Having huge rendering issues regarding my RAM and GPU usage

[Jason_A_]

I've been testing maximum efficiency with my current PC setup:

i7-4th Gen 3.17Ghz quadcore with hyperthreading

16GB RAM

nVidia GeForce 1060 6GB with overclocking

SSD + HHDs

When rendering, Adobe AE only uses 5% of my RAM and doesn't even touch my GPU, but my CPU will stay at 100% the whole time. Leaving me with 3.4 hour render times on a low intensity project.

For about 12 hours, I have been trying things out and testing as many theories to fixing the issues I've been having.

(I'm using MSI Afterburner to see my GPU usage)

I've tried allocating RAM, Disk Caches, updating drivers, messing with a ton of  rendering and composition options, I've tried adjusting the "raytracer_supported_cards.txt" file as well as adding a "cuda_supported_cards.txt" file, the method for Premiere Pro.

Off to work now, decided to throw this in here to see if I could get some answers by the time I get home! Will respond to these comments and will provide additional info if you guys are willing to help!

Thank you!

PS: Tried contacting customer service, but the person just explained to me how Adobe After Effects works... No real help.

[ToolfarmJP]

Hello,

What rendering option do you set on the preference pane?

Preferences > Previews > GPU information > Ray-tracing

[Jason_A_]

Already has been set to use GPU, checked "use unsupported cards"

[ToolfarmJP]

Hello,

Have you used any third-party plug-ins?

[Jason_A_]

No.

[ToolfarmJP]

Hello,

If you switch it to Cinema 4D, is it improved?

[Jason_A_]

Classic 3D, Cinema 4D, and Raytracer have the same rendering time.

[P.M.B]

Output renders (as opposed to the live preview render you see in the composition panel) are handled by the CPU.   That's not to say your render time aren't slow, maybe they are, maybe they aren't.

If your question really is "Why isn't my GPU and RAM being used for rendering?"...  Because AE uses the CPU for output renders.  So there's no malfunction happening there. Totally normal.

If your question is "why is render taking so long?",    it's difficult to say depends on your assets and effects and how you have allocated your hardware in the preferences.  Also (since it's cpu doing the rendering) other things your computer is doing can be slowing you down.  Having other apps running,  hidden background processes, etc...

[Jason_A_]

If this is true, then why is it the first time I've heard that? Not calling you a liar, I just find it odd that I couldn't find that answer anywhere. I've done some serious in depth research but could not find that answer.

[P.M.B]

IDK.  It could have had something to do with the phrasing of the question.   When I type "Does After After Effects use the GPU for rendering?" into google I got the answer right away, third result from the top. Using GPU to render? Get faster Renders?

maybe you were asking the wrong question.  Or maybe Google is predictive & giving us different results based on our past searches.  Silly Google. 

   Also the words  "render, rendering" are often used interchangeably to describe what you see in the composition window when you are working and the act of actually adding something to the render queue and rendering it, so that always causes some confusion.  Your last post you posted a picture of your render queue, so I knew you were talking about output render.  Another thing that's confusing is when talking about rendering things can get pretty technical.  Some articles might mention things about memory but not actually be talking about RAM.

I could be wrong.   I'm basing my statements on my own searching through the years and there's always the possibilty that I misunderstood what I've read.   The fact that I was the first person to mention it to you on this thread also lends to the confusion.

I'm sorry.   Maybe someone with advanced technical knowledge will weigh in

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi JasonA,

Did our experts help you solve this issue? It sounds like you have expectations about how fast After Effects will render a project, but it took too long and resources were not used. I think Paul has summed it up best about how After Effects processes video and that it is a CPU centric application. Can you mark his answer as correct? Let us know if you have further questions.

Thanks,
Kevin