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Adobe Dynamic link error

Mar 15, 2012 8:45 AM

When trying to use the new Warp Stabilizer inside After Effects CS5.5, I get the following error "timed out obtaining dynamic link server project." I never get past this error. Why does the warp stabilizer use dynamic link?

I have searched all of the previous posts, and re-starting the computer does not fix the problem. Does anyone have any ideas or a solution to this problem?

Thanks,

Jeff

6124 Views 30 Replies Latest reply: Pharther Phurther, May 14, 2012 11:47 PM

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1. Dave LaRonde,

Mar 15, 2012 8:56 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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Import the actual piece of footage into AE. Don't go through Premiere.

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2. jeff-7117,

Mar 15, 2012 8:59 AM in reply to Dave LaRonde

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Yeah, that's what I'm doing. I have a new AE project with just one clip in it, started fresh without anything to do with Premiere. Any time I try to stabilize the shot, I get the error. This shot has never been in Premiere, that's why I don't understand the dynamic link error or why it even has to use dynamic link. Isn't the plugin native to AE?

Jeff

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3. Szalam,

Mar 15, 2012 9:45 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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What codec is the file you're trying this on?

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4. jeff-7117,

Mar 15, 2012 9:48 AM in reply to Szalam

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Apple ProRez 4444.

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5. Dave LaRonde,

Mar 15, 2012 9:59 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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Are you running both Final Cut Suite 3 and After Effects on the same machine? That's the only I know to have that particular codec available for use in AE.

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6. jeff-7117,

Mar 15, 2012 10:24 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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Yes. Running FCP and AE on the same machine. I trans-coded the clip to Animation codec and I still get the same error.

Jeff

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7. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 15, 2012 10:29 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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> Why does the warp stabilizer use dynamic link?

The Warp Stabilizer effect does its analysis in a separate background application. This application communicates with After Effects using Dynamic Link.

Have you ever been able to use Warp Stabilizer, or is this your first time trying?

You may be hitting an issue very closely related to the one described here:
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/startup-screen-hangs-premiere -after.html

If so, try disabling your firewall before starting After Effects.

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8. jeff-7117,

Mar 15, 2012 10:35 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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Yeah, I've never been able to use it. I've always gotten around stabilizing shots with Mocha or the older point tracker but this shot I'm working on has some issues that I'd like to try to fix in the new stabilizer. I'll check my firewall settings and report back.

Thanks,
Jeff

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9. jeff-7117,

Mar 15, 2012 10:39 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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Ok, the firewall was already off so I can rule that out (CPU isn't connected to the internet or any network). So my only other option is to clean out the quicktime folder and add the codecs in one at a time till I find the one causing the error?

Jeff

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10. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 15, 2012 10:57 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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No, the QuickTime part of that won't be relevant here.

Try rebooting your computer and then trying to use the Warp Stabilizer in After Effects before you start any other applications. It's possible that another application is blocking the port that AFter Effects needs. (I've seen FileMaker do this, for example.)

Also, please give answers to the questions here:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/961743

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11. jeff-7117,

Mar 15, 2012 2:34 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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Ok, after restart and upon opening AE with the effect already applied inside the comp, AE crashes. After relaunching, and re-starting the effect, I get the same error message. I noticed that I have a few programs that are set to launch on startup, so I will have to remvove those apps from the login menu on my account and try again. Here's my answers to the questions:

What version of After Effects? Include the minor version number (e.g., After Effects CS5.5 with the 10.5.1 update). 10.5.1
Have you installed the recent updates? (If not, you should. They fix a lot of problems.) YES
What operating system? This should include specific minor version numbers, like "Mac OSX v10.6.8"---not just "Mac". OSX 10.6.8
What kind(s) of source footage? When telling about your source footage, tell us about the codecs, not just the container types. For example, "H.264 in a .mov container", not just "QuickTime". Apple ProRez 4444, also tested using Animation Codec.
If you are getting error message(s), what is the full text of the error message(s)? "timed out obtaining dynamic link server project."
What were you doing when the problem occurred? Trying to use the Warp Stabilizer.
Has this ever worked before? No
What other software are you running?
Do you have any third-party effects or codecs installed? Yes
Tell us about your computer hardware. Include CPU type and number of processor cores, amount of RAM installed, GPU, number of disk drives, and how any external drives are connected. Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 6 core, 32 gigs of ram, 4 internal drives. One external Firewire 800 drive.
Do you have any third-party I/O hardware (e.g., AJA, Matrox, Blackmagic, MOTU)? No
Are you using OpenGL features in After Effects? No
Does the problem only happen with your final output, RAM preview, or both? No
Are you using Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing? No

Thanks,
Jeff

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12. keithfenter,

Mar 15, 2012 3:13 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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Just to chime in --- I've been using Warp Stabilizer effect and it works perfectly most of the time. If I have around 10 clips analyzing, sometimes this error will pop up "timed out obtaining dynamiclink server", which requires restarting AE. To keep the error from happening, I limit the amount of clips analyzing at the same time.

I also did notice that AE projects using the warp stablizer effect take much more time to save and have larger file size than normal.

OSX 10.7.3 - 2x2.66 Ghz 6-core, 64 GB ram - AE 10.5.1

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13. Jim Acquavella,

Mar 15, 2012 3:17 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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Yes, these are known issues. If you use the plugin on lots of different items, you might want to pre-render them and then delete the effect. It does create longer save times. As for the error, that should be fixed in a future version. If you run into it and can't stabilize, you might try to reboot.

