Universe Showing a Black Screen in After Effects? Here’s a Fix.

Have issues with Red Giant Universe showing a black screen? Or perhaps, when you apply a filter it looks like some strange noise that came from another part of the universe? I had this issue, and uninstalling and reinstalling didn’t fix it. Even the Red Giant Level 1 Clean didn’t help. But, I did find a fix, and it’s simple, however, it’s not obvious. If you’re running into this issue, it’s worth a try!

1. At the bottom your Project Panel, click the Project Settings button. This is where you can choose from 8 bpc, 16 bpc, or 32 bpc (float).

2. This opens the Project Settings Panel. On the Video and Rendering Effects tab, deselect Mercury GPU Acceleration (Metal) and choose another option. I only have one other option so I chose Mercury Software only. You may have other options like CUDA.
   
   Note: I’m running After Effects 2021 in these screen shots. This panel will look different in different versions of After Effects.

3. Click OK.
4. Apply Universe effects to your footage. It should be working for you now.

Universe

Video transition and effects plugins for editors and motion graphics artists

Red Giant Universe is a collection of 89 GPU-accelerated plugins for editors and motion graphics artists. Stylize your footage. Create motion graphics. Add transitions and effects. In addition, find text generators and lots of presets.

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Red Giant Complete - Annual Subscription

Get all the tools from Red Giant at one low price with Red Giant Complete.

Get the complete set of Red Giant tools for editing, VFX and motion design. Red Giant complete includes Universe, Trapcode Suite, Magic Bullet Suite, and VFX Suite. Whether you are working with 3D particles systems and fluid dynamics, color correction and film looks, green screen and compositing, video effects and transitions, or even A/V sync, this set of industry-standard tools has what you need for your post-production workflow.

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Maxon One

Get all the Maxon products at one low price.

Maxon One is an annual subscription for all products in one all-encompassing package. To summarize, this bundle includes Cinema 4D, Redshift, ZBrush, and Red Giant Complete.

Easy to learn and extremely powerful, Cinema 4D is the perfect package for all 3D artists who want to achieve breathtaking results fast and hassle-free. Redshift, the world’s first fully GPU-accelerated, biased renderer, meets the specific demands of contemporary high-end production rendering in C4D. ZBrush provides enhancements that affect many areas of your workflow, with a focus on innovative new features that are designed to fuel exploration and inspire creativity. Finally, Red Giant Complete includes Universe, Trapcode Suite, Magic Bullet Suite, and VFX Suite.

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