after effects · HeyBraza shows you
after effects preview not playing in real time
HeyBraza points at the resolution dropdown, the cache settings, and the purge command so playback gets smooth without guesswork.
after effects has to render every frame into ram before it can play back smoothly, so a heavy comp stutters or just won't play in real time. it's rarely your hardware - it's usually resolution, cache, or memory settings. here's the fast checklist.
or do it yourself
- 1drop the composition panel's resolution dropdown from 'full' to 'half' or 'quarter' - this alone usually unlocks real-time playback.
- 2open the preview panel (window > preview) and set 'skip' to 0 and resolution to 'auto' so it doesn't quietly drop frames.
- 3go to after effects > settings > memory (or edit > preferences) and lower 'ram reserved for other applications' so after effects gets more.
- 4clear the cache: edit > purge > all memory & disk cache, and point the disk cache to a fast ssd in preferences > media & disk cache.
- 5pre-render heavy layers - select them, pre-compose, then render that section so playback isn't recalculating effects every frame.
let HeyBraza do this with you
HeyBraza is a tiny on-screen guide that points at the right buttons and talks you through it, on windows and mac.
downloadcommon questions
why won't my after effects preview play in real time?
the comp is too heavy to cache to ram fast enough. lower the preview resolution, give after effects more ram, and clear the disk cache - those fix most cases.
does more ram fix laggy preview?
it helps, but resolution and disk cache matter more. set preview to half/quarter and use a fast ssd for the disk cache before buying ram.