What It Does
AE Suicide monitors After Effects on macOS and forces the application to trigger its built-in crash recovery when it becomes unresponsive. Instead of losing your work during a freeze or crash, the script attempts to automatically save a copy of your project before the application dies completely.
This is a Mac-only utility that runs as a standalone application alongside After Effects. It watches for signs that After Effects has stopped responding, then uses a pipeline optimization technique (originally outlined in Adobe’s CS4 documentation) to force a save operation.
Key Features
Automatic crash recovery. When After Effects hangs during RAM preview, rendering, or heavy processing, AE Suicide detects the freeze and triggers the auto-save mechanism. You get a recovered project file instead of starting from your last manual save.
Runs in the background. The application monitors After Effects without interfering with your normal workflow. You don’t need to remember to activate it or change how you work.
Compatible with older versions of After Effects (CS3 through CS6). The last update in 2015 added support for OS X Yosemite.
Who It’s For
Useful for anyone working with heavy compositions, complex expressions, or resource-intensive renders on a Mac. Particularly relevant if you work with older versions of After Effects or frequently push the software to its limits. Modern versions of After Effects have improved auto-save features, so this tool is most valuable for legacy workflows or unstable project environments.
Pricing
Pay-what-you-want model with a suggested minimum of $9.99. Individual users can choose their own price. Teams and businesses should pay the suggested amount for a valid license.