After Effects play back won't stop playing even when I hit the space bar repeatedly

[mena.g]

Once I hit the spacebar the sequence keeps playing over and over and won't stop, even when Ihit the space bar or click on other parts of the project panel. I tried updating the application and it stopped for a bit but now it's still happening. Not sure what to else I can do. 

[Chris MacD]

I also have this issue. Disappointed you've not got an answer.

[nishu_kush]

Hi all,

Sorry for the issue. I understand this is an inconvenience. We're aware of this issue and the product team is working on a fix.

Feel free to reach out if there are any other questions.

Thanks,

Nishu

[Chris MacD]

Nishu,

Once I am stuck in this endless loop, is there any way I can save progress? Or do I have to force the software to crash/end task and lose the work I've done?

Thanks,

Chris

[greg vannoy]

I've had this issue since the last version with almost every comp I create. When I hit the spacebar and the playhead starts moving, it will not stop when I hit the spacebar again. It will go 5-10 seconds, sometimes longer, into the comp before it stops and that's after I punch the spacebar a bunch of times. I've purged the cache, restarted, kept the app up to date--nothing works. It happens on small comps that are not preview-heavy. It is a major disruption when you have to fight this all day every day. It's sad that these small annoying issues keep happening with later iterations of the app. I've posted other problems in other threads. It seems like Adobe doesn't care. Don't even get me started with Premiere. What a horrid app that has become.

[Warren Heaton]

It would be helpful to know a few things:

• What are your system specifications?
• What are your Composition settings?
• What are your Source Footage settings?

After Effects is only as powerful as the workstation that we run it on.

While there are the minimum and recommended system requirements, it's very important to a have hardware configuration that is a good match for how you work in After Effects.  If you are not sure, be sure to review the hardware recommendations for Premiere Pro and After Effects and confer with other users who work with similar settings.

[greg vannoy]

Mac Monterey 12.6

3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

72 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Radeon Pro Vega 48 8 GB

It happens with all of my comps. I usually work in 1920x1080 24p or 30p. The comp I'm currently working on is 3840 x 2160, 30fps with four layers of flat, simple graphics and text with one of the layers being a mask. No video.

I'm pretty sure that nothing about what is happening here should be attributable to an underpowered workstation given my system specs and the ridiculously simple project settings outlined above. If it was cache-related I would think that this runaway playhead issue would happen once and then subsequent starting and stopping over the same portions of the timeline would be smooth and responsive. However, that is not the case.

[Warren Heaton]

What third party plugins and/or addons do you have installed?

Do you have a sample project that you can share?

Have you tried any benchmark projects (from Adobe, Equiload, or Puget Systems)?

[greg vannoy]

Boris Continuum Complete and Red Giant Universe. The issue occurs whether I'm using any plugins or not. I have not tried any benchmark projects. Are these simply project files that are utilized to gather benchmark data?

[Warren Heaton]

Third party plugins do not gave to be applied to cause performamce issues.

Are they up-to-date?

Have you tried disabling them?  It's very easy, just put the plugin filename or the plugin folder name in parenthesis before launching the application.