User Guide

189

ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0

User Guide

Setting preview options

After Effects provides four options for previewing your animations: RAM preview,

standard preview, manual preview, and wireframe preview. You can access RAM,

standard, and manual previews using the Time Controls palette. Access wireframe preview

from the Composition > Preview menu.

A. First Frame B. Frame Reverse C. Play

D. Frame Advance E. Last Frame F. Audio

G. Loop H. RAM Preview I. Jog control

J. Time indicator K. Shuttle control

The preview options represent different balances between preview quality and speed:

RAM preview This option plays a preview of the frames (including audio) at the frame

rate of your composition or as fast as your system allows. Use RAM preview to preview the

footage in the Timeline, Layer, or Footage windows.The number of frames previewed

depends on the amount of available contiguous RAM allocated to the application. After

Effects displays the total number of frames requested for the preview and the number it

can render.

You have two choices of RAM preview settings: RAM Preview and Shift+RAM Preview.

Each provides different options. In the Timeline, RAM preview previews only the span of

time you specify as the work area. In the Layer and Footage windows, RAM preview

previews only untrimmed footage. Before you preview the Timeline, check which frames

are designated as the work area. See “Setting up a work area” on page 121. Before you

preview the Layer or Footage windows, check to see that footage you may want to preview

has not been trimmed.

UG.book Page 189 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM