Performance issues with After Effects 25.1 (very slow feedback from AE preview window)

[arzack]

Hello,

Since the release of the 25.0 updates (25.01 to 25.1) for After Effects, I’ve noticed a significant slowdown in the user interface (UI). The preview performance is also extremely sluggish (see the video I recorded).

I’ve tried several solutions to fix the issue:

• Completely uninstalling and reinstalling After Effects,
• Checking for updates (software and drivers), etc.
  
  

Unfortunately, the only way to restore normal performance is to revert to version 24.0. I’m certain this isn’t a hardware issue, as it’s directly linked to the 25.0 versions.

Have you encountered this problem or found a solution?

Please upvote this post so that the support team can notice and fix the issue quickly.

[nishu_kush]

Thanks for sharing the screen recording. Could you let us know your system specifications (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS version)? Also, try running After Effects in Safe Mode with third-party plug-ins disabled and see if that brings any change.

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,
Nishu

[arzack]

Hello,

Here are my system specifications:

CPU: i7-10700F CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
RAM: 32,0 Go
OS: WIN11 23H2

I’ve already tried running After Effects in Safe Mode with all third-party plug-ins disabled, but unfortunately, the issue persists.

[haraldn14473398]

Hello ‘nishu_kush’,

it would be nice if someone from Adobe could address this issue here. As a company, we pay just over €1,000 a month in licence fees for the use of the Adobe Suite. I think for this amount you should be able to expect some support for such a problem.

Many thanks and best regards
Harri

[Greg@Antifreeze Animation]

Yup. When I buy a new car, I pay full price for the latest and greatest.  
If I go back to driving a 2-year-old piece of sofware, shouldn't I pay a used-software price?

[wabre]

Hi Nishu,

same here, any solutuin?

Greeting, Walter

[benjamin_3731]

I'm experiencing the same. It's terrible. Even for basic renders the performance and playback speed of previews is unbelievably poor.

[haraldn14473398]

Same problem for me. Only that the rendering of simple video files is up to ten times slower than in After Effects 2024. I have uninstalled After 2025, it is unusable.

macOS Monterey
Version 12.6.2
iMac Pro (2017)
Prozessor 3.2 GHz 8-Core Intel Xeon W
Speicher 64 GB 2666 MHz DDR4
Startvolume Macintosh HD
Grafikkarte Radeon Pro Vega 56 8 GB

[DarkGio6]

Same problem here. Just updated to 25.2 and still happening. Tried safe mode but same results

CPU: i9 9900KS
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
RAM: 32GB
OS: WIN11 23H2

[arzack]

Not fixed with 25.2

[arzack]

Not fixed with 25.2.2

[roblox_4974]

I'm experiencing the same. It's terrible.

[christiand49426540]

same here need to update to 2025 since our project has shifted to PR 2025, and i need dynamic link badly

[Greg@Antifreeze Animation]

-- Saved project to v24. No lag (at least not so much that my project is in jeopardy).  Even with the preview settings on Full, I could grab the texture and move it around the 4k layout without frustration. 

-- Saved prjoect to v23. Same success. 

Solution: Moving entire project to v24 until this storm blows over. 

I have a 14MB 4k jpg noise texture I'm using as an overlay for imported Illustrator footage. After all the usual cache clearing, preference clearing, setting HD caches, and making sure I had at least 20% available space on all drives, the lag was so bad that it would take 2 seconds for redraw when grabbing and moving the texture. 

Hardware
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz 3.60 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Installed RAM 128 GB (128 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Windows:

Graphics settings > Hardware Accelerated GPU scheduling  ON and OFF (tested both)

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎2020-‎06-‎09
OS build 19045.5737
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19061.1000.0

[nishu_kush · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

After Effects beta has a fix for a similar issue. Can you install and see if it fixes the issue on your end?

Let me know.

Thanks,
Nishu

[Greg@Antifreeze Animation]

What version is the beta? (so as this post ages, we can make sure we know what you're referring to)

[nishu_kush]

My bad! Try the After Effects beta 25.4 or newer. 

Let me know the outcome.

Thanks,
Nishu

[Greg@Antifreeze Animation]

Loaded up 25.4 (beta) and after a series of crashes, pref reset, safe mode, a computer restart, and a couple more crashes, it's suddenly working like a champ. Currently no sluggishness when grabbing and dragging various pre-comps or assets in the 4k window. 

[jörgs78344866]

Hi Greg, that's great that it works, of course, but the rocky road there doesn't sound so nice...

[Greg@Antifreeze Animation]

After one day of use, I've still crashed and hung a couple of times, but this is consistent with pre-beta as well, so I wouldn't want to pin this on AE yet. Could be anything at this point.  When working, AE 25.4 beta performance is now at par with previous version 24x.

[arzack]

Hi,
The problem seems to be fixed with the new version of After Effects Beta ! thanks

[0x003404fa]

charged me 2billion gazillion dollars/year btw smh