warning "RAM Preview needs 2 or more frames" after scrubbing audio in After Effects CC 2014 (13.0)

[Tim Kurkoski]

The After Effects team are investigating a bug in After Effects CC 2104 (13.0) where a memory leak occurs while scrubbing audio (holding down the CTRL or Command key while scrubbing). This memory leak can eventually consume all free RAM, which can lead to the warning message "After Effects error: RAM Preview needs 2 or more frames to playback" when you try to initiate a RAM preview.

While we investigate this problem, you can avoid the bug and memory leak by not scrubbing with audio. When the problem occurs you can resolve it by closing and restarting After Effects.

http://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2014/07/warning-ram-preview-needs-2-or-more-frames-after-scrubbi...

[Kdinello]

Any progress in squashing this bug?  Most of my projects require animations timed to audio files, so this is really taking its toll on my workflow.

[Todd_Kopriva]

We'll post information when we have some to share.

[Parrotface]

That's no solution at all.  On many projects, losing the ability to scrub audio basically eliminates your ability to work (it's like telling Illustrator users to just "avoid using the pen tool.")

I would be a little more understanding that it's taking you so long to fix this really major bug if I wasn't paying $50 a month for this software!

[eliezerventura]

This problem also occurs in compositions without audio!

[Todd_Kopriva]

> This problem also occurs in compositions without audio!

EVentura,

There are many ways to encounter this message, many of which are not due to bugs in the application or the operating system; some of the causes are due to "normal" use, such as mistakenly starting a RAM preview when the current-time indicator is already at the end of the work area, but the From Current Time option is enabled.

On this thread, we're discussing one specific cause of this message, which is due to a memory leak when scrubbing (dragging the current-time indicator) to preview with audio.

If you're encountering this message in a different scenario, please start a new thread to discuss that.

[eliezerventura]

Staff:

This problem is happening in all CS6, CC and CC 2014 versions in my Macbook 13, 4G, Retina (Maverics).

I have another iMac running Lion and without CS6 upgrade and this problem does not happen.

Now, in my new iMacbook tried installing these 3 versions and the problem happens all the time.

Eu uso o After a 6 anos e dessa vez as atualizações das versões não estão adiantando.

See: "RAM Preview needs 2 or more frames" CS6 on CC and CC 2014

[eliezerventura]

This is ridiculous. Adobe can not release a software with a bug so big. If I have some delay in the delivery of my projects, I will sue Adobe. We want an urgent solution!

Who want to export to work in a previous version can not, because the Abobe After just be releasing buggy to downlad, ie, all versions of Afer I'm testing are with this problem in my Mac OSX 10.9.4, including the After CS6!

We need an urgent solution, I am unable to work right having to close and open the After every two minutes

[zenaphex]

It was pretty frustrating when I ran into this issue and reported it a while back. When I first converted my project, I managed to do a bunch of edits in AE CC 2014 before the problem became more aware that it was a serious issue (it was a slow leak). I didn't want to have to go back to the previous version and redo the many edits I did. So, I stuck with the issue and managed to get through it. I had my memory monitor opened so that I can check when I need to save before a memory peak occurred and constant errors would popup preventing me from saving.

It seems that the memory leak was somewhat random every time I started AE CC 2014. Certain times, very little memory would fill up. At other times, it would fill up instantly. So, it was basically sort of toughing through it and yet I was still able to make use of the audio scrubber feature with caution.

Hopefully this will be patched by the time I have to work on another AE project so that I can stay up to date rather than having to have multiple version of the same product installed. I always get the feeling that the more you have installed on your machine the slower it becomes. I like to keep it clean and lean.

Thanks for looking into the issue, Adobe. Although, it surprises me that such a nasty bug from such a useful feature was overlooked. It makes me wonder how thorough Adobe's 2014 product QA process really was.

[Szalam]

zenaphex wrote:

I didn't want to have to go back to the previous version and redo the many edits I did.

You could have used the "Save As CC" command and saved it back to version 12 with all the changes you had made.

This page explains how to install the old versions for anyone who needs to drop back to CC, but had uninstalled it.

[zenaphex]

Ah thank you! I was under the impression that you couldn't go backwards once converted. Didn't know there was actually an option for CC 12 saving. Thanks!

[zenaphex]

I think what it is, is that I am used the compatibility mode with Photoshop and assumed that if there isn't an option for compatibility, there's no way of saving back to an older version. That's probably how I got the impression.

