Rendering involves creating movie frames out of compositions. All the layers, options, and other components that make up the model for a frame must be integrated into a two-dimensional composite image to render that frame. Rendering is a time-consuming phase in the creation of motion graphics. You can use a few simple strategies to speed up your After Effects renders. Below is a list of the basic tips to speed up rendering.
- Optimize RAM: After Effects should be aware of how much RAM should be set aside for other applications. In After Effects, select Edit > Preferences > Memory & Performance. The RAM Reserved for Other Applications option can then be adjusted. You may usually set this to the lowest number of After Effects supports. In general, ten percent of your total RAM.
- Enable Multi-Frame Rendering: The next setting you should set for quicker renders is Multi-Frame Rendering. In other words, the more CPU cores your machine has, the more frames After Effects can render sequentially. To activate it, go to Edit > Preferences > Memory & Performance. Use Adobes After Effects User Guide on Multi-Frame Rendering.
- Use GPU Acceleration: Many users utilize GPU acceleration to speed up rendering. Ensure that GPU acceleration is turned on in your After Effects project options. Project Settings should be chosen under File. The tab for rendering and effects for videos will then show up. Select the option whose name includes “GPU Acceleration.”
- Use Cache Frames: Activating Cache Frames is a quick and easy method to speed up renderings when the PC is Idle. This setting enables After Effects to render your compositions automatically when it’s not in use. From the menu, choose Composition > Preview > Cache Frames When Idle
- Use SSD: Using a solid-state disk (SSD) will speed up rendering in After Effects. In general, SSD speeds up your PC. With an SSD, Adobe After Effects will be able to load media files quickly. For the quickest render times, some expert actually suggests using three smaller SSDs as opposed to one large SSD. Use three SSDs: one to store your OS, one to store your important media files, and one to store only the media cache.
- Invest in a new graphics card: After Effects is a very demanding program for your graphics system. Adobe advises that your system has a minimum of 4GB of GPU VRAM. After Effects will accept GPU VRAM as little as 2GB. The After Effects support group does not suggest any particular GPU due to the constant availability of new GPU chipsets. However, you can study some recommendations provided by Adobe for choosing a GPU. If you upgrade an older graphics card, you’ll probably see an improvement in render speed right away.
- Turn off Motion Blur: Before boosting your render frequency in After Effects, ask yourself “Is this parameter crucial for my video?” You can frequently eliminate pointless settings to speed up your renders. For instance, if any of the layers don’t support Motion Blur, you shouldn’t need to enable it for all of them. When using a 3D camera, make absolutely sure Depth of Field isn’t mistakenly activated if you don’t need it. Moreover, because 3D layers take longer to render, consider animating a layer to fit your needs in 2D space rather than generating everything as a 3D layer.
- Update After Effect: A software’s performance typically increases after an update. Even though each version of After Effects may not seem revolutionary, Adobe consistently strives to make it efficient and faster. Stability enhancements and bug fixes are part of every new update. That’s why installing the most recent After Effects is essential.
Final Thoughts: Render times are CPU and project-dependent. Rendering will happen more quickly if your CPU is faster. Additionally, the rendering time will be greater if your projects are larger and more complicated. Hopefully, the advice above will enable you to render more quickly. If you want to learn more about rendering, you can always go to YouTube and watch tutorial videos. On YouTube, there are thousands of videos on After Effects. For YouTube hand-holding training, use Career Ninja’s LearnTube. Learn Tube creates a course framework from the results of your YouTube search. If you search for “how to render faster” on YouTube, LearnTube will show you a series of videos that look like an online course. As a beginner, you’ll go through the videos from beginning to end, as if you were taking a YouTube course customized particularly for you.
