Adobe After Effects: I'm getting choppy renders, any advice?

[mojo2185]

I'm attempting to render a clip that is 15 seconds long, has 1 effect (Shine), and a photoshop PSD file as my source for my text logo. So I'm not exactly throwing a ton of complicated effects at my clip. When i try to render at 640x480 as uncompressed, the video plays but is very choppy, and obviously skips many frames inbetween. When rendered at a smaller size, the video plays fine (with the horizontal around 400 pixels max). But I would really like to get the video to be 640x480.
I'm running:
Windows XP Pro
383 mb RAM (with most background programs closed)
~700 mhz P3 processor
A retarded video card (s3 Savage Pro something...)
Adobe After Effects 6.0

What size is good for exporting to a VHS tape? That is what I'll be doing eventually, maybe 640x480 is too big anyway?

Any tips on how i could render this succesfully?
Thanks,

[Turtle D]

What are you using the final output for? Uncomressed AVIs are extremely large... from what you say, your 'crappy' video card may not be able to handle it... Try a Divx AVI, or even an MPEG file...

-DLM

[Turtle D]

Addition...

If you are using it for a VHS tape... , anything you put out to TV will be recorded... so, if you make your AVI 400x300 or so, but play it back full screen, it should play fine... also... when viewing on TV from video out on a PC, you don't notice as many abnormalities as if you were right in front of your Monitor... so, if you use higher compression or lower resolution, you won't be able to see those blemishes on VHS...

hope this helps...

-DLM

[mojo2185]

What are you using the final output for?

Its for a movie made in my media tech class. Everything will be edited on computer, combined into a final movie, and exported to a VCR.

Try a Divx AVI, or even an MPEG file

Tried it, at that video size, same thing, very choppy.
Based on your info, it looks like i can downsize my resolution and still have good quality when i export. So I'll give that a try.

Thanks for your response(s),
mojo

[Turtle D]

Let me know how it goes... I hope everything is good...

-DLM

[Skynet107]

Your best best is to encode the uncompressed AVI into mpeg2 at a high bit rate or even Xvid at a high bit rate. Even at the highest bitrate mpeg2 datastream is FAR less bandwidth than an uncompressed video. Uncompressed full rez video has silly bit rates.

Edit: your video card is what is holding you back, it can't sustain the frame rates you need. Spend 50 bucks and get another vid card with real acceleration.

[BJ_M]

1. never compress the output of AE to divx or xvid or (because you cant) mpeg2.

2. standard AE output would be frames or qt files most often .. AE uses a rounded off NTSC frame rate so for best quality - frames are the best. Depends on what you are going to do with the finished section ..

3. make sure your pixel aspect ratio is correct -- not 1:1

4. how you are going to get the product onto tape sets the resolution target you need ... if a dv convertor - you would use 720 x 480 for example .

5. on your system - uncompressed avi WILL play choppy , so what .. thats not how you will transfer to tape anyway most likely .

6. what video card you have has nothing to do, what so ever, on your video playback frame rate - except if that card has hardware decoding (only mpeg1 and 2) .. i dont know why this nonsense keeps getting written..


7. quote: "AVI 400x300 or so, but play it back full screen, it should play fine." NOT! - and that will have no effect on how its transfered to tape other than you are using a resolution which for pratical purposes is meaningless ..