Urban Legends: Render Faster in After Effects
There are always urban myths and legends floating around the Internet, but what about the one on how to get your Adobe After Effects project to render faster?
Because After Effects updates the Composition Window each time it renders a frame, this added refresh time can add to the length of the total render for your project. In theory, by covering up the Comp Window, you should be able to keep the screen from having to refresh.[an error occurred while processing this directive]I have heard of this rumor floating around the Internet and forums for a while, so I thought I would test it out and see for myself.
To put the rumor to the test, I created a rather complex animation that involves growing and then fading boxes that overlap one another and blend with each other using a Transfer Mode. I also added Motion Blur here and there to complicate matters.
 |
| Click image to view animation that was used for this test. |
I tested this time saving technique three ways; first by rendering the composition with the Comp Window clearly visible, the second was to cover the Comp Window with Render Window, and the final test was to close the Comp Window and Timeline completely.
I used four machines to test these three methods out.
The contenders
Lain - Sony Vaio laptop 800MHz AMD processor with 256Mb of RAM running Windows 2000
Miko - Mac G4 tower 867MHz with 1.2 Gig of RAM running the latest version of OS X
Faye - Dell Dimension 8200 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with 1Gig of RAM running Windows XP
Nadia - Dual 1GHz Mac Power PC G4 with 512Mb RAM running the latest version of OS X
Here are the results
| AE Speed Tests | Lain | Miko | Nadia | Faye |
| Exposed | 4:33 | 2:06 | 1:50 | 1:08 |
| Covered | 4:33 | 2:05 | 1:50 | 1:08 |
| Closed | 4:32 | 2:01 | 1:44 | 1:06 |
So, it looks like completely closing the Comp and Timeline Windows actually improves the speed of the Render. Myth now becomes fact.
Take the resulting data and use it how you like, sometimes saving a few extra seconds here and there in a render can be a project saver, and sometimes testing out the After Effects Urban Legends for yourself can yield surprising results.
When not working deep in the labs of the DMN Central Division testing the latest and greatest software/hardware products Stephen Schleicher can be found at the local university teaching a few courses on video and web production. He can be reached at schleicher@mindspring.com. You can also visit him on the web at www.mindspring.com/~schleicher
Source: Digital Media Online, Inc.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
