After Effects CS3 black screen? at DVinfo.net

Robbie Brandon · July 28th, 2008, 06:14 PM

Hello All,
I was tinkering with AE trying to learn the program, and I think I may have turned on The "desktop cinema" feature or something, because my screen is black and I cant get into menus to set it back. Is there a keyboard shortcut? I think its just a feature to view fullscreen, but I cant get it out of that mode. Please Help!

Robbie Brandon · July 31st, 2008, 05:01 PM

Does anyone have an idea? Cant even use the program... Thanks!

Shawn McCalip · August 3rd, 2008, 12:12 PM

From your description, it almost sounds like your video display driver is crashing. I'm not aware of any kind of Desktop Cinema feature or option. Does the screen turn black every time you open AE? Has it done this all the time since you installed it or did it just randomly start doing it one day? If it didn't behave like this before, do you remember updating any drivers or software beforehand?

I just went through the menus and help file, and I don't see anything related to a "full screen mode" or anything like that.

Short of re-installation and starting from square 1, I'm not sure what else to do from what you've said.

Robbie Brandon · August 6th, 2008, 06:43 PM

Thanks for the response!

Its been a while now, but it seems that I clicked something that resembled "Desktop Cinema___" Not sure, but it was working fine before. Its a Mac, and I have had no other problems with the display including after effects before that day. Thanks again.

Forgot to mention, if I use the "Expose" feature in OSX, it then appears in the shadow, but when I select it, it goes back to black. The menu bar at the top is only visible if I put the mouse over it, but when I open a menu, few to none of the options are available. Incuding preferences, which i think is where i engaged whatever feature is causing the problem. Not sure, but I think.

Shawn McCalip · August 7th, 2008, 01:10 AM

Ahhhh, you're working on a Mac! Now the Desktop Cinema thing makes a little more sense, although I don't know too much about that feature. The last time I worked in After Effects on a Mac, the G3 was the latest thing and After Effects was only at version 4!

Hopefully, someone running AE on their Mac will chime in for you at some point.

Hugo Ferreira · August 21st, 2008, 07:57 AM

Hi Robbie,

The same happened to me, and i was almost getting crazy, but now i have the solution. You only need to put your cursor in the upper left corner of the screen until the after effects menus appear. Then go to preferences and change back the setting. It's easy.

July 28th, 2008, 06:14 PM	#1
Robbie Brandon New Boot Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stanfield, NC Posts: 10	After Effects CS3 black screen? Hello All, I was tinkering with AE trying to learn the program, and I think I may have turned on The "desktop cinema" feature or something, because my screen is black and I cant get into menus to set it back. Is there a keyboard shortcut? I think its just a feature to view fullscreen, but I cant get it out of that mode. Please Help!

August 21st, 2008, 07:57 AM	#6
Hugo Ferreira Tourist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 3	Hi Robbie, The same happened to me, and i was almost getting crazy, but now i have the solution. You only need to put your cursor in the upper left corner of the screen until the after effects menus appear. Then go to preferences and change back the setting. It's easy. __________________ Hugo Ferreira www.idear-producoes.com

July 31st, 2008, 05:01 PM	#2
Robbie Brandon New Boot Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stanfield, NC Posts: 10	Does anyone have an idea? Cant even use the program... Thanks!

August 3rd, 2008, 12:12 PM	#3
Shawn McCalip Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Anchorage, AK Posts: 315	From your description, it almost sounds like your video display driver is crashing. I'm not aware of any kind of Desktop Cinema feature or option. Does the screen turn black every time you open AE? Has it done this all the time since you installed it or did it just randomly start doing it one day? If it didn't behave like this before, do you remember updating any drivers or software beforehand? I just went through the menus and help file, and I don't see anything related to a "full screen mode" or anything like that. Short of re-installation and starting from square 1, I'm not sure what else to do from what you've said.

August 6th, 2008, 06:43 PM	#4
Robbie Brandon New Boot Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stanfield, NC Posts: 10	Thanks for the response! Its been a while now, but it seems that I clicked something that resembled "Desktop Cinema___" Not sure, but it was working fine before. Its a Mac, and I have had no other problems with the display including after effects before that day. Thanks again. Forgot to mention, if I use the "Expose" feature in OSX, it then appears in the shadow, but when I select it, it goes back to black. The menu bar at the top is only visible if I put the mouse over it, but when I open a menu, few to none of the options are available. Incuding preferences, which i think is where i engaged whatever feature is causing the problem. Not sure, but I think.

August 7th, 2008, 01:10 AM	#5
Shawn McCalip Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Anchorage, AK Posts: 315	Ahhhh, you're working on a Mac! Now the Desktop Cinema thing makes a little more sense, although I don't know too much about that feature. The last time I worked in After Effects on a Mac, the G3 was the latest thing and After Effects was only at version 4! Hopefully, someone running AE on their Mac will chime in for you at some point.