enable multi-frame rendering and have no issues, but sometimes that will cause the issues again.

Sometimes if I have a comp open with footage in it, and try changing the multi-frame rendering setting in preferences, the attempt to change that preference causes after effects to freeze and require a force quit.

some mp4 files show up as black video with multi-frame rendering on, but preview normally with it off.

I am experiencing these issues with large / long video files (over one hour long footage). I'm not sure if that is part of the issue, but I did not have these issues in previous versions of after effects.

Hi @JuMagne974 

After Effects relies on hardware acceleration for certain tasks, especially with video playback. Sometimes, hardware acceleration can cause issues depending on your system’s configuration, particularly with newer Apple Silicon Macs like your M2 Max.

Solution:

Try disabling hardware acceleration in After Effects.
Go to Preferences > Preview and uncheck the option for "Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, and Footage Panels".
Restart After Effects and see if the freezing issue persists.
This can often help with video playback problems or UI freezes related to GPU usage.

2. Update After Effects and macOS
After Effects and macOS often release updates that contain performance improvements, bug fixes, and compatibility enhancements. Ensuring you're using the latest versions might resolve known issues with the software, especially with newer hardware like the Apple M2 Max.

Solution:

Check for updates in After Effects: Open the Creative Cloud App and check for any available updates for After Effects.
Update macOS to the latest stable version available if you haven’t already. New macOS updates often contain bug fixes that can improve compatibility with Adobe products.
3. Memory and Cache Issues
After Effects is very memory-intensive, and issues with caching or insufficient memory can cause freezes, especially with large video files. Clearing the media cache or adjusting memory settings might help.

Solution:

Clear the cache: Go to Preferences > Media & Disk Cache and click Empty Disk Cache.
Increase the amount of RAM reserved for After Effects: In Preferences > Memory, ensure that After Effects is allocated enough memory, especially with 32 GB RAM available on your Mac.
Set your cache location to a faster drive if possible (for example, an external SSD).
4. Check Video Format Compatibility
You mentioned using H264 and Apple ProRes footage, which are generally well-supported, but there can be some performance issues, particularly with H264 encoding. H264 is a compressed format, which can be more taxing on the system during playback, especially for large or high-bitrate files.

Solution:

Convert your H264 footage to a more editing-friendly format like Apple ProRes or DNxHD/HR for better performance in After Effects.
Use proxies: If you're working with large or high-resolution files, try using proxy footage to reduce the workload on your system.
5. Check for Third-Party Plugins
Sometimes, third-party plugins or effects can be incompatible with newer versions of After Effects, leading to crashes or freezes.

Solution:

Disable third-party plugins and see if the problem persists. You can disable them by temporarily removing the plugin folder from your After Effects installation or testing with a clean install.
Check for plugin updates: Ensure all third-party plugins you're using are updated to support the latest version of After Effects.
6. GPU Driver and Metal API
Apple’s Metal API is used by After Effects on macOS, and while it generally works well with Apple Silicon chips, there may be occasional issues with how certain GPU tasks are handled.

Solution:

Switch to OpenGL instead of Metal for GPU acceleration (if possible) in Preferences > Previews > GPU Information. This may alleviate issues, though Metal typically works better with Apple Silicon.
7. Test with a Clean Preferences File
A corrupt preferences file can sometimes cause instability in After Effects.

Solution:

Reset After Effects preferences by holding down Shift + Alt (Option) + Command (Mac) immediately after launching After Effects. This will restore the default preferences, which can often fix freezing issues.
8. Check Console Logs for Errors
After Effects should generate logs that can help identify the specific cause of the freeze.

Solution:

Check the Console app (Applications > Utilities > Console) for any error messages related to After Effects during the time it freezes.
Look for any issues that might point to a conflict or a failing component.
9. Consider Using a Different Software Version
Sometimes, new updates introduce bugs that aren't immediately fixed. You could try downgrading to an earlier stable version of After Effects.

Solution:

If the issue persists, you might want to revert to a previous version of After Effects (such as 25.0 or 24.x) by using the Creative Cloud App and selecting Other Versions under After Effects.
10. Reinstall After Effects
If all else fails, a complete reinstallation of After Effects may be necessary. Sometimes a fresh installation can resolve lingering issues caused by corrupted files or misconfigurations.

Solution:

Uninstall After Effects, restart your computer, and then reinstall the latest version of the software.
Given your setup (Mac Studio with M2 Max and 32 GB RAM), After Effects should perform well, especially for most compositions. However, ensuring that all of the above aspects are optimized can help prevent crashes and freezing.

For more in-depth technical discussions and potential fixes, you might want to check out Adobe Support or forums like Reddit’s After Effects community, where others might have experienced similar issues on the M2 Max.

In this case, I highly recommend creating a "proxy" for any UHD footage you use.

check this YouTube video from motion science 

youtu.be/y3Qgs2N5z1Y?si=P--B9CJbAVnDWWbc

let us know if that helps.

Another interesting fact: having a disable video footage in the comp stops the issue. It only happens when it is enabled/visible.

Please note that Media Encoder manages to render the comp while After Effects always crashes.

Hi Mohammad, thanks for your feedback.

I just tried to reset the preferences ; unfortunately there's no improvement.

Working on huge projects with tons of shape layers and expressions is not an issue. The app freezes every time I work on a comp containing a single video footage.

Have you tried reseeting AE preferences ?