Failure related to GPU-enabled effects

[Tomas B. aka Tom10]

Hello,

after updating to CC 2018, I noticed one issue. During the preview of quite simple project, I keep getting this error:

What I have in particular in the project:
Few compositions>Inside them there is one image (3000x2000), which scales up using Transform Effect to fill the comp size.

Comp size: 1280x720

System info:

Is there any chance to get rid of it, without going to Software Only mode?  OR, the GPU simply has not enough memory to handle the GPU acceleration?

Thank you up front!

[Gleeful_knight5FFD]

I don't know if it will work for you, but what did help me: I reinstall the latest GeForce NVIDEA Studio driver (I got gtx 1650) but I chose "clean install" not ''express" one.

[josha36694150]

Just encountered the same problem. As workaround I switched from CUDA to OpenCL and the problem went away. If anyone has solutions would like to hear.

[Olivié Charbonneau]

Hello, same issue here with a last gen low-mid range Nvidia GTX 1650 Super 4 GB in a pretty simple project at FHD resolution. Nothing crazy just shapes and effects, with all third-party effects disabled it won't render with GPU, only with software (CPU). 

In Windows's Task Manager in the Performance tab there's a GPU tab and I can see the 4 GB memory being eaten right away. Also that memory seems to not be flushed between two frames, so yeah it gets filled and that's the end. Not sure that more VRAM would save the day because it would be filled just a few frames later, I guess. 

Josh's idea about OpenCL would be a cool workaround if somehow CUDA fails, but in AE 2020 on PC I don't have OpenCL in the rendering options : there's Mercury software and Mercury GPU (CUDA). 

In my project I found the culprit for the GPU error : a bitmap transformed "upscaled" to a resolution of 3840x3840 pixels. My GPU with 4 GB VRAM won't render that because a lack of memory. Seriously how much VRAM do you need to render a square 4k frame : 8 GB, 12 GB, a GPU cluster? Disappointing and good to know for my next projects. 

We had lack of RAM, we now also have lack of VRAM. AE needs to be able to manage "out of cores memory", which is system RAM used for GPU tasks. At least we would be facing only one well known limitation : RAM. 

About my final AE render : before the GPU memory failed me it took 12 hours to render "without the finishing effects : glow, grain, RGB separation". Now on CPU "software" WITH these effects enabled it took 2 hours... There's not been much more in my project than a switch from GPU to CPU, between these 2 renders : these numbers are really not in favor of the GPU "acceleration" here.

Something must be seriously off and in any case benchmarking CPU vs GPU might always be a good idea, NOT thinking that GPU acceleration is always faster...   

Back to CPU "software" rendering for now. So much for these "GPU accelerated effects" in AE and plugins. 

Cheers. 

[Bob9743]

I totally agree, there needs to be an out-of-core-feature. I have just ran into the issue as well with a 1660 Super with 6GB and the most current driver (451.77), rendering a 4K x 4K image sequence. Unfortunately there are effects which only work in CUDA mode like the VR Converter, so switching to CPU only is not a solution for me...

[Henry5C46]

I had this same error when I had a very capable machine. The fix I found that worked for me was precomposing all of my footage and leaving the adjustment layers out and it rendered without a hitch.

[252.Studio]

Ugh! I have this setup and just got this error yesterday! this sucks can't pin-point the layer with the issue or any other info wish it highlighted the problematic layer Adobe...Went through to delete effects that I no longer have installed but the issue is still there. Does anyone know how to work this out is it AE old plugins or what?

[252.Studio]

Anyone looked at their linked file sizes? I had a few files that jumped to 25+ mb when updating copy on them and resaving. lowered file size and not getting this error for now...

[Olivié Charbonneau]

Hello 252, what do you mean by "linked file sizes" and "updating copy on them" and "lowered file size" ? 

Do you talk about the .aep file size ? 

Since you apparently found a trick to solve the problem I'd like to actually understand it 🙂 

Thank you in advance, regards. 

