Message text:

After Effects error: Unknown checkout ID.

Message interpretation:

An effect returned an invalid parameter and thus did not produce a correct result.

Possible causes:

This error is pretty rare, as it indicates a bug in a plug-in or file format module and should not occur in publicly released versions. A first occurance was recorded during a specific render that involved audio files. Initial suspicions, that this would mean that a given frame could not be finalized (checked out) during render, could not be confirmed. Instead this seems to be caused by including audio in the render and a problem with Quicktime. The user affected by the problem was able to resolve the issue by simply removing the audio files from the project. Another incident was noted with GenArts’ Sapphire plug-ins, where the interactive overlay manipulators used in some effects would produce invalid numerical values.

Resolution or workaround:

If you are using an outdated version of a plug-in, try to obtain and install a newer version that is compatible with your current version of After Effects. If the error is related to rendering specific formats, re-installing Quicktime and Specific CoDecs may be necessary. Also converting source footage files to other formats may prevent these errors.

Message text:

After Effects error: Could not allocate sound memory.

Message interpretation:

After Effects could not preview sound due to insufficient memory available.

Possible causes:

The most likely cause for any audio issues are problems with the audio hardware and their settings or the audio file types that are being used. While it may seem otehrwise, it is only rarely true memory exhaustion that causes problems.

Resolution or workaround:

Make sure your computer’s audio hardware is working properly and it is using suitable settings. Use a commonly used sample rate like 48 kHz and turn off any fancies like perceptional audio enhancements or virtual surround. Additionally, check its audio buffer delay settings. Reset them to defaults and leave them at reasonably small sizes. There is no point in excessively large buffer settings. In After Effects, check your audio hardware preferences and verify that the application correctly recognizes everything. If not already the case, make the audio channels that act as your primary outputs the active ones. If you use audio effects that force buffering to RAM, chose a suitable size that does not bring your system down. When working with compressed audio formats, convert them to conventional PCM files (WAV/ AIFF) before bringing them into After Effects.

Message text:

After Effects warning: Audio conforming failed for the following file <filename>

Message interpretation:

A compressed audio file could not be decoded.

Possible causes:

When you import compressed media into After Effects, the program scans it in order to be able to access specific sections quicker. This also happens for audio, which in addition is also often fully decoded to a conventional PCM (WAV/ AIFF file). The resulting files are stored in the Media Cache directory. If this directory is somehow unavailable, locked or damaged, you will get a warning.

Resolution or workaround:

Adjust your preferences to point to a suitable directory for the Media Cache. Make sure you have full access to it and it is intact. Since the files stored therein are persistent, it is necessary to purge the directory from time to time to prevent it from getting full. Because of this heavy use, it is also critical that the directory is defragmented regularly.

Message text:

After Effects error: Not enough memory to create sound buffer. (882016k requested, 848376k available)

Message interpretation:

For previewing audio, not enough memory could be allocated.

Possible causes:

Most likely this is caused by specific compression methods that require decoding before being able to play the audio. It is thinkable, that this will exhaust your audio device resources, especially when using the immediate playback mode introduced in After Effects CS3. Another possible cause is, that there are simply too many audio layers or they are too long and they cannot be mixed and stored in memory.

Resolution or workaround:

If you use compressed sources, convert the audio to PCM files (AIFF/ WAV). For RAM previews, manually set the workspace duration to only the areas your really need.

Message text:

After Effects: AEGP Plugin AAF: Error occurred while creating project.

Message interpretation:

The program could not add a footage item to the project during import.

Possible causes:

The error is quite misleading and can crop up on a number of occasions. In the given example, an MPEG-based source material was imported without success and triggered this message. AAF refers to advanced audio formats, which in this case would possibly mean embedded audio in a video file. Such files are regularly generated when using modern digital photo and video cameras and transfering the data on the file system level without additional capture procedures. Within the file, often multiple data streams are stored, which can include multiple audio channel as multiplexed or unmultiplexed streams plus any number of extra streams for timecodes or metadata. If these streams do not adhere to a given order, e.g. audio is recorded on channels 3 and 4, not on 1 and 2, After Effects may not be able to recogize or decode them properly.

