Comp preview doesn't work in AE

[MOTOMOTO]

Hey community,

I have a particular problem with my MacBookPro (mid 2015) and Adobe After Effects. When I open any project (new or old) I don't get a preview of that frame the cursor is on. I see masks, outlines of layers but no actual content. Only when I insert a new solid layer in a new project, I get a preview of that layer. Once I import video or pictures, I get that described problem again. Even when I delete that imported footage again, doesn't solve the problem. Additionally when I shut down After Effects it freezes so that have to force the shutdown.

What I tried so far:

• Restored my preferences.
• Disabled GPU-Rendering.
• Deinstalled AE and installed a fresh version of AE.
• Deinstalled AE and installed an older version of AE.
• Installed a Time Machine Backup, which was 6 months old, when AE still worked perfectly.
• Did a MacOS Hardware check.
• Installed a new MacOS sierra on my MacBook Pro.
• Apple did a complete hardware check with no results or problems at all.
• Talked to the Adobe support, which couldn't help at all.

I almost lost hope since Apple couldn't find a hardware issue and Adobe's support so far is nothing more than asking me to reinstall AE, restore my preferences and disable GPU rendering. To be fair, it doesn't seem to be an easy problem I have. But maybe one of you guys can help.

Cheers

Bastian

[Shivangi_Gupta]

Hi Bastian,

We're sorry for the experience. I appreciate all the steps that have been done so far to fix the issue. However, it sounds strange to me that we are not getting a preview for the actual content in the frame.

• Which version of After Effects are you using?
• Please share your system details(OS, RAM, GPU, CPU, etc).

When I open any project (new or old) I don't get a preview of that frame the cursor is on. I see masks, outlines of layers but no actual content.

• Could you share a screenshot?

We're here to help.

Thanks,

Shivangi

[MOTOMOTO]

Hi Shivangi,

thanks for your reply. See my computer's details below:

• MacBookPro mid 2015
• macOS Sierra Version 10.12.6
• 2,5 GHz Intel Core i7
• RAM 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
• Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB
• MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) - Technical Specifications
• After Effects 16.1.2 (Build 55)

https://we.tl/t-t6G73vfksJ

Behind the link you find a screen capture of my AE and crash report I get after I try to shut down the software. This problem appears with any project, not only in the one you see attached. Sometimes and pretty random I get a picture and then it disappears again. It's impossible to work with AE unfortunately.

Anything else I can provide?

Thanks,

Bastian

[Roland Kahlenberg]

This looks like a GPU issue. There are two areas where GPU is enabled in AE - UI and Effects/Transforms. For the UI, you set this in AE's Preferences>General>Display.

For Effects/Transforms, you set it in the Project Settings Panel.

Lastly, there is no such thing as "restore preferences" in AE. I suggest you TRASH AE's preferences before proceeding with other tests. http://www.kevinmonahan.net/?p=134

[MOTOMOTO]

Hey Roland,

thanks for your reply.

• First I reseted AE's preferences and confirmed the alert. Done.
• Then I disabled the checkbox "Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, and Footage Panels" (I didn't know about this option!).
• After that I disabled in the Project Settings GPU Acceleration and enabled Mercury Only Software.

That fixed my preview problem. Thanks. But why is that? Apple checked the entire Hardware and couldn't find the problem. And still, when I want to shut down AE, it freezes and I have to force the shutdown. Something is still weird?! This is the report I get: WeTransfer When I open an empty project in AE and quit AE, it works as usual.

Thanks for your help. Very much appreciated.

Bastian

[Roland Kahlenberg]

Hi Bastian, I'm glad you've followed through and you are now able to operate AE. On the issue of being to force quit, you should file a Bug Report and remember to include the infomation in the RTF file. The info in the file is meant for engineering - not folks like me. 🙂