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Dwight_DT
Dwight_DT
Participant
January 28, 2018
Question

Why does my Ae CC 2017 keep crashing?

  • January 28, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 1555 views

For a while now, I've been trying to render out my composition (in both the render queue and the preview window.) It always seems to crash at random areas. It doesn't give me an error message either; Ae just quits. I'm not sure whether it's a problem with my Mac, a problem with my file, or a problem with the software. I've already tried purging/clearing my memory and disk cache. I've also tried disabling the "Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, and Footage Panels" display preference. Neither solution has worked. For additional information, I had the following applications open while trying to render; Discord and Google Chrome. Is there any other way I can try to work around or stop this problem?

Here are some of my iMac Specs:

Mac OS 10.13.2

Processor 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M 512 MB

I was using After Effects CC 2017 v. 14.0.1.5.

(I could also give the crash log provided by the Ae crash reporter that pops up after a crash, I just don't know how to insert the file. It's a TextEdit file.)

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    Andrew Yoole
    Andrew Yoole
    Inspiring
    January 28, 2018

    Tell us more about your project.

    What is the composition resolution?

    What is the resolution of the highest-res source item being used?

    What codec is your source footage encoded with?

    What effects/plugins are being applied?

    Is the project 2D or 3D?

    Your RAM is fairly inadequate, at 8GB, if you are working with very high res input or output.  I generally recommend 16GB as a minimum to After Effects users these days.

    To isolate your GPU from the issue, go to Project Settings and switch to "Mercury Software Only" and see if that helps.

    Dwight_DT
    Dwight_DTAuthor
    Participant
    January 28, 2018

    The composition resolution is 1920 x 1080.

    The resolution of the highest-res source item is the same as my composition (1920 x 1080).

    My source footage is encoded with H.264.

    The effects/plugins being used are Grid, RSMB, Transform, Brightness and Contrast, Curves, Hue/Saturation, Glow, Camera Lens Blur, Opacity, Offset, and Time Remap.

    The project is 2D.

    And yes, I know my RAM sucks. It's an old computer, so I'm not surprised. I'll see what I can do in the future if more RAM is needed.

    Also, the project setting "Mercury Software Only" is already on, so I've already done that.

    R
    Community Expert
    Rick GerardCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 29, 2018

    Camera lens blur is a resource hog, you might want to substitute something else. You also may want to try transcoding your source footage. Highly compressed source footage can cause huge spikes in resource use that can cause crashes. Unless there is no other way I try and never have mp3 audio or mp4 video (mpeg compressed) in my projects. Almost anything can be converted to a standard production format in the AME and it will save you a lot of time if you are running into crashes. Production frame-based formats also almost always will render faster than compressed consumer video in the timeline.

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