5 solutions if After Effects is not rendering properly

Are you having trouble with After Effects not rendering? Don’t despair! If Adobe After Effects is not rendering as you expected, this tutorial is for you. Motion Array will walk you through five easy steps to troubleshoot rendering issues.

After Effects must render the results whenever you add effects, images, or video clips. This happens whether it’s a preview or export. It’s also mostly a background process, done without your knowledge. But sometimes, rendering problems can pop up during the final export. 

Below, you will learn about 5 key Adobe After Effects troubleshooting steps. First, you’ll discover the Rendering Queue, Media Encoder, and using CPU rendering. Then, you’ll move on to flushing the cache and the ‘secret’ preferences panel. You will leave this tutorial feeling like an After Effects pro.

What to do if After Effects is not rendering

Running into a rendering error after you’ve completed your composition is frustrating. Diagnosing the error can be tricky, too. You have applied effects, compiled clips, and are ready to finish. Now, After Effects is not rendering anything. Who wants to start from scratch?

Try these five easy steps before you click delete and abandon the whole project. They’re sure to help. If your issue is that After Effects is shutting down, check out this resource instead.

1. Use the Render Queue panel

The Render Queue panel is the most common way to render and export your After Effects projects. If you’re new to After Effects, this procedure is worth reviewing, and it’s covered below. There’s also a handy After Effects rendering tutorial you can enjoy. If you’re an After Effects veteran, you can skip this step.

1. When you’ve completed your composition in After Effects, add it to the Render Queue. Select Composition > Add to Render Queue from the top menu bar. The shortcut is Control + Command + M.
2. The Render Queue panel should appear at the bottom of your After Effects window. Click on Best Settings to open the Render Settings window. Here, you can choose your export options, such as Frame Rate and Motion Blur. Close this window when you’re happy
3. Below Render Settings is the Output Module. Lossless is a good preset for short compositions you want to import and edit in an NLE like Premiere Pro.
4. However, the Lossless preset may produce gigantic files for long videos. These will clog your hard drive. They’re one of the most common reasons for Adobe After Effects not rendering. You can produce smaller video files using Media Encoder.
5. To the right, you should see Output To. Clicking here should open a pop-up window. Now, you can choose where to save your video file.
6. Now you’ve set a destination for your render. A Render button should appear at the top right of the Render Queue panel. Click here to begin rendering your file.
7. Watch the render’s progress as the blue status bar fills up. The status bar is at the top of the Render Queue panel. When it’s finished, your file should appear at the destination you’ve set.

The built-in Render Queue is the most common export method for After Effects projects. You should now be able to output your video compositions without a hitch. Unfortunately, errors do occur, so, to help you out, let’s look at a few extra ways to troubleshoot renders.

2. Render using Media Encoder

If After Effects always worked as intended, you wouldn’t be in this tutorial! Many users encounter issues with the Render Queue.

If After Effects can’t render via the Render Queue, you may have more luck with Media Encoder. It’s a separate application that comes bundled with the Adobe suite. It’s also easy to use, even if you’ve never opened the program. 

Adobe Media Encoder is the creative cloud suite’s catch-all media export program. It can output files from After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and other programs. It also includes a handy selection of YouTube and Vimeo presets.  

Due to its encoding, it can sometimes fix rendering errors caused by large file sizes in the Render Queue.

1. Open After Effects and Media Encoder on your computer.
2. Ready to export your project in After Effects? Choose File > Export > Add to Media Encoder Queue.
3. Switch to Media Encoder. Your After Effects project should appear in the Queue panel on the right side of the screen 
4. To the left of your After Effects Project in the Queue panel, you should see the word Format. Click the small arrow beneath it to select one of the available output formats. Choose your preference — this example uses H.264, which is a widespread format for online video sharing that’s useful to know.
5. To the right of Format, you should see a similar dropdown option for Preset. Click here and choose the best preset for your output. This tutorial will use YouTube 1080 Full HD, but you can choose others specific to your intended platform.
6. To the right is another field. Here, you can choose your Output File. Click and set the destination. This is where you’d like to save your final output file.
7. Everything should now be set. To start the queue, press the green arrow at the top right. The keyboard shortcut is Return.
8. The Encoding panel allows you to watch the progress of your export. It is at the bottom of the screen by default.

