Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 44

Improve performance by simplifying your project
By simplifying and dividing your project, you can prevent After Effects from using memory and other resources to
process elements that you are not currently working with. Also, by controlling when After Effects performs certain
processing, you can greatly improve overall performance. For example, you can avoid repeating an action that needs
to happen only once, or you can postpone an action until it is more convenient for you.
• Delete unused elements from your project. See "Remove items from a project" on page 70.
• Divide complex projects into simpler projects, and then recombine them before you render the finished movie. To
recombine projects, import all of the projects into a single project by choosing File > Import > File.
• Prerender nested compositions. Render a completed composition as a movie so that After Effects doesn't rerender
the composition every time it is displayed. See "Pre-render a nested composition" on page 118.
• Restrict the influence of layer switches by choosing Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects >
Preferences > General (Mac OS), and deselecting Switches Affect Nested Comps. (Remember to select this option
again before you render the composition for final output.)
• Collapse transformations for nested compositions. See "Render order and collapsing transformations" on
page 119.
• Substitute a low-resolution or still-image proxy for a source item when not working directly with that item. See
"Work with placeholders and proxies" on page 70.
• Lower the composition's resolution. See "Resolution" on page 132.
Note: To increase the rendering speed of RAM previews, set the resolution of the Composition panel to match the magni-
fication. For example, if the magnification is 50%, choose Half from the Resolution menu.
• Isolate the layer you're working on by using the Solo switch. See "Solo a layer" on page 152.
• Deselect the Continuously Rasterize switch for a vector layer until you need to view or render it in detail. This
prevents After Effects from rasterizing the entire layer after each change. See "Continuously rasterize a layer
containing vector graphics" on page 154.
Improve performance by modifying screen output
You can improve performance in many ways that don't affect how After Effects treats your project data, only how
output is drawn to the screen as you work. Although it is often useful to see certain items and information as you
work, After Effects uses memory and processor resources to update this information, so be selective in what you
choose to display as you work. You will likely need to see different aspects of your project at different points in your
workflow, so you may apply the following suggestions in various combinations at various stages.
• Turn off display color management and output simulation when not needed. See "Simulate how colors will appear
on a different output device" on page 247.
• Enable hardware acceleration of previews, which uses the GPU to assist in drawing previews to the screen. Choose
Edit > Preferences > Display (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > Display (Mac OS), and select Hardware
Accelerate Composition, Layer, And Footage Panels.
• Close unneeded panels. After Effects must use memory and processor resources to update open panels, which
may slow the work that you are doing in another panel.
• Create a region of interest. If you are working on a small part of your composition, limit which portion of the
composition is rendered to the screen during previews. See "Work with the region of interest" on page 115.
• Deselect Show Cache Indicators in the Timeline panel menu to prevent After Effects from displaying green and
blue bars in the time ruler to indicate cached frames.
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User Guide