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Preview and render with Multi-Frame Rendering

After Effects delivers on the number one feature request, Multi-Frame Rendering. You see performance gains on your system from Preview to Export, and includes a variety of features that enable you to optimize the computer for peak performance.

Why should I try Multi-Frame Rendering?

Multi-Frame Rendering makes After Effects faster. It impacts how fast your projects can render on your computer based on the number of CPU cores, available RAM, and graphics card compute power. 

Review the table below to see how much faster After Effects 2022 may render a composition.

 

Minimum specs

Mid-range system 

High-end system

Cores 

4-6

8-10

16-64

Memory (GB)  

16

16-32

48-128

Current speed Improvement

1.2-1.5x faster

1.75-2x faster

2.5-4x faster

Enable Multi-Frame Rendering

Multi-Frame Rendering is enabled by default in After Effects. To disable/re-enable it:

  1. Select After Effects > Settings > Memory & Performance (macOS) or File > Preferences > Memory & Performance (Windows). 
  2. Under the Performance section, check or uncheck the Enable Multi-Frame Rendering option.

After Effects has the ability to use 100% of your CPU power, so you can choose to reserve some of the CPU power that can be used by other applications on your machine. Use the % CPU reserved for other applications slider to adjust the value from 0%-70% (default is 10%).

Speculative Preview when After Effects is idle

After Effects renders compositions automatically while idle after a set amount of time. So, when you come back from a break, your preview is ready to play. The default idle time is set to 8 seconds. To change the settings, select After Effects > Preferences > Previews. There are the following options under the Cache Frames When Idle section:

Cache Frames When Idle settings

  • Idle Delay Before Caching Starts - The duration for which After Effects is idle, before the caching of frames starts automatically. Default is set to 8 seconds.
  • Cache Frames - How the frames cache in relation to the CTI position.
  • Cache Range - Change the range of frames that are rendered while idle.
  • Cache Frames has the following options:
  • From Current Time - Frames start caching from the beginning of where the CTI is positioned.
  • Around Current Time - Frames start caching around the CTI (one frame before and one frame after).
  • From Start of Range - Frames start caching from the beginning of the set Cache Range.
  • Cache Range has the following options:
  • Work Area - After Effects caches all frames inside the work area.
  • Work Area Extended by Current Time - Caches frames beginning from where the CTI is positioned, till the end of the work area. 
  • Entire Duration - Caches frames in the entire duration of the comp.

Rendering process information in the Render Queue panel

The Render Queue panel is open and the settings are updated as per the final output requirements.
The Render Queue panel allows you to queue, customize, monitor, and control multiple compositions efficiently.

The Render Queue panel takes advantage of Multi-Frame Rendering and highlights what’s rendering, how much time is remaining, the rendering progress, and how it's using your system. This information is helpful in analyzing render performance and disk space usage. Learn more about rendering and exporting with the Render Queue panel.

The Render Queue panel is open and the Info prompt is open showing the rendering status.
The info button in the Render Queue panel provides information that helps you monitor and optimize your rendering performance.

The info button in the Render Queue displays information about the frames rendering.

Receive remote notifications after render completes

When your render queue job or the entire queue is finished rendering, After Effects notifies you via your Creative Cloud Desktop and mobile app. Make sure to install the Creative Cloud app on your mobile device to receive the notification. When you select the notification, it redirects you to the notification list in the app for you to review. Additionally, if you have a smart watch attached to your mobile, you receive the notification there too.

Learn more about receiving remote notifications after the render completes.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

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