after effects performance

[Morris Awad]

out of frustration with Adobe in general & but in this post specifically from After Effects, i tried for the first time 3D scenes in Davinci Resolve Fusion. When I say it's a night and day difference in performance, I am not exaggerating. i have a m1pro macbook pro & i was just about to upgrade thinking the problem was the laptop, but thankfully with some research i ended up trying fusion & it's way better. it seems like they go to work having a plan while adobe is just focused on gimmicky AI.  fusion is way better & smother & i defenitely don't need to upgrade my laptop now at least. i still haven't moved completely to davinci cause im still learning it.

[Warren Heaton]

It's always good to have options.  Resolve can be installed along side After Effects and runs pretty well on Apple Silicon; however, it's not trouble-free.

If I'm finding that what I'm doing in After Effects is a little too heavy for the system I'm working on, I usually take advantage of the following options:

• Temporarily work at a project color depth of 8-bpc instead of 16-bpc.
• Set the Composition Resolution to Half or Quarter and sometimes 6-by-6 or 8-by-8 while working on motion.  Then spot check at Full Resolution.
• Set the Layer Quality to Draft instead of Best.
• Use the Skip option in the Preview panel, either the Shift Numpad 0 already set or by setting a custom option.
• Use the Draft Settings Render Settings template when rendering test/sample movies to view outside of After Effects or create a custom Best Settings Render Settings template that uses Half or Quarter Resolution.
• Change the Video Options of the High Quality Output Module template from Apple ProRes 422 to Apple ProRes 422 Proxy and save it as a custom "Proxy Quality" Output Module template for use again later.
  
  

It's also worth checking the Composition Profiler for Layer that may be taking much longer to render than other Layers and then consider what might be done to imrove that.

I also seriously consider the need to move the project to a more powerful workstation which with a well organized project at the Finder/Explorer level is very easy to do.  Of course, you need to keep an eye on any dependancies like third-party plugins and fonts.  Fortunately, Adobe Fonts activate automatically if missing when a project is opened.   While we can move to another workstation with Resolve, it's not nearly as straight forward or quick.

Speaking of AI options, phew, is Resolve 20 loaded with them or what?  Again, it's good to have options.

[Morris Awad]

Thanks for the detailed answer man really appreciated.

but honestly I have tried all this, the frustration comes when you see the raw performance on the same computer way better in resolve without having to baby it.

don't get me wrong I use the AI tools, but Adobe has to understand these are add ons that I can use ChatGPT or other AI tools to achieve, I'm using Adobe or other professional programs to give me professional performance and results first and foremost.

i agree having options is great Adobe had a monopoly on the market for ever but now with competition they are updating their apps. The problem is that it's too little too late.

just try masking and tracking in premiere pro vs resolve and you will be amazed at the difference.

honestly if the only thing stopping me is the skill level I have in after effects and the time it will take to master fusion.

[Warren Heaton]

Masking and tracking is definitely an After Effects side task rather than Premiere Pro.  

While issues come up now and again and I have a pretty long wish list, I get pretty good performance out of After Effects and Premiere Pro and Photoshop and Illustrator and InDesign.

[Morris Awad]

Masking and tracking should definitely be robust in premiere as one of the main use cases is color grading, which after effects isn't for, rather than having to trip to resolve for color then back to premiere and after effects for motion graphics.

it definitely is a must.

[Sterphy]

Adobe seems to think we'd rather have a handful of apps that do related tasks than incorporate the necessary tools into one app.  Honestly, they just seem lost at this point. 

[Morris Awad]

Totally agree to the point

[Warren Heaton]

Premiere has After Effects' face tracking.  

It's not entirely useless.

[MarekMularczyk]

Have you always  had these issues with After Effects? Or is it just the latest version?

[benw11]

Totally agree, After Effects has been really sluggish lately, especially with 3D work. I’ve also tested Fusion and the performance boost is hard to ignore. Adobe seriously needs to prioritize optimization over flashy features

[MarekMularczyk]

Is it just 3D that's faster?

[Morris Awad]

I kinda have given up on the idea that the problem is one update, it's just Adobe is a slouch.

the problem is that it takes time to master a new compositing software. 

try masking and tracking in premiere vs resolve.

or shape layers in 3D in after effects vs fusion.

or importing the 3D models and working in advanced 3D renderer.

or even 2d animations when compared to fusion, still after effects performs worse. 
in all these applications resolve performs way better, it's not perfect but hard to ignore the massive difference in performance.
i can't honestly find and area where adobe wins except pricing!!!!