Low memory warning in After Effects 23.0 (2023)

[raymondcraig]

Unfortunately 23.0 did not fix the issue for me on my M1 mac. It still only renders 2 frames at a time and gives the same error. If I revert back to version 22.4 it works perfectly but any subsequent update (including the 23.0 just released) has the playback issue.

Update: version 24.0 working much better!

I had various results with updates 23.1-23.6, most of them still occasionally having the issue saying it's out of memory or even black frames when rendering. It didn't matter if I had all plugins removed, fresh install, and no other programs running. I just updated to v24.0 and instantly started working like it used to before v23.0. RAM previews are loading right away and playing back in realtime speeds. I'll update if anything changes but so far they seem to have fixed the issues plaguing v23+ at least for me.

[jenkmeister]

Yes, that's the case. In the past, AE wasn't paying as much attention to memory usage as it should have been. That meant that if you set AE to use 8GB of RAM, it would often end up using a lot more than that resulting in system instabilities and crashes. In 22.6/23.*, we've fixed that memory tracking so AE is closely monitoring memory use. There are cases now where the memory used by plugins both bundled and third-party may cause a lot of memory to be consumed blocking the ability to render a lot of frames. We are working with third-party plugin developers to help them get their issues fixes (see the recent releases from Maxon/Red Giant) as well as continuing to look at the plugins bundled with AE. There are also some other situations, especially with M1 machines, where memory is shared between the system and the GPU, and there are some conflicts here where the GPU is holding onto memory that AE would otherwise use for rendering frames. We are working right now on resolving that issue along with any other issues we can reproduce so we can get fixes in for the 23.1 release. If you're willing to install the AE Beta (available in the Creative Cloud desktop app) there are already fixes in and more are coming every day. We'd love your help to validate the fixes are working for you. 

[edddim]

AE wasn't paying as much attention to memory usage as it should have been.  .... We are working with third-party plugin developers to help them get their issues fixes...

By @jenkmeister

I am always facinated to observe how adobe programmers neglect an issue, and somehow afterward it is someone else's fault.

[jenkmeister]

Apologies if it came off like that. The fallout from AE now doing what it should have been doing all along, is that other components that weren't tracking their memory correctly now need to make the same corrections. I promise the team is working hard on figuring out what's going on and getting the M1 machines to work the best we can with AE. 

[cameronc27155319]

We are just on edge and frustrated. I've been designing and animating in AE for 15 years and this has been the worst 6 months of my career. Most of my day is clicking something and waiting 5 - 10 seconds for a single frame RAM preview of what I just did. It's impossible to RAM preview animations when you only get 2 - 5 frames. Then you spend an incredibly long time rendering a composition. A job which could have taken an hour turns into 5 - 6.

I understand this is complex software and I wouldn't know the first thing about software development but these issues affect so many people. I really hope that when you do release software updates there is adaquate testing and you don't release software knowing it contains bugs like this.

Back to the Beta AE 23.1.

I have just launched it and it's great so far. I don't have any third party plugins installed.

Cached an entire 17 second timeline while I was idle. RAM preview playback at Full Res didn't skip any frames and completed the entire timeline.

Render time was 1Min 22Seconds which is roughly the same as I achieved in 22.2 where as the 22.5 - 23 it is about 40 minutes.

Well done to the lads. I'm going to have a go installing some plugins and scripts into it now and I'll let you know if it has trouble again.

[jenkmeister]

Thanks for all that feedback and good to hear the beta is working better for you so far. We'll keep working on getting AE back to the best it can be for you. 

[beearehaze]

Where can I find the 23.1 Beta in the app? 

[raymondcraig]

I'm running Beta 23.1.0 (Build 67) with no 3rd party plugins on an M1 Macbook Pro and can confirm this is still an issue. It renders about 5 frames and that's it.

[jenkmeister]

Is that right from the start, or a particular set of steps or something else? When you get into this state, how much memory does the activity monitor say AE is using? How much memory is allocated to AE in Preferences -> Memory & Performance? Do you have other apps open using memory? Just trying to make sure we have a clear picture of your situation. Thanks.

[jenkmeister]

Please try AE Beta 23.2x9 and see if it solves the problems you're experiencing. More details here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-discussions/low-memory-warning-in-after-effects-23-0-20...

[joeb73554935]

Discovered something related to this. 

I'm having all the frustrating issues people are describing. I have go through all the suggested steps multiple times to no avail. 