Another case is presented, when you do not transfer the whole content via a specific file manger associated with the camera. This regularly happens to users with P2 systems, that require to use a specific helper program to transfer the MXF files correctly in the order they are stored. This means, that the entire folders in which they are organized need to be transfered, including any auxiliary files also stored in those. This not only ensures retaining all the metadata, but also continuity, if multiple files are linked to present one shot/ take.

Resolution or workaround:

Use the file management and conversion tools bundled with your camera to transcode the files and transfer them to your computer. Also make sure to check your camera and choose a more compatible set of defaults for it to avoid these problems in the future.

Message text:

Unable to start audio playback. Please confirm your audio device is properly configured or change the driver selection in Preferences: Audio Hardware

Message interpretation:

The audio in your project could not be played.

Possible causes:

As of After Effects CS3, playing audio during RAM previews has changed fundamentally. As opposed to buffering the audio mix also in the RAM, it will now be played in realtime in sync with your video preview. This means that your audio hardware has to do the mixing and volume adjustments in realtime, also. It is therefore crucial, to select the correct audio device that supports this feature. If not, you will get this error.

Resolution or workaround:

Go to Edit >> Preferences >> Audio Hardware and select the correct device. If you have a choice between different devices, use the most powerful one. You may have to use your operating system’s tools to adjust your settings and turn off unnecessary devices. If you miss this part it is possible that e.g. the audio chip on your video card will auto-configure itself as the device with the highest priority, but since such cards usually only work within certain programs using special drivers and initilization procedures, After Effects may not be able to use it and you hear no sound. Likewise, some “audio managers” that try to enhance sound and monitor connections can be mislead e.g. by loose cables and auto-configure your settings the wrong way. Turn off those tools to work more reliably.

Message text:

After Effects can’t continue: An input contract violation has occurred!
[/Metaloaf/pro/ext/adobe/MediaCore/MediaLayer/Make/Mac/../../Src/Importer/FileImporter.cpp-1099]

Message interpretation:

See previous error.

Note: The error illustrated here was recorded for the Mac version of After Effects CS3 (codename Metaloaf), but may also be applicable to other versions. The path in the brackets does not represent a directory structure but the virtual structure of the project that the programmers work on.

Possible causes:

A user reported, that he was able to produce this error with a movie file containing an empty audio track. This track was apparently listed as a valid stream in the header, but did not contain any data.

Resolution or workaround:

Disable the audio on the track or in the playback controls.

Message text:

After Effects: AEGP Plugin SoundSyn10: ERROR: Adobe Dialog Manager Suite Failure

Message interpretation:

After Effects is unable to display the configuration and device name of your audio output.

Possible causes:

Your sound device may use a naming scheme out of the ordinary or splits its output channels in an odd way. This may result in names becoming too long or not displayable in standard UI elements, because they may use special characters or sequences that get truncated or interpreted as command parameters.

Resolution or workaround:

Basically the only way out of this is to remove the audio device from your system config an re-install the drivers. However, in many cases this will also entail a complete re-install of the operating system, the reason being that the names are tied to abstract numerical device IDs which the operating system assigns e.g. based on the Vendor ID of an extension card or chipset. This is usually only done once the first time a new system is added, even for plug&play. If you do not remove every trace by overwriting the system completely, it may use the old IDs and you end up having the same problems as before.

Message text:

After Effects: AEGP Plugin Media IO Plugin: There is a mismatch between Output Module settings and Transcode settings.
Please verify your settings and try again.
MediaIO2 error: 0×5

Message interpretation:

MPEG-II output was not initiated because the options on the normal output module settings do not match the ones in the Adobe Media Encoder.

Possible causes:

You cannot output MPEG-II for DVD with different settings. Of particular interest is the audio. It always needs to be set to 48 kHz, matching the specs of the DVD format. If you do not need audio, you need to turn it off in the generic settings and the Media Encoder, not just one of them. Your composition settings are also only allowed to be those defined in the DVD specs. This error also applies to various presets for BlueRay and Flash video introduced beginning with CS3.

Resolution or workaround:

Set the options to the correct parameters.

Message text

After Effects error: Audio output problem. Undefined external error.

Message interpretation:

Audio could not be sent to your audio device due to an unknown error.

Possible causes:

As the message states, the exact source of the problem could not be determined. sometimes the error crops up when you have video capture cards that also handle the sound component and they were not properly initialized.

Resolution or workaround:

Not applicable.