After Effects 23.4.0 is now available for download!

[nishu_kush]

We are excited to announce that the May update of Adobe After Effects, Version 23.4, is now available for download. With several new features, this release includes the Properties Panel to ease your workflow.

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What's New?

Properties panel for Text and Shape layers

Creating motion graphics is easier and faster with the Properties panel. Use this to quickly access the important properties of selected Text and Shape layers in the timeline without twirling open multiple layer hierarchies or opening a different panel. It improves the accessibility of layer properties that speed up your workflows.

Read more about the Properties panel in After Effects.

Effect Manager

After Effects now attempts to identify effects potentially interfering with your project workflow and forcing the application to crash.

You can use the Effect Manager notification on the next startup to keep it enabled and proceed as-is or disable the identified effects before proceeding with your work. This can save you a lot of time, as you won't have to continually deal with the issues caused by problematic effects.

You can also use the Manage Effects under the Effects menu to view a list of all your installed effects and disable any effects on the next startup.

Learn more about Effects Manager.

Startup & Repair in Preferences

Use the Startup & Repair panel under Preferences to troubleshoot your set preferences in After Effects without changing or removing them or starting over from scratch. 

Start in Safe Mode - Launch After Effects once using only the default After Effects preferences and disabled third-party plugins. It helps you identify if any of your current set preferences are corrupt and need a reset.

Empty All Caches - Empty all After Effects cache folders. This action can resolve certain startup issues as well as clear up additional storage space. 

Reset All Preferences To Defaults - Reset all preferences to defaults permanently. 

Reveal Preferences in Finder - Navigate directly to the locally saved After Effects preferences file. 

Migrate Previous Version Preferences - Migrate all preferences from previous After Effects versions to the current one.

Learn more about the Startup and Repair feature in After Effects Preferences.

Improved file sorting in the Project panel 

Sort filenames in the project panel using a more natural method that works better for names with numbers.

Learn more about working with After Effects workspace and panels.

3D Gizmo position snapping

You can now snap layers in 3D space while dragging the constrained X, Y, and Z position handles of the 3D Gizmo. This includes the XY, XZ, and YZ combo handles of the 3D position gizmo. 

With this new improvement for 3D workflows in After Effects, you can use snapping, both constrained and non-constrained while working with 3D model layers.

Revamped Track Matte pick whip icon

The new Track Matte pick whip icon is designed for you to easily differentiate it from the Parent & Link one. The new icon combines the pick whip shape with a hint of transparency grid and is effortlessly identifiable while working on your workflows.

Learn more about Track Matte in After Effects. 

Support for new formats

After Effects now offers support for the footage shot on Sony VENICE 2 V2.00 and on iPhones in Cinematic mode.

Take a look at all the supported formats.

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What's Fixed?

• Fixed an issue that caused some options from the camera submenu to be greyed out.
• Fixed an issue that caused a ‘zero denominator in ratio addition.’ error when dragging the anchor point of a shape layer in 3D space.
• Fixed an issue that caused After Effects to hang when collecting files that contain a Cinema 4D file in composition.
• Fixed an issue where After Effects could crash when using a Wacom Tablet with Paint and Brush tools.
• Fixed an issue where 12-bit color DNxHR HQX video in MXF files was being decoded as 8-bit.
• Fixed an issue where Media Browser favorites were not being saved.
• Fixed an issue with migrating preferences that caused After Effects to become unresponsive.
• Fixed an issue with the render engine that caused After Effects to crash when choosing a folder from Watch Folder in the file menu.
• Fixed an issue with Puppet Tool that caused After Effects to crash when changing the engine from Advanced to Legacy. 
• Fixed an issue that caused MXF assets with Alpha Channel to not be transparent.
• Fixed rendering notifications for non-English OS languages.
• Fixed an issue where footage containing audio using 16kHz, 64kHz, 88.2kHz, or 176.4kHz Sample Rates would not play or export correctly.

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How to update After Effects to version 23.4?

Open the Creative Cloud desktop application and click the Updates tab on the top left. Find After Effects in the list and click Update.

