Re: getting the most out of RAM with AE CS3

enable multiprocessing in ae (preferences>multiprocessing) if you haven't already.

if you have a dual g5, then then the default values for the max ram cache setting should be fine, you may be able to up the max ram cache to around 67-70%, but i'm not sure it will be that big of a benefit.

if you have a quad g5 (the dual dual-core), then you'll probably want to change the max ram cache to around 33% to get all 4 cores rendering, this should give around 1gb of ram to each core.

in either case, as you make changes to the max ram cache, you can go to the multiprocessing pref and see how many 'additional cores' will be used for rendering based on the cache settings you've made.

also, disabling opengl for previews (preferences>previews, then uncheck the opengl box) will allow you to use multiprocessing for previews too (opengl rendering is not compatible with multiprocessing, so, if enabled, opengl will override the multiprocessing for ram previews). in most cases i think you'll find multiprocessing will beat out opengl for preview renders, so don't feel like your missing out on some cool opengl benefit.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW