After Effects alternative (PC)? at DVinfo.net

Justin Kohli · June 24th, 2007, 01:52 PM

I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 7 on PC for general video editing (nothing pro) and I'm pretty happy with it.

But I'd like to do some interesting title work and animation (like a bird flying or something). I installed the AE trial - which is limited to an insulting 2 days (what happened to 30?). I imported an AVI video and dragged it to the workspace, went to play it - and it crashed.

No matter that I restarted AE, it would still crash when I do this. So, very poor impression. I've got 2 GB RAM, XP home, Athlon 64 3000+.

I'm not aware of other animation/effects alternatives. Isn't Premiere mostly video editing (of which Sony Vegas suits me)?

Jason Dourgarian · June 26th, 2007, 04:51 PM

I have this problem too. I believe it is a Vista only error because this happened to me only on Vista PC's. Anyway, theres a work around:

Open up a window with the file that you want to import, and drag-and-drop it into your project area and that should work.

Justin Kohli · June 26th, 2007, 05:07 PM

Huh... guess I'll redownload the trial then :o -- I'm on XP though.

Paul Cuoco · June 26th, 2007, 06:02 PM

I'd say give AE another try, but in the meantime there are other options for a PC.

For Professional and expensive systems there's

Combustion
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...112&id=5562397

Nuke
http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/promo/nuke.html

Fusion
http://www.eyeonline.com/Web/EyeonWeb/default.aspx

On the cheap-end there's:
FX Home's products:
http://fxhome.com/compositelab/?gcli...FRDaYgod7kg1EA

On the free side (use at your own risk)
Wax
http://www.debugmode.com/wax/

Jashaka
http://www.jahshaka.org/

I personally use and love After Effects, and haven't used any of these other solutions with the exception of Combustion (which is excellent). So please don't consider them a recommendation, but you asked what else was out there. That was just what I could think of. There's likely many more.

Adam Clark · July 8th, 2007, 10:12 AM

you may also want to try converting your file to an image sequence or another format first - just to troubleshoot.

i use eyeon fusion and can attest to it's quality, but it is quite expensive and it is overkill for the vast majority of graphic work if you do not do it often.

Emre Safak · July 8th, 2007, 01:19 PM

My money says you have an OpenGL driver problem; 'cause mine used to crash too.

John McManimie · July 8th, 2007, 03:01 PM

Remove "OpenGL.aex" from the AE plug-ins folder and see if AE still crashes. If it works, update your drivers and replace the file (and if it still crashes, just remove OpenGL.aex again until you have an updated graphics card and drivers that support it).

June 24th, 2007, 01:52 PM	#1
Justin Kohli Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Appleton, WI, USA Posts: 77	After Effects alternative (PC)? I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 7 on PC for general video editing (nothing pro) and I'm pretty happy with it. But I'd like to do some interesting title work and animation (like a bird flying or something). I installed the AE trial - which is limited to an insulting 2 days (what happened to 30?). I imported an AVI video and dragged it to the workspace, went to play it - and it crashed. No matter that I restarted AE, it would still crash when I do this. So, very poor impression. I've got 2 GB RAM, XP home, Athlon 64 3000+. I'm not aware of other animation/effects alternatives. Isn't Premiere mostly video editing (of which Sony Vegas suits me)? __________________ Album Journal: http://carbonflaw.blogspot.com DV Blog: http://24-fps.blogspot.com Music & Media Label: phait-accompli.com Thoughts & Philosophies: http://jkohli.blogspot.com "The most important thing is to enjoy life, to be happy, that's all that matters." --Audrey Hepburn

June 26th, 2007, 05:07 PM	#3
Justin Kohli Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Appleton, WI, USA Posts: 77	Huh... guess I'll redownload the trial then :o -- I'm on XP though. __________________ Album Journal: http://carbonflaw.blogspot.com DV Blog: http://24-fps.blogspot.com Music & Media Label: phait-accompli.com Thoughts & Philosophies: http://jkohli.blogspot.com "The most important thing is to enjoy life, to be happy, that's all that matters." --Audrey Hepburn

June 26th, 2007, 06:02 PM	#4
Paul Cuoco Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 93	I'd say give AE another try, but in the meantime there are other options for a PC. For Professional and expensive systems there's Combustion http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...112&id=5562397 Nuke http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/promo/nuke.html Fusion http://www.eyeonline.com/Web/EyeonWeb/default.aspx On the cheap-end there's: FX Home's products: http://fxhome.com/compositelab/?gcli...FRDaYgod7kg1EA On the free side (use at your own risk) Wax http://www.debugmode.com/wax/ Jashaka http://www.jahshaka.org/ I personally use and love After Effects, and haven't used any of these other solutions with the exception of Combustion (which is excellent). So please don't consider them a recommendation, but you asked what else was out there. That was just what I could think of. There's likely many more. __________________ To live a creative life, we must first lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce

July 8th, 2007, 10:12 AM	#5
Adam Clark New Boot Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 15	you may also want to try converting your file to an image sequence or another format first - just to troubleshoot. i use eyeon fusion and can attest to it's quality, but it is quite expensive and it is overkill for the vast majority of graphic work if you do not do it often. __________________ Adam Clark Trick Digital www.trickdigital.com

June 26th, 2007, 04:51 PM	#2
Jason Dourgarian Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: USA Posts: 26	I have this problem too. I believe it is a Vista only error because this happened to me only on Vista PC's. Anyway, theres a work around: Open up a window with the file that you want to import, and drag-and-drop it into your project area and that should work.

July 8th, 2007, 01:19 PM	#6
Emre Safak Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,447	My money says you have an OpenGL driver problem; 'cause mine used to crash too.

July 8th, 2007, 03:01 PM	#7
John McManimie Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 314	Remove "OpenGL.aex" from the AE plug-ins folder and see if AE still crashes. If it works, update your drivers and replace the file (and if it still crashes, just remove OpenGL.aex again until you have an updated graphics card and drivers that support it).