In one comp (basic text animation 3 layers) with errors and ram preview issues. It also features a pre-comp with a .mp4 that has some textures. I've used add to provide some texture for my 3 text layers and background. If I remove the pre-comp the error magically dissapears. 

I have a hard drive with 100gb cache allowance. 16gb ram with 10 allocated to AE. This shouldn't be an issue. 

I've got a client deadline and this is beyond a joke. Every update it's something new, get it together guys. 

[Randy - Dice]

I suggest you save your projet as an older version 22.x and install Version 22.5 or lower since 22.6 is the same architechture as version 23. The convert to lower version works great in most cases. I m using version 22.5 with no issues but some are saying they prefer version 22.4. Give up trying to make your AE 23 work correctly as errors will always come back. They broke something and will eventualy try to fix it.

[joeb73554935]

Cheers for the heads up. After restarting Ae numerous times. I've just restarted my machine and the issues has resolved itself. Frustratingly I don't know what started the issue or what technically fixed it. 

Disregard my previous point about disabling an .mp4 layer as the errors returned only 2 minutes later. 2 hours until deadline, i'll just hold my breath and look into version swapping tomorrow.

[Flowmaster]

Hello, I also have problems with the RAM in connection with Magic Bullet Looks. After Effects says I'm low on RAM and should switch to software rendering.
I have a Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB 4TB with the latest Ventura system. All programs and plugins are up to date.

[pixel-cutter]

Still have issues with this. Can't play more than 2 frames on a brand new M1 Macbook. Classic After Effects, classic Adobe bodge job.

[joeb73554935]

Best fix i've found so far is to empty disk cache and then clean database and cache. Then restart Ae and you should be okay ... for a while. 

The things i've found spike it the most are stuff found in adjustment layers. I've been disabling anything stylistic until I need it. - Hope that helps.

[pixel-cutter]

Thanks but I've tried all the simple stuff, this is an inherient bug. I can't even play a 5 second loop of a shape layer changing scale.

[jenkmeister]

Are you able to share that project? I know it sounds like a simple project, but it'd be great for us to have it so we can attempt to repro the problem. We have multiple engineers working on this right now so anything we can get would really help. 

[jenkmeister]

Or at least a video of what you're seeing happening? 

[pixel-cutter]

It simply won't play anything beyond two frames. Here's a solid with NO animation on it.

https://imgur.com/a/nCIfLVl

Monterey 12.4

13" M1 2020

[jenkmeister]

Can you go into your Preferences -> Memory and Performance and check how much RAM you have assigned to Other Apps and AE? 

[pixel-cutter]

I have reduced this to 1gb (for a total of 15 for AE) and it still bugs out. Clearly an issue with the M1 architecture. 

[jenkmeister]

Please try AE Beta 23.2x9 and see if it solves the problems you're experiencing. More details here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-discussions/low-memory-warning-in-after-effects-23-0-20...

[Branimator]

It says 12 GB, I have played around with this number and lowered it to 6 and it didn't seem to make a difference.

[jenkmeister]

Please try AE Beta 23.2x9 and see if it solves the problems you're experiencing. More details here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-discussions/low-memory-warning-in-after-effects-23-0-20...

[Warren Heaton]

@pixel-cutter 

This is most likely something to do with either how your M1 is configured or your M1 hardware.

I get really good performance in After Effects 22.6 and After Effects 23.0 on my MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) 16GB/512GB running macOS Monterey 12.6.1.

Check that you have provided After Effects permission under System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy; specifically Files and Folders, Screen Recording, and Automation.

Run Apple Diagnostics to verify that your hardware passes those tests.

Take a close look at other software - especially background tasks - even if it does not seem to be related to After Effects.  Back in the late 1990s, there was a fax extension that caused all source footage to load as 0-by-0 in After Effects version 3.  You can use System Information to view a full list of your software.

Add a macOS User as an Administrator User or a Standard User and run After Effects under that user.  This rules out any User-level issues.  If you get the same errors, you can delete this user.

Software configuration and hardware configuration are different skill sets than motion design.  Don't hesitate to reach out to Adobe via the Contact Us chat bubble at the bottom right of After Effects Learn & Support to have Adobe support verify your installation (allow about two hours for this).  For assistance with any of the Apple side troubleshooting, hopefully, AppleCare is still active and you can use the Get Support link on Apple MacBook Pro Support.