I currently use After Effects 5.5 Standard and would like to upgrade to a Production/Professional version. I think I would benefit from the added features of the Pro version, such as Motion Tracking.

On eBay I can buy a full version of AE 5.5 Pro for $400 (from what seems to be a respectable seller). An upgrade to 6.0 Pro is $499 from Adobe. Seems like an obvious decision, right?

But I've been leaning towards 5.5 Pro (even though it's only $99 less than 6.0 Pro) because I've heard that AE 6.0 Pro simply won't be as efficient/effective on my system (or any system less than a 3.0 GHz P4 setup)

I'm running a 1.9Ghz P4 w/ 768MB of RD RAM, running WinXP Pro. I work mostly with :30 sec commercials, with some 5 minute projects on occassion. AE 5.5 Standard runs fine on this setup -- could be faster, of course, but lockups/crashes are rare.

Should I go ahead and get 6.0 Pro? Or will my system not be able to handle it? I'd rather buy 5.5 Pro if it means it will run more efficiently on my system. I know that my system meets Adobe's basic requirements for AE 6.0 Pro, but that doesn't always mean that it will run properly!

Do I really need a 3.0 GHz HT P4 or what?

You can download a 30 day trial of the full version of 6.0 Pro here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jhtml#product=13

Give it a try and see how it works for you.

I was wondering if someone would suggest that.

I'd rather not run the demo b/c I currently use AE 5.5 Standard in my work -- at the adobe.com forums I've read of people experiencing conflicts when trying to keep AE 5.5 and AE 6.0 on the same computer. I'd prefer not to have to uninstall 5.5 just to try a demo version of 6.0 -- I might as a last resort, but right now I'd like to collect anecdotal and empirical evidence from current users...

I run a dual processor machine (1.6Ghz Athlon MP's) and I've had AE6 Pro run fine on just one of the processors. I don't think there's much of a difference between AE6 and 5.5 as far as system requirements. At least I didn't notice any...

You really want 6.0 Pro. The motion tracking is far superior over 5.5. And the dynamic rotoscoping is something else.

I took a class and watched the instructor erase a jetliner that was taking off from LAX. Took longer to explain that it did to do it.

Basically it tracks an object and uses a user-defined image sample from the exact same location as the object but from a user-defined number of frames before or after.

This airliner was taking off into a nice sunset and this function erased it with no operator intervention once it was set up.

You could use it to erase a car driving in front of a building and other similar situations.

Did I mention is uses the OpenGL acceleration capability of the video card to speed up previews?

Mike

What system are you running 6.0 on? I know that it's suppossed to be a much more advanced app, but will my system handle it? Or will I simply be in in slow-down city?

AE 5.5 Standard seems to be a fast-loading, lean machine on my system -- could I say the same for 6.0 Pro?

I think so, John.

I ran it on a dual PIII-850 machine that is now upgraded to a 2.4 Gigahertz P4C with an 800Mhz FSB. Runs faster on the P4, of course but OK on the dual PIII's. I also run it on a 1.5 gighertz P4 with a slower bus. Slower of course but still fast enough.

The display adapter OpenGL acceleration capability in the 2.4 Gig system does help with previews quite a bit. It is a Radeon 9600 Pro.

I didn't pay much attention to the speed differences between 5.5 and 6 so I'd guess there isn't all that much.