[Szalam]

You can actually go back before CS6, if you wanted to: opening After Effects projects from previous versions and saving back to previous versions

[PaulMcH33]

Agree with @Kdinello and @Parrotface, this issue is a massive setback for us animators and is making work almost impossible. It is unacceptable to just suggest resolving it by closing and restarting After Effects, I am having to do this literally every 2 minutes now and its driving me nuts aside from costing me serious work time. I even went as far as doubling the RAM in my machine, assuming that the new version was just more memory hungry... you can imagine my disappointment when the problem persisted.

As others have pointed out this is major bug that needs to be sorted out asap. The most frustrating part is that this is a brand new issue that I had never encountered before the recent CC 2014 update. I shouldn't have to redownload an old version of the software and convert all my project files to be able continue working. Really hope this issue is resolved soon, its been about a month since the CC 2014 roll-out I believe, and I know I'm not the only one suffering with this.

[ThickOwl]

Is there at least a time frame for when we might expect a resolution for this even though you don't have "something to share" at the moment?  I have half as much hair on my head as I did about a month ago and clients breathing down my neck.  I love the new keying features, but the new RAM "feature" I can do without.

I wish Adobe the best of luck finding a resolution to this problem.  God help us all in the meantime.

[eliezerventura]

I've opened another post about this issue and got no answer. The Abode is doing what about it? How do I know if this problem happens only on projects that have audio? Just tell me to write another post to escape the problem?

And there's no use saying that the problem is my computer because it is new.

I bought a new Macbook two weeks, I have just installed and After I tested all versions are appearing this problem. The detail is that all versions are up to date.

I think Adobe has failed to keep upgrading to Maverics, is not possible. Is impossible to work, turning off After every two minutes!

Have you tried installing programs to free up memory and it did not work!

As the message 'frames 2' is the title of this post, I'll keep posting here, none of the updates worked in Maverics.

I will file a lawsuit against Adobe in my country, the Abode not help me, is a lack of respect for the user.

[almosdone20112]

I received the error as well and I was able to fix my problem with simple fix after calling an adobe representative. 

First these are my specs

Geforce GTX 650 Ti

AMD FX(tm)-8120 eight-core Proccessor

16gb Ram

Windows 8.0

What I was asked to do was see how much RAM I allocated to After Effects, I had 13 gigs of Ram,  Find out how much you are allocating by searching under EDIT_PREFERENCES_MEMORY & MULTIPROCESSING.  See how much ram is available for AE.  You can change the Number under RAM RESERVED FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS. The adobe rep informed me that for "someone reason After Effects Prefers Even numbers and to change my allocated RAM to an even number and to turn off AE Multiprocessing" 

Now it's running smoothly and I can Scrub all day long.  This worked for me in my situation, but try making RAM AVAILABLE FOR AE an EVEN NUMBER! 

[Todd_Kopriva]

> The adobe rep informed me that for "someone reason After Effects Prefers Even numbers and to change my allocated RAM to an even number and to turn off AE Multiprocessing"

Please give me the case number for your interaction with Adobe Technical Support so that I can follow up with the person with whom you talked. The advice that you were given makes no sense to me; there is no reason that leaving an even number of gigabytes free for other applications will work better than an odd number.

[almosdone20112]

Adobe Case Update :  0185806987 :  Ashish P

[zenaphex]

I had the following settings set and had the RAM filling up quickly issue at random times.

- RAM reserved for other applications = 2

- Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously = Checked

-- Only for Render Queue, not for RAM Preview = Checked

Have you tried running After Effects different times to see if your success is persistent? The memory leak is an issue where it's worse (or only happens) in certain instances.

I'm not currently working on a AE project at the moment to see how your solution works for me. I have other tasks to take care of for a while.

[Playroom Creative]

This error message problem hit me hard. I can barely work. In addition to this issue, another issue started at the same time, RAM previews and audio previews (period key) sometimes speed up the playback or slow down the playback.

[bsbeamer]

I also am experiencing the same problems in CS6, CC and CC2014 on Mac OSX 10.9.4.  Quitting every other Adobe app open does help - mainly Photoshop and Premiere, but working that way is ridiculous.  Hope this gets patched soon.

[eliezerventura]

bsbeamer,

This same ridiculous! I'm having this same problem.

What is the configuration of your Mac?

[bsbeamer]

Mine is on a 3.33 6-Core "Mid-2012" running OSX 10.9.4 with GTX 680 (official version) and 32GB RAM.

[gafichtre]

I have the same problem wit my PC (i7 3770 CPU @3,4Ghz and 16Gb RAM + SSD and 660GTX) so I don't think that is only on Mac system.

But when I reboot the software, I can do a PREVIEW RAM... how understand it?