[252.Studio]

this sucks i tried to reply and it would not go

[252.Studio]

ok, now I am sorry for the super late reply back. I lowered the DPI and canvas size on my linked file and After effects handled it better got rid of that error

[Olivié Charbonneau]

Thanks 252,

yeah sure thing since less pixels in the image to be stored in the VRAM of the GPU means less chances to fill that VRAM, hence generating an error. 

I think lack of VRAM is the main culprit for these GPU rendering errors, in AE or other software. 

The last RTX cards have at least 6 GB VRAM and hopefully - when these will be available - it's enought for most cases in AE in HD. 

Cheers

[Olivié Charbonneau]

...also using GPU-Z and monitoring the amount of used VRAM might help to detect if the rendering error is indeed memory related. 

I recommand this free tool, it helped me undestand what's going on in there. 

Bye

[Mohamed Ali Ben Thaier]

I am pretty sure this is a bug because I don't think that animating the scale property of the transform effect will be extremely heavy on an 8 GB RTX 3070 🙂
Yet another problem we have to deal with
Thanks, Adobe, for not solving this 3 years old issue 🙂

[hikaru00007]

i just start a new project

Created 2 layer. First layer is my .mov

And second layer is white solid and i clicked on the adjusment layer toggle on the solid. I apply fast box blur fx on the solid ( i want to dissolve some oily spot on a wall )

Then that particular popup shown.

I have nothing else beside Ae running on background. The tricky part is.. This happened to me today. it never happened before. Plus. I done this task before (it's my fault .aep file got deleted and have to redo my job)

[hikaru00007]

i found the culprit !

i have GTX 1050 2Gb mini and doing my everyday minimum editing stuff. i used box blur to make some oil patch on the wall (in my footage) looks better.

fool me, i dragged the effect value to 200+ (i usually use 3 or 5 only) when my pc lagged, saved the project and close after effect

then this 'gpu effects error' pop up next time i open the project.

maybe this over-dragging issue could be your problem too.

best regards,

Khalifah

[GazooRacing23]

This helped me! I reduced the effects and straight up removed one because the animation I'm working on doesn't need to be super detailed. It looks a little blander, but oh well. It went from 3+ hours to 30minutes. 

[GazooRacing23]

So I had the error code: 19969 show up for me. I adjusted the duration from 30 to 15 and now it can render using AME. But it's still taking an  insanely long time to render for such a simple thing (3 glow layers, 1 blur). Basically a glow animation on a still image. 

[defaultgc4iq5ihqk5r]

Hey guys ROLLBACK your damned drivers. I had this issue with after effects where everything was perfectly normal. I had a AMD Radeon Vega 11. After a windows update my after effects will give me this pop-up saying my gou is out of memory. A lot of advice here says that we need better GPUs. that is so false. Roll back your damned drivers that is the answer.

[Olivié Charbonneau]

Here is the official info about VRAM and driver version : 

https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/system-requirements.html

"GPU : 

2GB of GPU VRAM. (4GB or more recommended)
Adobe strongly recommends updating to NVIDIA driver 451.77 or later when using After Effects. Drivers prior to this have a known issue which can lead to a crash."

That's the theory at least...

[elliotruddy]

I've just had the same error on my brand new PC running AE 2021, except I have an rtx3090 with 24gb of VRAM, 128gb of DDR4 memory, and a ryzen 5950x.... No way my computer is out of VRAM when just using a scale and position transform keyframe. This is bug for sure that needs resolved ASAP, what's the point of using software only when you have a powerful GPU - completely defeats the purpose.

[Mohammad Aamir Khan · Accepted solution]

Hello all,

Kindly Create a New After Effects Project - Click on File > Import and Import your original Project in it -

Open Composition and Reder Export it .

Thanks

Aamir Khan

[Olivié Charbonneau]

Thank you for this age old advice that often works in a lot of software. 

I would change it to "Angrily create a new Ae project..." hhhh

Have a good day!