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14. keithfenter,

Mar 15, 2012 3:29 PM in reply to Jim Acquavella

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Thanks mark! BTW, the warp stabilizer is one of the best new additions to AE, in my view.

Once the clips have been analyzed I haven't had any problems with the effect, and haven't had any need to pre-render. I look forward to the update.

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15. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 15, 2012 6:16 PM in reply to keithfenter

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Let's try something else that exercises the Dynamic Link connections:

Open Adobe Media Encoder and use it to load an After Effects composition (choose File > Add After Effects Composition).

My reason for suggesting this is that it uses a very similar Dynamic Link connection, and its success or failure might point us toward what's going wrong.

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16. jeff-7117,

Mar 16, 2012 9:41 AM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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I tried adding a very basic project using Adobe Media Encoder and though it says I am connected to the media server, I am unable to click "ok" and add the comp to the que. I tried the drag and drop method as well with no luck.

Also, prior to this test, I did reboot without loading any login items, so AME was the first program launched after startup. I would consider re-installing AE CS5.5 again, but I am considering that a last resort at this point.

Jeff

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17. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 16, 2012 10:41 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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Do you have Premiere Pro? If so, let's try something to see if all Dynamic Link functionality is broken, or just that from After Effects. Open Adobe Media Encoder and try to add a Premiere Pro sequence using the File > Add Premiere Pro Sequence command.

If this fails, then we know that something is blocking all Dynamic Link communication.

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18. jeff-7117,

Mar 16, 2012 2:45 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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I have Premiere Pro, and I was able to load a Premiere Pro sequence using Adobe Media Encoder without any issue.

Jeff

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19. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 16, 2012 3:17 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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OK, another diagnostic step:

Restart your computer and then start just After Effects. Open the Mac OS Activity Monitor. Do you see a process named 'dynamiclinkmanager' in the process list?

Now, try to render and export a QuickTime movie from After Effects. Can you do so?

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20. jeff-7117,

Mar 18, 2012 4:44 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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Ok, I restarted and launched only AE then launched the activity monitor inside OSX. I did see "dynamiclinkmanager" running. I was also able to successfully export a quicktime movie from AE. Since all of that was successful, I tried again to stabilize a clip and I am still getting the dynamic link server time out error.

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21. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 20, 2012 3:53 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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When you invoke Warp Stabilizer, it talks to dynamiclinkserver, then starts Adobe Stabilizer Server, which then starts an aeselflink process. Does the Adobe Stabilizer Server process ever run, and does aeselflink ever start up?

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22. jeff-7117,

Mar 20, 2012 4:05 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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I just tried another test with Activity Monitor on, and I can confirm that both of the processes are running (Adobe Stabilizer Server, and the aeselflink process) but I still get a time out connecting to the dynamic link server. After this un-successful test, I tried to restart AE and it crashed on shutdown. Should I uninstall and re-install AE CS5.5 and see if the issues clear up?

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23. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 20, 2012 4:12 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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If you're willing to re-install, that certainly can't hurt. Be sure to remove preferences while you're at it (which is an option when you uninstall).

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24. jeff-7117,

Mar 20, 2012 5:43 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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Ok, I did a clean install and reset my preferences file. I was successfully able to stabilize a clip. After resetting my preferences and assigning my old disk cache file location, I started getting errors again. I noticed that when I was able to get the Warp Stabilizer to function successfully, the Adobe Stabilizer Server would show 100% cpu activity. If I got a time-out error, it never went above 2% or 3% usage. After making a new cache file for AE to write to, everything seems to be working. Thanks again for the help.

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25. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 20, 2012 5:47 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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Interesting. I'll forward this information on to the relevant engineers.

What can you tell us about the disk cache location that was causing problems? On a network drive? Different permissions?

I'm glad that you were able to get this to work.

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26. jeff-7117,

Mar 20, 2012 5:52 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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The cache file is on an external raid drive. The permissions to read and write are correct too. The new file is on the same drive, just in a different folder. Originally, all of my AE programs (CS4, 5, and 5.5) were writing to one cache file location (one folder) that I could easily clean out from time to time. The only thing I did differently was assign the CS5.5 cache file to different folder on the same drive.

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27. Todd_Kopriva,

Mar 20, 2012 6:07 PM in reply to jeff-7117

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What was the name of the folder causing the problems? (I'm wondering if there are characters in the name that were causing problems.)

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28. jeff-7117,

Mar 20, 2012 6:14 PM in reply to Todd_Kopriva

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Old folder was called AE_CACHE, new folder is called AE_cache_new.

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29. Nik Ska,

May 5, 2012 9:45 AM in reply to jeff-7117

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I have the same problem - Win7, 64bit. Reinstall doesn't help. On first launch after reinstall stabilizer works but on the next ones - I get the error. Really annoying, reinstalling each time is not a good option.

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30. Pharther Phurther,

May 14, 2012 11:47 PM in reply to keithfenter

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Keith ... How do you rate the performance of the Warp Stabilizer? Have you ever tried to stabilize a hour long standard definition clip?

What does your Activity Monitor look like during the process?

Can you give me an example of the time it takes you to do a process?

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