Understand the GPU and GPU driver requirements for the November 2019 (version 17.0) and later releases of After Effects.
New GPU chipsets are always being introduced, and the After Effects team does not qualify or recommend individual GPU chipsets, however, here are some guidelines you can follow to get the best GPU for your workflow.
After upgrading to After Effects version 17.x or later, there may be driver issues, and you may need to upgrade your driver.
Some of the driver issues that you could face are:
This article explains what is needed for using CUDA graphics with the 2019 versions of After Effects (17.0 and higher).
Adobe strongly recommends updating to NVIDIA driver 451.77 or later when using After Effects.
NVIDIA CUDA graphics acceleration requires CUDA 10.1 drivers.
CUDA is not a requirement for running the Adobe video apps, but if you prefer CUDA graphics acceleration, you must have CUDA 10.1 drivers from NVIDIA installed on your system before upgrading to After Effects versions 17.0 and later.
These drivers are updated regularly so check the NVIDA website to be sure you have the most current version for your GPU.
You can find the latest GPU drivers here:
The current version of your NVIDIA drivers for macOS 10.13.6 do not support CUDA 10.1 and cause issues with your Adobe application. Adobe does not recommend upgrading beyond macOS 10.13.6 as Mac0S 10.14 (Mojave) does not currently support CUDA.
Make sure you update the device driver before you install the CUDA driver. You can update the device driver from the following locations:
Driver version - 27.20.100.8476.
Link - https://downloadmirror.intel.com/29784/a08/igfx_win10_100.8476.zip
For more information, see How to manually install your Intel® Graphics Driver in Windows® 10.
There is a host of After Effects features that use GPU to accelerate rendering. To view these effects, select Project Settings > Video and Effects Rendering. For a list of GPU-accelerated effects and features, see GPU-accelerated effects.
Some third-party effects, like Element 3D by Video Copilot uses the GPU independently of After Effects. Refer to the documentation from the publisher for guidance on what GPUs and technology are supported. Effects such as Magic Bullet Looks, hook into the Mercury GPU Acceleration pipeline (such effects are also GPU-accelerated in Premiere Pro).
Mercury GPU Acceleration allows After Effects to render supported effects using the GPU, which can significantly improve render time.
You may recognize the Mercury name from Premiere Pro. After Effects uses the same technology that is used by Premiere Pro Mercury Playback Engine for rendering. (The playback engine in After Effects is otherwise different from Premiere Pro, so After Effects only uses the rendering component of that technology.)
Mercury GPU Acceleration is a project setting. To enable it, select File > Project Settings, click the Video Rendering and Effects tab, and set the Use option to Mercury GPU Acceleration. Depending on your computer and GPU, you may see multiple such options. After Effects supports the following GPU technologies:
NVIDIA CUDA is not supported in MacOS 10.14 and later. If you are using an Apple-authorized NVIDIA GPU, you can continue to use the Metal Mercury Playback Engine.
A couple of technical points worth noting about the above list:
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