I don't see the update in my Creative Cloud desktop application. What should I do?

Click Help > Check for Updates from the Creative Cloud desktop application to refresh it.

NOTE: Updates are rolled out in phases. Please check back after a few hours if you don't see the new version in your CC desktop app.

[Shama-JediVish]

There is an issue with using NVIDIA Quadro RTX A4500 Card. 

I have the latest drivers installed for this but it keeps giving me an error saying card not supported.

Could we please get a fix for this.

[nishu_kush]

Hi Shama-JediVish,

Sorry to hear that.

What's the version of the GPU driver that's installed on your computer? Mind sharing a screenshot of the error?

Happy to help.

Thanks,

Nishu

[MAKROBOX.MEDIA]

Hi Nishu,

I'm missing the essential properties of pre-comps in the properties panel as it is in the beta version. Will this feature come in a next update or is that an issue?

Best regards, Nils

[nishu_kush]

Hi MAKROBOX.MEDIA,

Which properties are you referring to? I can see all the properties working well in the beta version (screenshot).

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

Nishu

[MAKROBOX.MEDIA]

Hi Nishu,

thanks for your response and sorry for the late reaction.

I thought it might be possible to have access to the essential properties, like in this example where I included sliders for a bar chart via expression. But they don't show up in the properties panel.

Best regards, Nils

[sansanxaverius]

Hi Nishu, please fix AE Version 23.4 because text property is messed up, every P letter in text is in different font, i am so frustrated because I have a big projects to finish

[Charles Okland]

This update is incredible! before we had to use the timeline to make adjustments to line joins and caps, but now we ahev an entire panel, would love to see an option to taper and wave using the properties panel.

[nishu_kush]

Hi sansanxaverius,

That's not ideal.

Could you check if Resetting the Character panel helps (click the hamburger menu in the Character panel and select Reset Character)? If that doesn't help, try resetting the preferences of After Effects (After Effects Preferences > Startup & Repair > Reset all Preferences to Default).

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Nishu

[mrjacobweber]

Definitely a step in the right direction, but am I correct in that we still have to twirl down to adjust Layer Styles and added items, such as Trim Paths and Repeaters? Immediate access to those, upon clicking on the layer, would make this much more helpful. 

[nishu_kush]

That's a great suggestion. Please create a post about it in the Ideas section in the community. This way others can vote.

Best,

Nishu

[arewenotmen]

Totally agree. I presumed we'd be able to do very basic things like changing the fill of a shape layer in the properties panel. As it stands it's not particularly useful.

[Juerg5CF2]

"Fixed an issue that caused After Effects to hang when collecting files that contain a Cinema 4D file in composition."

This has not been solved, I am still having the same old problem I outlined here.

Funny enough, right when I updated to 23.4, the first time I opened a PP project consisting of  dynamically linked AE comp with a C4D file in it, everything seemed to work fine and apps could be closed. But when I re-opened PP again, the dynamic link was broken, the media pending message appeared and could not be re-established by all means. 

I then tried you new features "empty all caches" and "reset all preferences to defaults" and now I am back to the same old problem, AE freezes every time upon closing. There is one exception. If I change the apps closing order and start with PP first, all windows can be closed without freezing. Still, the dynamic link is broken and cannot be fixed the next time I open PP. This seems to be a new phenomen and was different with the previous 23.x releases.

The last version this worked flawlessly was 23.0 with an older C4D version. I am desperately waiting now for 3 months for a solution and really need this feature working as advertised. Also, I am co-working with my customers who expect me to be on the same version, so rolling back is not an option.

And the annoying ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND window still appears upon opening of C4D.

Please, Adobe, it should not be too hard to fix something that once was working just fine. 

[nishu_kush]

Hi Juerg5CF2,

Really sorry for the inconvenience.

There are two different bugs.

One where After Effects crashes while collecting files if there is Cinema 3D file in the project panel. This issue has been fixed in the current version.

The other issue that you're having is where After Effects freezes on closing in Pr > Ae > C4D workflow. A fix to this issue is still in development.

