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.

[Branimator]

It happens with just about everything, meaning Adobe doesn't care whether it happens at all anyways. If you want to take away the native h.264 export from AE, at least ensure that media encoder can translate/talk to the plugins I have paid for and that I need in order to do my job. I mean, it's the same engine rendering it out so there isn't any excuses here. At least now they've put the native h.264 export from AE back in, but that was not smart to take it away in the first place. There was no logical reasoning other than, "we just want you to use media encoder more." That didn't really play out well seeing as it couldn't even work with legit plugins.

[raymondcraig]

"Apple decided they want to make something new that is going to take 5-10 years to truly implement" Not sure where you're getting this. After Effects version 22.4 not only worked (and still works) perfectly fine on M1 macs, but I saw blazing fast performance compared to my previous iMac Pro which had the best available intel chip and radeon card Apple offered (Davinci saw an even bigger leap in performance). Not to mention if you look at the forums there are windows uswers having memory problems with the v23 updates. 

[Branimator]

Because it will. New tech like this doesn't just magically work with everything. Why do you think Apple switched to the x86 architecture back in ~2014-15? Because it was superior and they were losing base. Also you don't get why windows users are having those issues. They are having those issues based on code that Adobe changed to appease the Mac M1 users, which evidently screwed everyone over whether they use the m1 or are windows based. 

[Thomsonx]

You seem to be under the impression that only MAC users use After Effects.

[Warren Heaton]

Yes, it's great that After Effects, like each major Adobe application, is cross-platform.

It's also very helpful that the same Adobe subscription plan can be used under Windows and macOS.  A lot of software publishers require the purchase of a separate license for each.

[Branimator]

You seem to be under the impression that changes made specifically for Mac M1 processors (as stated by Adobe reps) aren't also affecting windows users. Are you following?

[SRLAWSON]

Branimator, this thread is becoming very spammy. I’ve just checked my inbox to find more alerts than I’ve ever had since this thread began, and most of those alerts appear to be you galumphing off on strange tirades.

Kindly actively contribute to this infuriating conundrum - a boat in which those of us active on here seem to all find ourselves - and take your weird Apple rants elsewhere. Your behaviour is a sure fire way to direct Adobe’s attention away from an important issue that remains unsolved.

Let’s re-focus and contribute hard data and facts to try and help Adobe fix this mess. To weigh in myself, I have remained on v.22.4 and will stay put until there is concrete proof that things have improved. I had to do an awful lot of overtime to get things back on track on my last AE job in late Nov/early Dec, and have not taken on any new AE jobs since.

[Branimator]

Yes, 22.4 was the last decent version. Adobe has failed to fix it in 4 different versions. It's infuriating that my company pays for 20 licenses of this on all brand new machines with 9th gens, 3090s and 64 GB ram and things don't work as we are paying for it to.

[Ulysses Oliveira]

I wish I had read this post before. I was having many serious issues with AE version 23. Then I uninstalled it and installed version 22.6. And the same issues persist! Now, I'll install version 22.4. I hope this version solves the problem. Thanks.

[jenkmeister]

Did you try AE 23.1 or 23.0? It would be good to know if you're still having issues with 23.1 and to get in contact with us so we can investigate with you.

[XeN1]

I believe the issue is coming from old projects with layers/comps having rasterization tuned on like transitions.

[Murphington]

This issue for me was fixed, but is back with the 23.2.0 (Build 65) I updated to today.

I do not get an error, but AE will only render 2-5 frames and loop when I have plenty of ram and low usage. This is just standard footage, no effects, and quarter quality.

Device name DESKTOP-NQ5L7QI
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.19 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
Device ID 306816C0-3DA7-4D88-AB1D-1A75716E13D1
Product ID 00331-20300-00000-AA230
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

[Murphington]

Update: I am now getting the error. For a long time I had this issue but no error.

[jenkmeister]

Can I get one of the AE engineers directly in contact with you so we can take a look at what's going on over a video call? The Apple silicon machines have been where the memory problem has manifested, so to see this on a Windows machine seems like something else is going on. I'd love to be able to debug this if you're willing. 

[Murphington]

Yes, I would appreciate any solutions we could find. 

[Ievgen]

I’m seeing memory leak(ish) issue with 3p plugin (BCC Particle Illusion) on M1 MacBook Air.
(Maybe this would add more useful info here).

Having just one solid with Particle Illusion on it and switching few factory presets leads to AE demanding more and more RAM with each iteration of switching presets. This eventually leads to ‘Low memory warning’ discussed here.
RAM gets overloaded and does not get purged even upon creating new project.

Environment:
MacBook Air (M1, 2020), 16GB RAM, ~60GB free drive space (from 256GB in total).
OS: 12.6.3
AE 23.2.1 (Build 3).
Particle Illusion / Boris FX Continuum 16.0.3

Steps to repro:
1. Launch AE, create new project.
2. Create new composition (1920x1080, 29,97 fps, 5 sec - in my case).
3. Add new solid layer and instantiate Particle Illusion plugin on it.
4. Select any factory preset.
5. Start playback let the preview load in RAM.
6. Select another factory preset.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 until you run into ‘Low memory warning’.

Workaround: Save project, quit and relaunch AE, open the project.

Please see the screenshot, which has terminal with ‘top’ running.
It took me just 4-5 cycles of switching presets for AE to start requesting 42 gigs.

[infactable]

I updated beta versions of After Effects and Media Encoder to v23.4 today and the sound preview is not working in After Effects. I tried to export video and there is a sound in exported mp4 file, but I need the sound preview in After Effects so I can create the video and follow voice-over.  

[infactable]

Ok quick update, I installed regular After Effects version 23.2.1 (Build 3) and it works fine, so consider this solved, thanks.

[jenkmeister]

Open the preview panel and make sure the audio icon is enabled. That can be different between beta and non-beta preferences.

[infactable]

Yes I checked it many times and closed and opened program again, I wouldn't be posting here if that worked 🙂 Anyway, I downloaded regular After Effects and that solved the problem, so no need for using beta anymore. Video preview is also working normally (which was the main reason I started using beta), so it's all good. Thanks.

[beearehaze]

Downvote

[jenkmeister]

What version of AE are you running that's showing this problem? How much RAM do you have set in Memory & Performance preference for other apps? Are you running other Adobe apps at the same time? I'd love to help you figure out what's going on. 

[jenkmeister]

AE 23.0 and above supports h264 output. You're welcome to use third party exporting modules, but the native functionality has been back in AE since Oct 2022.

[caminios]

Im having this exact problem aswell, AE is eating up all the ram.
Even in the most basic projects with barely anything in them I get the "low memory warning".
Im on Windows and Ive maxed out the amount of ram allocated to Adobe and Ive tried 23.0 and 23.2.1 and the issue is the same. Im also having trouble with rendering the projects out in Media encoder. What happens is that a project that would normaly render in 5 minutes takes more than a day to render. Ive tested rendering the same files in AE 22 and it takes minutes. All files are locally stored on the computer, so it shouldnt be a problem with bad internet.

Ive had to convert all of my projects to AE 22 to be able to work with them, which is headache.

[jenkmeister]

Are you able to share any of your projects with us so we can attempt to reproduce the issues you're seeing?