Why is after effects so slow despite having a good computer?

[Arsen21894843eeod]

I'll try to include all information. I don't think this is an issue with my computer as I've seen others talking about it. My issue is that all I have in my composition is a clip and some music. It. Is. Slow. Premiere pro works just fine with 4k clips, effects, etc.

I want to make a short 30 second edit for which after effects is the best option. "Edit in premiere pro and export composition to edit in after effects" I've heard this before, but that's not the issue here.

I shouldn't need a quantum computer to scrub through 1080p footage in a professional software used for much more complex things.

Not to come off as aggressive with that last sentence, it's just that's what someone recommended last time and it was ignoring the issue, that in this case is the software.

Specs/Info:

Software: AE 2024
OS: Windows 10 64 bit
SSD: 256 gig (plenty of space left. this is what AE is run on)
HDD: 2tb. (where my files are kept.)
CPU: ryzen 5 3600
GPU: 3070ti
RAM: 32gb 3600Mhz (double the recommended)
PSU: 650W Gold (not that it matters)

My footage is in 1080p. The composition is 20 minutes as I wanted some free space to get rid of later, but that's not how long the footage is. The footage is less than a minute. As is the song on the bottom.

What I mean by "slow" is that the playback is unbearable. I will press the spacebar and have to wait 5-10 seconds (or more) for a choppy version of my comp the audio of which will slow at times to catch up with the footage (at a quarter of the quality). I'm asking for help because if this is how AE is supposed to work then no one would use it. 

Thanks for any answers I really do appreciate them.

[Arsen21894843eeod · Accepted solution]

I've found the issue online with some helpful people. If anyone else is having this problem you basically need to change the file types. Apparently AE doesn't work well with MP4, or MP3 files so you need to convert them to MOV or WAV files (or other alternatives.) You can do this online or with the media encoder. 

[nishu_kush]

ProRes is also a good choice when it comes to editing. That said, After Effects's preview works differently if compared with Premiere Pro. Here are more details: https://adobe.ly/45MqQlP

Feel free to reach out. Moving this thread from Bugs to Discussions.

Thanks,
Nishu

[Arsen21894843eeod]

Thanks! 

I also found out that I needed to increase my cache by a lot, so I purchased a new SSD which did the trick. Tysm for the help.