Your After Effects project should now render without a hiccup. Watch out for error messages if you still have issues with Adobe After Effects not rendering. These can help you check what is causing the glitch. Adobe lists common error messages and known issues on their site. You may find others struggling with a similar issue.

Are you still needing help? No worries, let’s continue troubleshooting why your After Effects is not rendering.

3. Switch to CPU rendering instead of GPU

Many eager video editors overlook the processing power of their rigs. Without enough power, complex rendering will be slow and glitch-prone. This is one of the most common reasons Adobe After Effects does not render.

With an underpowered setup, you can only do so much, so an upgrade may be needed.

Hopefully, you are already using a PC with a dedicated GPU (graphics cards) and a core CPU (the PC’s ‘brain’). Ideally, you want the GPU to carry the heavy load.

After Effects can use several modern GPU technologies, like OpenGL and Metal. These allow you to render your compositions fast using high-performance graphics cards.
While convenient, this feature can sometimes cause render problems. If After Effects is not rendering, try switching this option off for now. This means rendering with your CPU (Software Rendering). While this is an excellent workaround, you will need a powerful CPU.

1. Navigate to File > Project Settings on the top menu bar.
2. Under Video Rendering and Effects, change the dropdown option to Software Only.
3. Render your project using the Render Queue or Media Encoder, as outlined above.

CPU rendering is slower than GPU rendering, so you may need to wait a while. Remember to switch back to GPU rendering when you’re done.

Are you constantly encountering processing power issues? You may need to upgrade to a more robust processor and graphics card.

Technical troubleshooting for After Effects not rendering

That’s the easy checks done. Now, let’s get more in-depth. Here are some other reasons Adobe After Effects isn’t rendering correctly.

4. Flush the cache

The cache, a temporary storage area on your PC, is an often overlooked aspect of rendering performance. Behind the scenes, After Effects stores renderings of your work. This lets you preview your composition without waiting on full renders.

Generally, the cache is a helpful feature. By temporarily storing assets here, After Effects can access them quickly while you work. However, the lack of space to write these temporary files becomes problematic if the cache is full. 

It is supposed to refresh and empty when you reboot to avoid this, but it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, cache files get too large or contain errors. It’s a common reason why After Effects does not render preview files. It’s time to clear that cache!

1. Head to Edit > Purge > All Memory and Disk Cache.
2. A confirmation pop-up should appear. Click OK.
3. A blue progress bar will appear. When it has filled, your cache is clear.
4. Try your render again from the Render Queue or Media Encoder.

5. Use the ‘secret’ preference settings

Are you still struggling with After Effects not rendering? There’s one last trick to try. Adobe has hidden a covert settings menu for last-resort bug-fixing. This isn’t a beginner-friendly option, however, and it can also cause some program issues. So keep this one aside for a last-ditch effort.If you’ve found no other way to fix Adobe After Effects not rendering, it’s time for the Preference panel.

1. Windows users should select Edit. Mac users need to select After Effects.
2. Hold down Shift and select Preferences.
3. Choose General. Don’t let go of the Shift key!
4. The Preferences window will pop up. You will notice a Secret category at the bottom. Open it.
5. Try adjusting these options. You can Disable Layer Cache and Ignore Sequence Rendering Errors.
6. Select OK.

Now, try to render your project again.

The section is hidden because these are not settings you should generally adjust. So make sure to roll back any changes afterward.

What to do if nothing works

That covers the 5 essential steps for crushing render errors. You’ve looked at the Render Queue, Media Encoder, and CPU rendering. Then, you learned about cache flushing and the ‘secret’ settings menu. Hopefully, your rendering issues are far behind you.

If you are still struggling, however, Motion Array knows it can be frustrating. Adobe After Effects not rendering is a pain! Try rendering the entire file if you are stuck with a non-rendering preview. There may be a glitch in the preview only. If all else fails, you may need to reload After Effects. 

Software data corruption can cause rendering issues. Your project file could also be corrupt. Unfortunately, there’s not much to do about file corruption, so it will mean starting again. If you often encounter render problems, consider working in smaller batches. This helps optimize available resources and reduce the processing load.

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Now you’ve solved your rendering problems, there’s a lot more to do in After Effects. Motion Array has thousands of curated After Effects templates and presets for download. Why not upgrade your After Effects toolkit with some favorites today? You’ll soon be producing stunning projects you can be proud of.