Adobe After Effects is one of the most popular post-production applications for video editors, VFX artists, and motion graphics designers.
After Effects is a powerful tool for creatives to craft one-of-a-kind visual effects, but is also a graphics-intensive application that is notorious for crashing.
Whether you are an After Effects beginner or professional, frequent application crashes can make it difficult to complete AE projects. These 7 After Effects tricks from professional video editors can help you troubleshoot problems with After Effects frequently crashing.
Tip #1: Check for Software Updates
First on our list of After Effects tips: check for software updates. The reason for frequent After Effects crashes could be that the program is overdue for a software update. Check for both application updates and computer software updates.
Updating After Effects to the most current version by uninstalling and reinstalling the program may completely solve problems with frequent crashes. Reinstalling After Effects will also automatically delete corrupted codecs that could be causing the application to crash.
Tip #2: Media Cache and RAM Settings
One of the best pro tips for getting After Effects to quit crashing is to clear the media cache. The media cache can be found in the After Effects preferences menu.
When the After Effects scratch files become corrupted, it may require purging the corrupted files from the media cache to stop the program from crashing. Emptying the media cache is risk-free, so there is no need to worry about deleting something important from this menu.
From the Preferences > Media Cache menu, click Empty Media Cache. From the same menu, you can also purge the RAM by clicking Edit > Purge > Memory & Disk Cache.
Using an external hard drive to store the media cache files can also improve After Effects performance.
Tip #3: Export With Media Encoder
One of the tricks for After Effects that professionals use is to export the project with Media Encoder. If After Effects keeps crashing during export, moving it over to Media Encoder can fix the problem. When it comes time to render and export, click on Queue to send it to Adobe Media Encoder.
Tip #4: Utilize Cloud Computing with Vagon
If crashes are holding you back, it’s time for a Vagon boost. Transfer your projects to our high-performance cloud PCs in just a few clicks and enjoy a seamless, crash-free After Effects experience. It’s about getting your projects done, not troubleshooting.
Tip #5: Remove Third-Party Plug-ins
Next on our list of After Effects tricks to stop crashes is to remove third-party plugins. This may be frustrating for creators who are using a third-party plug-in on their current project, but a compatibility problem with a plug-in could be the reason why the program keeps crashing.
For Mac: Applications > Adobe After Effects For PC: Program Files > Adobe After Effects > Support Files
Locate and delete the third-party plug-in files from these folders. After deleting the plugin files, close and reopen After Effects to reset the program.
Tip #6: Video Card and GPU Problems
Another common reason for After Effects crashing is that the computer’s video card does not work smoothly with GPU Acceleration. To troubleshoot this problem, try turning off GPU Acceleration temporarily to see if this improves the performance of After Effects.
From the After Effects Preferences menu, click on Display and then deselect Hardware Accelerate Composition Layer. After that, go to Preferences > Previews > GPU Information to switch from GPU to CPU.
You can also go to File > Project Settings > Video Rendering and Effects to switch to a non-GPU acceleration.
If there is a problem with the video card that is not resolved by updating the computer software, it may require further troubleshooting.
PC users can go to Task Manager > Performance > GPU to see what kind of graphics card they are using. Go to the graphics card manufacturer’s website to check for and download graphics card driver updates.
Tip #7: Prevent Overheating
One of our tips for After Effects that does not involve software is simply to keep the computer from overheating. Make sure that the computer’s vents are always uncovered. You may also consider investing in a cooling pad for laptops to make sure the computer does not get too hot to function.
Close all applications that are not in use to make sure that the computer’s CPU is not being overworked.
