Cannot Preview Video

[thesierramistify]

     Alright, so, this is my very first time using After Effects, and I have little knowledge using any of the Adobe software I have just purchased, so I have pretty much no idea what anything means here. I was ready to start learning how to make things in After Effects but... something wasn't right. While in every tutorial I looked at, the video would show in the preview area after it was put into the timeline, or at the very least, a black box was shown, I would only see either the two options for "New Composition" or "New Composition from Footage," which I could not click on, or, if I was lucky, a gray screen. When I press play for the preview, I can hear the audio for the footage, but the video is still not there. I really don't know much at all about what a lot of the options mean, but I have been trying everything that I have seen suggested to others who have had similar problems, so it is very possible that I have made things worse, unfortunately.

     Now, one thing that I do know is that this seems very similar to an issue I had with Photoshop where I could not see the image I was trying to edit and, once again, I only saw a gray screen. I don't really remember how I fixed the issue, as I was just so relieved to have it working that I didn't think much of it, and honestly I didn't understand what it meant, but I am pretty sure it had to do with me turning off the "Use Graphics Processor" setting, if that would make sense. I tried to use this to come up with something, but nothing that seems similar has worked.

     I would really appreciate if someone could help me solve this, and I would appreciate it even more if someone could help me understand what this problem is in case something like this happens again in After Effects or a different software since it seems to be a reoccurring issue for me. I have included both a picture of when I have seen the previous screen overlapped where the video preview should be, and one where I can see only gray. I am looking forward to getting this all straightened out so I can start working on my projects. Thank you to anyone that helps.

[slothm57212708]

Try Installing and reinstalling Adobe After Effects

[thesierramistify]

slothm57212708 I just tried this and unfortunately that wasn't it. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

[slothm57212708]

I am sorry that didn't work, I don't know what else to tell you, hopefully someone that knows after effects a little more, responds.

[thesierramistify]

It's okay, thank you for trying. (:

[BsherSaid]

Try adjusting the "Quality and sampling", in the Timeline. Choose the lowest possible quality.

[Roland Kahlenberg]

You may have an issue with the movie's file format. Where did you get this movie from?

I suggest you select it in the Project Panel so that we can see its metadata details, which will be shown in the info area, at the top of the Project Panel.

[thesierramistify]

Well... I just opened the program today to try your suggestions, and everything seems to be running smoothly now. I didn't change anything, so I'm not sure why that would happen. If it stops working again, I'll be sure to try what you said, but it looks like it will be okay for now. Thank you for your suggestions.

[slothm57212708]

Thats Awesome!!! Glad it worked!!!