I'm tracking footage as I write this. the entire file is just a single 4k video with two trackers. my cache is on an ssd, and I run a 1070 and 6700k intel chip. not the best, I know...
bit it worked fine on 6k anamorphic video in 2016 when I made it. so now I get to say:
what the hell adobe. how did you mess this up so much, the moment you went subscription?

it's simple. after effects has become like 3DS max: buggy, cobbled together, filled with half-functional plugins, all with messy code and badly integrated, with no guide to keep the UI functional or intuitive. All the bulk makes it hard to update, hard to run, hard to work with, and hard to debug.

We're aware Adobe doesn't care about artists. They care about bad managers who think addons are a replacement for actual workflows, or that bells and whistles improve the quality of work above a mastery of the basics. The result of this, is that every update comes with new plugins.

We're going on 500 plugins now... and it's beyond silly at this point, as I use maybe a total of 5 to 10 in all of my workflows combined.

also, the "cross applications workflow tools" suck. they're far less effective than just throwing a pen drive across the office. These aren't small files. syncing them would take hours my dudes. even just from program to program is slow, clunky, and unreliable to the extreme. get it together, adobe.

I tracked 29 frames in that time. now I just minimize and maximize all my windows... and it speeds up 1200%. seriously. if I didn't know the workarounds I would be at breaking down the doors of their offices right now for selling this at absolutely eyebrow-singing prices.

If I copy an effect and paste it to a layer which already has an instance of that effect, instead of resulting in two instances of the effect, my values are pasted into the pre-existing instance.

I get that this can sometimes be a time-saver but I think there are more times when it’s annoying and I think it’s counter-intuitive for newer users.

The behaviour could be that values are pasted if I selected specific properties within the effect when I clicked Copy. That would follow my intention and other behaviours within AE.

Or

The behaviour could be that values are pasted if I select the effect instance when I hit Paste. If I only have the layer selected, I get a second instance.

Or maybe there’s another way. But to me the current behaviour is backwards and always has been.

so I have a project:
F:\filmmaking\Client Name (587)\Film Name\CODE.2.6.2021.aep

When I use the File Name and Location Template (in AE 2021 only, all other versions work fine)
[projectFolder]\renders\FINALS[compName]_Proof.[fileExtension]

It seemingly randomly saves the file(s) in either:
F:\renders\FINALS* or
F:\filmmaking\renders\FINALS* or
F:\filmmaking\Client Name (587)\renders\FINALS*
never F:\filmmaking\Client Name (587)\Film Name\renders\FINALS* like it is supposed to.

If after I apply the template, I click on the link, it takes me to the dialogue showing exactly where it is supposed to go. Click render and it renders to the correct path.

If I don't click the filename first, it renders to a random parent folder like the above.

I have rebuilt the template, have tried changing the slashes and removing the first slash.

If I choose Custom... rebuild the template and name it the same as the original, overwrite the old then render it works fine. Choose that template again on the next render and it fails.

It's making organizing and finding files a nightmare, especially if the render imports the file after rendering.

It would be extremely helpful to be able to define our own render tokens somehow. We often have very long and complex filenames that string together common elements like "Project Code," "Client Name," "Project Name," "Deliverable Name," "First/Last Initials," "Version Number", "Language"

It would be helpful to be able to define these somewhere in the AE project, perhaps as metadata, and then allow them to be used as render tokens/properties that can be used in the existing File Name and Location Templates.

Sure, we can manually enter this information ourselves when we go to render. We could also rename our comps this way (though comp readability would become terrible). But it becomes a chore when we have dozens or hundreds of files to render. It would help with quality-of-life and ease-of-use to be able to set up these tokens once per project and reuse them. Filenames and render folder locations would be much more consistent (even when sharing the project with multiple artists on different teams) and would require less constant fiddling to make sure we're putting things in the right place.

Being able to set a "Project Root Folder" for example would also address these other issues, where we want to render to specific folders in a folder structure and we don't want to worry about where in that structure the AE project itself lives:
https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911311-after-effects/suggestions/37543408-a-render-settings-token-that-allows-you-to-climb-u
https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911311-after-effects/suggestions/41679958-render-queue-remember-projectname-token-on-exp

Being able to set a "Version Number" would also address this issue:
https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911311-after-effects/suggestions/41125603-add-project-version-number-as-a-render-token-prope

ISSUE: As of v18.4, DNx Codecs no longer work properly in AE (as well as Media Encoder and possibly others). For example, a known good (works in other programs, as well as older versions of AE) DNxHR HQ video with Alpha will appear completely black.

REPRODUCTION: Import a DNx video file, for example DNxHR HQ with alpha channel into After Effects.

WORKAROUND: Rolling back to v18.2.1 works as a workaround, but is not viable long-term or with remote teams.

SYSTEM INFO: This issue has occurred on various Windows-based machines of various capabilities. Some of the editors on my team who have reported the issue to me may be working on a Mac, but I am not sure.

SUGGESTED FIX: See what changed in regards to DNx codecs from v18.2 to v18.4, restore DNx codec support in next After Effects update. Look into issues with Media Encoder and other applications as well.