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What 64 bit really means for After Effects, and your workstation…

Sébastien — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:51:08 +0000

So, as you know, Michael Coleman, project manager of AE, announced on his blog that the next version of After Effects will be 64bit.

But you might wonder to what extend this will impact your workflow, or the plugins you already own.

First of all, if you’re on Windows XP or prior, it means no luck. You’ll have to upgrade to Vista or 7. If you’re on a Mac OS prior to Snow Leopard, you’ll be in the cold too.

[Edit] MacOs 10.5 is also 64bit capable, so you’ll be able to run AE 64 on Leopard & Snow Leo.

Why is that ? it’s because these are 32bit OSes (and Win XP 64bit was not not supported in CS4 so it won’t probably be suported by AE next). In order to AE 64 to run, you need a 64bit OS. Snow Leopard is 64bit. On Windows, you will need the 64bit version of Vista or 7. If you have windows 7, all the versions came with both 32bit and 64bit installers, so chance is that you are already running a 64bit system.

But what is 64bit anyway ? 64bit is way more than 2×32bit. To keep it simple, 32bit systems couldn’t use more than 4gb of ram. When AE was a 32bit app it could never use more than 4gb of Ram on a single process. With 64bit, this limitation is gone, and I assume you know how much AE loves Ram.

More Ram equals to longer Ram previews, to bigger compositions, and less « Memory buffer errors» assuming you have more than 4gb of Ram on your computer.

So it’s all good news right ? Wrong.

The flipping side of the coin is that AE 64bit will only run 64bit plugins. Photoshop users have already gone to that in CS4 on Windows with Photoshop CS4 64bit, but PS was still available in 32bit. It won’t be the case for AE. As Michael Coleman pointed out, they made the hard choice to only go 64bit and not support 32bit anymore because of time constraints. They could have done a 32/64bit version but they choose not to. So if AE 64 was out today, none of your plugs would work.

If you’re like me, you probably won’t be able to make serious work without some Trapcode plugs, and some « insert your favorite plug here» plugs. The good news is that plugin developers are working on 64bit version of their plugs, and Michael Coleman assures us that a lot will be available during the AE 64 launch window.

This raises 2 questions: will the plug upgrades be free ? will all the plugs be converted to 64 bit ?

Simple answer: probably no and definitly no.

Some plugin developers will offer free upgrade, but not everyone as porting complex plugs from 32bit to 64bit requires more than a simple clic of a button. My personnal feeling is that most upgrades will be free, but that’s just assumption. Some plugin developers already announced that they won’t be porting their whole library to 64bit, and that oldest plugs will probably be ported on a case per case basis. On the other hand, Andrew Kramer announced on his blog that free updates to Twitch and Optical Flares will be available when AE 64 launchs.

So, to sum things up, chance is high that you will have to upgrade your OS, then AE, and then your plugs. That’s not an easy step, a cheap step, but it’s sure a good start to finally use all the power 64bit is giving us.

A last word about the Mercury engine from Adobe Premiere Pro 64. I’ve read here and there that the Mercury Engine (which uses Cuda acceleration to do realtime wonders) will be used in AE 64 and pointing to the AE 64 press release as a source. Well sorry to disappoint people wanting RT in AE 64, but it is clear in the press releases and tech demos that Mercury Engine is only announced for Premiere Pro 64. So unless they keep it under wraps for AE 64, it won’t be in AE 64.

Back finally

Sébastien — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:14:48 +0000

It’s been a long time that I’ve had some spare time to come here and post about AE world.

So much stuff happened since the last post that it would just be impossible to sum up everything, but I’ll try to recap all I can in the next few days.

Lloyd’s new script: Immigration

Sébastien — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:18:34 +0000

Along with the new aescripts.com discussed here, Lloyd also took time to release his new Immigration script, which will help you importing file sequences.

I’ve had the change to beta test the script prior to it’s release, and let me get this straight. If you’re working with file sequences, you gonna have to buy this script. Yes, you read me right, buy. Immigration is the first script to be released as shareware, reminding us the good old days back in the 90’s.