I hope it clarifies the confusion. I'd love to investigate the behavior where the Dynamic link breaks.

Please spare me some time to do some research.

Appreciate your patience.

Thanks,

Nishu

[Magic Plants]

Every project takes forever to load now and I can't even select a layer without huge lag! What the heck did you guys do to my After Effects!? I have deadlines to meet!!!

[nishu_kush]

Hi Magic Plants,

Sorry about that.

Is it happening with the new project or just the old ones are affected? Can you try the basics - Clearing the media cache and resetting the preferences (go to After Effects Preferences > Startup & Repair)?

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Nishu

[Magic Plants]

I got it to work after an update, I believe it was a personal problem with my PC, not the software.

[Magic Plants]

Although it does look like several other people had issues.

[idk.ixm]

i have the exact same problem but all of the problem fixing tips given are not helping. i searched on every social app for something that could fix my problem but it's the same. all de media and cache, audio hardware, changing panels, changing frame rate and so on tips are not working. if someone found a solution for this problem please give a reply.

[GoatWar2000]

Solution is to go back to an earlier version of AE and  let them fix this totally broken version.

[idk.ixm]

I guess you are right.

[arewenotmen]

Yes, same here. Long load times and worse is how slow AE is now at doing the most basic tasks like twirling down the arrow to access shape layer properties etc. It's really annoying.

[PanBeep]

Hello, here is ChatGTP.

As an AI language model, I can provide some general suggestions for developers to consider in order to optimize the performance of software applications like Adobe After Effects. Here are a few recommendations:

1. Efficient algorithm design: Focus on designing algorithms and data structures that are efficient and perform well for the specific tasks and operations required by After Effects. Analyze the time and space complexity of algorithms to identify potential bottlenecks and optimize them where possible.

2. Multithreading and parallel processing: Explore opportunities to parallelize computationally intensive tasks in After Effects by utilizing multithreading or parallel processing techniques. This can involve breaking down tasks into smaller subtasks that can be executed concurrently, taking advantage of multiple processor cores or threads.

3. Caching and memoization: Identify areas in After Effects where redundant calculations or data fetching can be avoided through caching or memoization. By storing and reusing intermediate results, you can reduce the computational overhead and speed up subsequent operations.

4. Code profiling and optimization: Use profiling tools to identify performance hotspots in the codebase. Measure and analyze the execution time of different functions and sections to pinpoint areas that can benefit from optimization. Focus on optimizing critical loops, reducing unnecessary computations, and optimizing memory access patterns.

5. Efficient resource management: Ensure that resources such as memory, file handles, and network connections are managed efficiently. Avoid memory leaks, unnecessary resource allocation, or excessive disk I/O operations that can degrade performance.

6. Performance testing and benchmarking: Develop comprehensive performance tests and benchmarks to assess the impact of code changes and optimizations. Regularly run these tests to track performance improvements and identify any regressions.

7. Compiler and language-level optimizations: Take advantage of compiler optimizations and language-specific features that can enhance performance. Familiarize yourself with the compiler flags and optimization options available for the programming language used in After Effects.

8. Minimize dependencies and external calls: Reduce dependencies on external libraries or services that can introduce overhead. Minimize the number of external calls or requests, and optimize them where possible to reduce latency and improve performance.

9. User interface optimization: Pay attention to the responsiveness and efficiency of the user interface in After Effects. Implement techniques such as lazy loading, on-demand rendering, and intelligent caching to ensure smooth user interactions and minimize unnecessary processing.

10. Collaboration and feedback: Foster collaboration among developers and gather feedback from users to understand performance pain points and prioritize optimization efforts. Actively seek user input and monitor performance-related discussions to address common performance issues and improve overall user experience.

It's worth noting that the specific optimization techniques and areas of focus may vary depending on the programming language, frameworks, and architecture used in After Effects. Developers should analyze the specific performance characteristics of their application and consider the trade-offs between performance, maintainability, and functionality.

[arewenotmen]

Well that was as helpful as a kick in the nuts. 

[PanBeep]

AI is glad it could help 🙂