AE 7 out of memory...
 

My Mac Pro used to have just 2 GB of RAM, and kept running out memory with AE when previewing frames, etc.

So I've upped it to 6 GB.. and I *still* have the problem! Runs out of memory when I'm previewing, and when rendering now too! What gives? In the preferences, it says it maxes out at 3 GB.. I'd glady give it 5 GB or more to play with!!

What's going on?

Hey Robert, unfortunately After Effects, even CS3, has a limitation of 3GB memory because it was originally written as a 32bit app, even tho it runs plenty fine on 64bit Mac OS X. So, you could have 16GB of RAM and still only ever use 3GB with After Effects.

So, the problem for you isn't that you don't have enough RAM, it's that your project is too complex for the default memory usage settings.

Aside of rebuilding your project, you can try adjusting the memory and cache settings. (No idea what you're doing, but enormous resolution photos with lots of blur or 3D effects or camera moves are often the culprit - basically anything super processor intensive).

First of all, Quit After Affects and start it up again.

Then go into the After Effects>Preferences>Memory & Cache and do the following:

1. Change the default 60% RAM cache and bring it down to 50% or less. Keep going down if your project keeps running out of juice.

2. If that doesn't work, enable the disk caching and give it a big chunk to play with.

3. If that doesn't work, reduce the Maximum Memory usage to 100%.

Some combination of fiddling with these, in this order, should solve the out of memory problem. If it doesn't, I'm sorry to tell you that you are going to have to rethink your project a little bit and reduce the load... Easiest way to do that is reduce the resolution of your photos (if you are using photos) or change your output settings.

More info on this:

http://generalspecialist.com/2006/11...-could-not.asp

I'm taking 60i at 1/500th to 24P (23.976) => making slow motion video out of the 60i.

That 32bit app thing makes sense. My default RAM cache was set really high ;) I'll bring that down.

I'll keep my max Memory Usage to 100%.

My disk cache is set at 10GB.

Thanks - you've most likely fixed my problem. Cheers!

Lemme know how that goes for you. The last time it happened to me was in the middle of rendering changes on an animated TV commercial, with the client on the way over to see it! yikes!

Yikes indeed! It's helped; I'll keep an eye on those settings. Thanks!