Now you are asking yourself two questions: how much does it cost, and what the hell does it gives me for my 20 bucks ? First of all, you can grab it at 10$ for a limited time only , and for that price you get access to really neat features:

First of all, all file sequences appears as a single file. You can recursively scan subfolder and import the sequences inside AE with the herited folder structure. Of course if you need to update your sequence-v1 by sequence-v2 or replace your sequences by others having the same folder hierarchy and about the names, you can with the replace button. Those of you working with 3D pass renders for compositing in AE knows what i mean. Go check the tutorial for even more cool features, and you’ll be more than happy to get such a wonderfull script for only 10/20$

Nouveau script: Immigration de Lloyd Alvarez

En plus de la nouvelle version d’aescript dont on parlait ici, Lloyd a pris le temps de sortir son nouveau script Immigration, qui aide à l’importation des séquences d’images.

J’ai eu la chance de pouvoir beta tester le script avant sa sortie et je ne vous le dirais qu’une seule fois: si vous bossez avez des séquences, achetez-le. Oui, vous avez bien lu, j’ai écris « acheter» . Immigration est le premier script distribué en shareware, ce qui ne nous rajeuni pas, nous autres vétérans du net qui avons téléchargé les démo des jeux ID Software a 14400 bauds dans les années 90.

Mais là, vous vous posez deux questions: combien ça coûte, et est-ce que j’en ai pour mes 20$ (14€) ? Pour commencer, vous pouvez vous l’offrir pour 10$ (7€) pendant une durée limitée, et a ce prix la vous repartez avec des fonctionnalités plutôt cool:

Déjà, vos séquences apparaissent sous forme d’un seul fichier. Ensuite Immigration analyse en récursif les sous dossier et vous pouvez importer toute la hiérarchie de dossier ainsi que les séquences directement dans After. SI jamais vous devez remplacer une séquence-v1 par une séquence-v2, ou même un groupe de séquence, ou encore plus fort, une hiérarchie de dossier, vous pouvez ! Et ceux d’entre vous qui bossent avec des passes de rendu 3D pour les compositer dans After savent de quoi je parle. Jetez un oeil au tutorial pour découvrir un tas d’autres options, et après ça, vous serez plus qu’heureux de vous offrir ce super script pour 10/20$

sParticular releases with brand new aescripts.com

Sébastien — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:09:08 +0000

Today i’m proud to finaly say that sParticular v1 is done and released. It has been ready for a few days now, but I was waiting for the new aescripts.com version that Lloyd was preparing behind curtains.

The new aescript.com will be an online ressource for scripts, but not only from Lloyd anymore. He has opened his website to script developers, and I’m sure it will become an even more important place for scripts addicts.

So be sure to check aescripts.com/sparticular and sParticular homeland. Hope you’ll enjoy it !

sParticular dispo sur la nouvelle version d’aescript.com

Aujourd’hui je suis fier d’annoncer que sParticular, mon script pour Particular est enfin frais et dispo. Il attendait sagement dans sa chambre depuis quelques jours que Lloyd Alvarez mette les dernières touches à la nouvelle version d’aescripts.com

Cette nouvelle version proposera désormais des scripts de plusieurs auteurs et ne sera donc plus cantonnée aux excellents script de Lloyd. D’ici quelques semaines, je suis sur qu’il deviendra le site de référence pour tous les scripts addicts.

Alors, allez jetez un oeil suraescripts.com et sur la page de sParticular. J’espère qu’il vous plaira !

New Script: add parented null (Lloyd Alvarez)

Sébastien — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:28:05 +0000

Ever wondered who hides behind Zorro’s mask ? Well i can now tell you: it’s Lloyd Alvarez. Only him could create 2 scripts in a row to help lost AE users. Oh yes !

His new script allows you to add a parented null to each of the selected layers, and you can even customize the name. If you need parented nulls, go check it.

New After Effects script: Time-Reverse Keyframes (by Lloyd Alvarez)

Sébastien — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:45:39 +0000

Following a request expressed on the AE mailing list, Lloyd, creator of aescripts.com, developed a quick script that time-reverse keyframes.
You may wonder why you would need a script to execute a standard feature of AE. Well think about this: that feature doesn’t have a shortcut, and you can assign a shortcut to a script. Imagine now that you need to do a lot of time-reversing and there you have it.

If you don’t know how to assign a shortcut to a script, be sure to check my Top 10 scripts post, where I explain how do it.

