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digiv · Dec 19, 2005, 02:33 AM

Hi guys i'm new here and to video editing. i just got my quad and downloaded after effects and it takes for ever to render or preview a 3 min clip with some photo panning and zooming them. Do i need other hardware to make it realtime and make it render faster or i'm i doing something wrong. This baby should fly through this, by the way i have 2.5 gig ram in it. can somebody help me on this please

wataru · Dec 19, 2005, 02:58 AM

Your question is not about your "quad," it's about video rendering. Please use a more obvious thread title next time.

moonmonkey · Dec 19, 2005, 07:19 AM

you just "downloaded" After effects?
Try "buying" final cut pro, that should work for you.

Big Mac · Dec 19, 2005, 07:36 AM

It's humorous to me that he's pirating software for his $3000 Mac.

digiv · Dec 19, 2005, 12:16 PM

wow i thought this forum was to help people not to make them feel stupid. (WATARU) first of all like i said I'm new to all this so i don't know if it is software or hardware related i thought i needed a better video card. (BIG MAC) no i did not pirate after effects i downloaded the trial version. i haven't bought no software yet just downloading trials to see which one is better to get.(MOONMONKEY) thanks for the info you are the only one that was helpful i appreciate it.

JKT · Dec 21, 2005, 04:26 PM

After Effects is not multi-processor aware. In other words, it is only using one CPU out of the four you have present in your Mac. Thus it will not fly through anything at all (relatively speaking!).

Apps like Final Cut and Motion from Apple are multi-processor aware and will therefore work a lot, lot faster than After Effects. Motion also utilises Core Image so all rendering is done on the Graphics Card.

HTH.

ccrider · Dec 22, 2005, 01:06 AM

That is absolutely untrue-

After Effects IS multi-processor aware (and has been for years)- only certain plugins are not. And not that many.

JKT, don't spout off on something you obviously know nothing about.

As far as your question about your rendering and panning problem digiv, one thing you can do to speed up at least you previews, is to enable open-gl for your previews (in preferences). This loads the images into video-ram which can render in near real-time what your final render will look like.

There's also a preference that sets how much of your total ram you are allowing after effects to utilize. Keep this at about 90%.

After you get something that looks okay, you render your final movie, which will include any shadows, effects, lights, etc. This can take a little while, obviously, but shouldn't if you are simply doing pans and zooms. Make sure your final resolution is something manageable (640x480). I you are rendering photo zooms, you may have made the mistake of rendering them out at their native resolution, which will definitely slow rendering time down.

Good luck!

digiv · Dec 25, 2005, 08:29 PM

thanks ccrider i appreciate that

ghporter · Dec 25, 2005, 11:48 PM

digiv, give the responders some slack-we DO have a problem with new folks posting here with questions about where from and how to pirate software, and we have what should be experienced members posting questions in very much wrong forums. Your question has a little to do with the hardware, and a lot to do with software, so it goes in Applications.

Further, if you read your post, you'll notice that you didn't specify you downloaded a trial version of After Effects (I didn't know there was such a thing as a trial version of After Effects). You say "i just got my quad and downloaded after effects" which really sounds like you're talking about the full program.

ccrider, you were a bit harsh with JKT. There are much better ways to point out that someone is incorrect, ways that do not effectively call them dumb. For example you could have said "JKT is incorrect; After Effects IS multi-processor aware..." and gotten the same effect without being rude. Your detailed explanation of the hows and whys, however is exceptional-thanks for passing that on.

Technical help works much better when the person asking questions asks with enough details for someone to get started on figuring out the problem, and when people trying to help don't jump on each other's suggestions like dogs on raw meat.

digiv, welcome to the MacNN Forums! I hope you'll see that this IS a good place to get and give help, but like most communities, there's a few local conventions and customs to be aware of. Frankly, we're a better behaved (in general) group than you'll find in a lot of other forums...

Now for a technical item, as I know nothing about this trial or demo version of After Effects. Is it possible that the trial version is limited, crippled or otherwise less capable than the full version? That's pretty common in Windows trialware-it "strongly suggests" to the user that they need to plunk down the cash for the full version. I don't see anything on Adobe's site about what limitations there might be, other than a 30 day time limit.

digiv · Dec 26, 2005, 06:15 PM

thanks Ghporter for clearing that up sorry i posted in the wrong section i would be more careful in the feature. yeap adobe has trails for all their program i see you checked already i even downloaded a trial version of motion 2. I'm just starting on video editing and all that good stuff so I'm just checking them all out to see wish one is better

digiv · Dec 26, 2005, 06:17 PM

Is there software that would check my memory

a holck · Dec 26, 2005, 06:41 PM

Recent versions of After effects (6 and 6.5) loves multi processors. Here is a test of Core usage by a few apps, taken from Barefeats.com

tooki · Dec 27, 2005, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by digiv

thanks Ghporter for clearing that up sorry i posted in the wrong section i would be more careful in the feature.

Also, please read the forum rules (linked from every thread listing). Not only does it contain the house rules, it also has useful tips on how to make your posting successful.

tooki

plastiqueusa · Dec 27, 2005, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Further, if you read your post, you'll notice that you didn't specify you downloaded a trial version of After Effects (I didn't know there was such a thing as a trial version of After Effects). You say "i just got my quad and downloaded after effects" which really sounds like you're talking about the full program.

I wouldn't assume piracy just because someone says they downloaded something, especially when it's generally known that trial versions are available for free. It's easy to double-check things like that rather than jumping down somebody's throat.

inkhead · Dec 27, 2005, 05:05 PM

Look you can download Aftereffects for free trial right off the Adobe.com website:
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryado...jsp#product=13

tooki · Dec 27, 2005, 07:09 PM

I am with GHporter here. If someone doesn't specify that they downloaded the free trial, it's correct to assume they are referring to the full product.

tooki