Inaccurate playback until I purge Media and Disk Cache

[Darth_Adobe]

I was having a troubling issue while animating a mask, in that it looked like the playback was showing different results than what my work would suggest.

Things like part of the image that you can see you’ve masked off, still being visible.

As you can imagine, this was getting old fast, as it looked like the results I was seeing were impossible, and I couldn’t figure out why.

I tried toggling on and off the Adaptive Resolution option, which is in the Fast Preview rolldown under your comp window on the same line as the resolution rolldown, view rolldown, etc. That didn’t help.

It did however get me thinking that perhaps what I’m seeing isn’t true, and low and behold, it wasn’t.

If you’re having an issue where what you’re seeing goes against the work you’ve done, go to Edit, go down to Purge, and select All Memory and Disk Cache.

It will take a bit to purge, but now you should see the results of what you’ve actually done.

I could be experiencing this based on my computer memory, unlikely with 32G of Ram, so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, or if this is just aftereffects now.

I do not enjoy having to constantly purge my memory to see what I’m doing. I purged 4GB after 5 minutes of work.

What is happening? Can I make this not be the case?

[Dave_LaRonde]

You may have cache files from previous versions taking up your storage.  I'd get busy in the OS and delete them.

[Darth_Adobe]

Thanks Dave!

This is only the second aftereffects project I've done on this computer, but you're right! There was over 7 GB of appdata to get rid of, and all I did last time was animate some text.

It doesn't seem like 7GB would make a huge difference, but my playback is accurate now so it must be significant.

Amazing how fast that data adds up, also amazing how much it generates. Gotta keep an eye on that.

One thing I'd like to add: I'm still seeing inaccuracies on still frames, particularly the ones with keyframes on them. This does not change if I turn on Adaptive Resolution, however, when I playback the sequence it is accurate.

I don't know what would cause that, but without the knowledge that the playback will be different than what you're looking at frame-by-frame, one could easily be sent into a panic thinking their work isn't, well, working.

If you've any input on that, advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, Dave!

[Kyle Hamrick]

For what it's worth, as of v15 (aka AE 2018), Edit > Purge > All Media and Disk Cache defaults to clearing caches for all previous versions as well. Shouldn't be a need to go spelunking through your OS folders.

[Darth_Adobe]

I've only had AE on this computer since last week, so I would hope I'm not running into problems caused by previous versions.

My only thought was all that appdata in the roaming folder should be regularly purged - does the Clear Disk Cache get to those files?

It would be great to avoid all that OS spelunking!

Thanks Kyle!

[Darth_Adobe]

Update: after much research in Adobe forums, it appears the solution is to say forget AE CC2018, as it's apparently riddled with bugs that hinder the memory and tools of the program.

Maybe they'll figure it out later, but for now I'm going back a few versions to when AE worked.

Hopefully Adobe will quit offering "New Features" that render the knowledge you've gained over years of supporting Adobe, useless.

Adobe seems to be putting a lot of faith in the idea that long time users enjoy doubling as beta-testers.

Without expressing how truly disappointing Adobe has become, some of those previous versions are straight-up amazing; use those.

[Darth_Adobe]

I went back to AE CC 2017.

All my problems are solved.

Very frustrating to pay Adobe for CC2018 when it looks like an entire year of wasted time.

[Kyle Hamrick]

The current version is also amazing. I stay current, and I almost never have any of the issues people post about on here.

I'm sorry the current version isn't working for you, but remember that your special combination of circumstances doesn't mean that the AE team has been sitting on their thumbs for the past year. Instead, perhaps this could be an opportunity to dig into some of the preferences more deeply, and see if a crucial setting hasn't been transferred between versions, or something about your hardware setup might be causing issues with the current versions that didn't exist previously.

Complex software has bugs sometimes, sure. That said, 9/10 times these issues are due to user error/lack of knowledge or are solved by simple things like confirming drivers have been updated.

[Darth_Adobe]

It's not that the new version isn't working, it's that some processes I'm used to having work, suddenly don't work.

The easiest solution to that shouldn't be reverting to an older version that is absent of the issues I'm facing.

After looking through these forums about several issues present in CC 2018, and not just AE, the general consensus seems to advise reverting back to last year's version.

Someone with your strong background in this is going to have no issues figuring out what aspect(s) of their hardware set-up is inhibiting the functionality of their Adobe software; everyone else is on these forums looking for more than, "Figure it out, buddy."

Thanks.

[Kyle Hamrick]

I (and all the other ACPs on here) are 100% committed to helping people when they want to be helped. You responded to your own thread with a rant, which essentially closes the door on a productive conversation.

I'm happy to continue exploring this issue with you and try to pin down what might be causing your issue. If you'd like to continue, we're probably going to need to diagnose some things about your system, in order to troubleshoot. This is a good place to start, in terms of what's going to be helpful: FAQ: What information should I provide when asking a question on this forum?
After Effects relies on a lot of different parts of your hardware setup, which means there are a nearly-infinite amount of variables that could be at play.

First and foremost - are your video drivers up to date? I'm not just being glib when I say this is probably the solution to 50% of the issues I respond to regarding After Effects.

[Darth_Adobe]

I've been using this software for the past ten years, and until recently I never found myself on forums asking why AE is suddenly bordering inoperable.

I've built computers specifically to run video software, I know how to update drivers, and I know what I need to run smoothly, and haven't had any issues until I updated to CC2018.

My issue is with CC2018 specifically, and I'm not alone in that. I only shared what I, and other users found to be the most efficient solution to the numerous issues now present, which was reverting back to CC2017. Sure, it was a rant, but also a solution to anyone without the time to go back and forth about what hardware they need to update or upgrade.

I spent 5 mins downloading the 2017 version of AE and am now able to work without issue.

Maybe when I have a full day to get into it, I'll ask you what hardware I've got that's causing me problems.

Thanks.

[Kyle Hamrick]

I'm glad that reverting was a solution to your issue, and sometimes that is indeed the best solution. In some instances, that will be the official Adobe response to certain problems. While I stay current, I make a point of finishing out existing work in the previous version (and advising others do the same), especially if there's a deadline involved.

This software has to work across a multitude of different hardware/software configurations and in like 20 different languages, so yes, there will occasionally be bugs that slip through. Sometimes small ones, sometimes big ones. In case you're actually talking about the version that was released last week (v16, aka "AE 2019"), there is typically a .1 release soon after a new version is launched that will address anything major - sometimes it's probably just not possible to get enough user data to account for every possible variable.

With as complicated as AE is, there might sometimes be a single checkbox or dropdown buried in a preference menu that might revolutionize the way AE runs on your specific configuration. Even advanced users (I include myself in this) are constantly learning about new tricks and quirks, which we'll wish we'd learned about years ago. It's kind of the nature of the beast.

If you're curious to investigate why the current version (or the previous one, if that's what you're actually looking at) isn't running on your machine, we'll be happy to help sleuth it out.