Nouveau script After Effects: Time-Reverse Keyframes

Suivant une demande sur la mailing list AE, Lloyd, créateur du site aescripts.com, a développé un script d’inversion d’images clés.
Et là, vous vous demandez illico à quoi ça sert d’avoir un script qui fait la même chose qu’une des fonctions de base d’After. Pensez à ça: cette option n’a pas de raccourci clavier, alors qu’on peut en assigner un a un script. Imaginez maintenant que vous ayez plein d’inversion d’images clés à faire, et tadam ! Ce script vous sauve la vie (peut-être pas la vie, mais au moins du temps)

Si vous ne savez pas comment assigner un raccourci clavier à un script, n’hésitez pas a jeter un oeil à mon Top 10 des scripts, ou je vous explique tout (en fin de post).

Quickie: 2 After Effects surveys

Sébastien — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:32:54 +0000

Todd Kopriva, After Effects documentation lead, just have posted 2 surveys about your AE workflows:

The first one about Text Animation
The second one about Rotoscoping

By filling them, you will help Adobe better understand how you work, and it will help them improving AE.

Rapidolien: 2 enquètes sur After Effects

Todd Kopriva, le responsable de la documentation After Effects vient de poster 2 enquêtes sur vos méthodes de travail:

La première sur l’animation de texte;
la seconde sur la rotoscopie.

En remplissant ces deux questionnaires, vous aiderez l’équipe à mieux comprendre votre façon de travailler, ce qui leur permettra d’améliorer After.

Trapcode Particular 2 is out !

Sébastien — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:40:35 +0000

Just check it out here !

The best Particule plugin just got better. Also be sure to check my friend Maltaannon’s tutorial on Particular v2.

The plugin cost 399$ and 99$ for upgrade.

For thoses of you who are beta testing my sParticular script, the latest version is already fully compatible with Particular 2, so fear not to use it on the brand new version.

Particular 2 est dispo !

Tout ce qu’il faut ici et maintenant !

Le meilleur plugin de particules est devenu encore meilleur. Passez aussi jetez un oeil au tutorial de mon ami Maltaannon qui vous fera faire le tour du propriétaire.

The plugin coute 399$ (288€) et 99$ (71€) la mise à jour.

Pour ceux d’entre vous qui testent mon script sParticular, la dernière version est déjà entièrement compatible avec Particular 2, donc n’hésitez pas à l’essayer sur cette nouvelle monture.

Quickie: Killer tip to go move project CS4 to CS3 (Maltaannon inside)

Sébastien — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:49:08 +0000

My good friend Maltaannon just released a quick tutorial on how to smooth things when recreating a CS4 project inside CS3. Go check it here right now.

Rapidolien: Astuce pour simplifier la transition du projet CS4 vers la CS3

Mon ami Maltaannon viens de mettre en ligne un petit tuto vidéo pour vous aider a recréer plus facilement un projet CS4 dans After CS3. Ca se passe ici.

Site update, including more free timelapse stock footage

Sébastien — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:32:55 +0000

As promised, i’m gonna give more and more free stuff around here, timelapse videos, textures, scripts, and so on. That’s why you’ll notice a new link on the top left corner: Scripts & Stock footage.

On this page, that i’ll update regularly, you’ll find everystuff i give for free. Today, it includes 3 new timelapse videos, available in crystal clear h264 in HD and 4K, and in glorious PNG sequence in 4K. All for free.

So be sure to have a look and tell me what you think. And by the way, my script sParticular is nearly finished, and might be released before the end of the month. Stay tuned.

Mise à jour du site, avec plus de vidéo timelapse gratuites.

Comme promis, je vais vous offrir de plus en plus de petites choses gratuites ici, des videos en timelapse, mais aussi des textures, des scripts, etc etc… C’est pourquoi vous avez remarqué un nouveau lien dans le menu en haut à gauche Scripts & Stock Footage

Sur cette page qui sera régulièrement mise à jour, vous trouverez tout ce que je file gratis. Aujourd’hui, j’y ajoute 3 vidéos en timelapse, en super h264 (HD & 4K), mais aussi pour les plus gourmands, en séquence PNG (4K seulement). Alors n’hésitez pas à y jeter un oeil et me dire ce que vous en pensez. Ha et au passage, mon script sParticular est pratiquement terminé, il devrait être en ligne d’ici la fin du mois si tout va bien.