Copy link to clipboard
Copied
When using Increment and Save, AAE creates a new file (with an increased version number in the filename).
I am wondering if that is considered a "new" file by the cache management algorithm. If so, doing that often will quickly eat up cache space as all the caches from the previous versions would be kept indefinitely (until deleted manually) as they all are considered separate documents.
Can anyone shed some light on that?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
That's a really good question and I imagine your conclusion is correct, but I'd be interested to learn if that is the case.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I ran some tests, but the result were not fully conclusive…
My environment:
macOS 14.7.1 (23H222)
AAE 25.1.0 (Build 68)
From what I saw it seems more like the cache contents are linked to specific elements inside a document and not to specific documents. So each element (comp/layer/etc.) has cache items associated with it and that association is created whenever a parameter of that element is changed. So, as long as no parameter is changed, you can save the document under any name – the link to its cache item will stay intact and it will not be duplicated. Only as you change some parameter a new cache item will be created. Old ones do not seem to be removed, though - just overwritten by new ones, once the cache hits its max size.
I tested by creating a comp with some layers and some random animations in them. I then played through the comp, closed AAE, re-opened AAE and the project, and again played through the comp. I did this multiple times and then started to make changes (very slightly resize the layers - just enough to constitute a change), save under different names, Increment and Save, etc. – after each step checking the current space occupied by the AAE cache.
The cache space mainly increased when making changes, not when doing an "Increment and Save" or saving under a different name.
But I also had strange behaviours:
For exampe when playing through a more complex comp the cache size increased each time also without applying any changes. I played through once, closed, re-opened, played through again and so on. Each time the cache grew bigger until reaching its max. I have no explanation for that…
So my conclusion is: Increment and Save does not seem to fill up the cache more than saving under the same filename each time. But AAE fills the cache in difficult to predict ways and it's a good idea to empty it often…
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
In my experience, you are correct in how disk caching works, it’s dependent on the content inside your project, and not saved per-project-file. If you, by chance, duplicated the exact same settings/parameters for a layer in a new project file, the global cache would [eventually] match that to the existing disk cache data instead of re-rendering/compositing it. This help document explains it all pretty well: here https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/memory-storage1.html#caches_ram_cache_disk_cache_and_med... and more specifically, this section farther down: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/memory-storage1.html#id_64223
Regarding your test with a complex comp, my guess is AE is given the opportunity to cache more data each time you go through. Your cache may have already saved per-frame data, but—when given enough time and speedy storage—AE will also cache per-layer data to disk. You can show per-layer cache indicators (see my first link above), however, it doesn’t seem to work for me in my limited testing right now in AE 24.6.4, 25.1.0, or beta 25.2.0b75 (maybe this old secret feature has been broken and no one noticed). As long as there’s room in the memory/disk quota, AE will prioritize caching full per-frame data and then the per-layer data. This, in theory, enables us to make adjustments on other layers and not need to re-composite/render all the layers in the entire frame, but only the layer(s) that changed. (Your mileage will vary, of course.)