An AET file generally refers to an After Effects master template, functioning as a reusable starter setup similar to an AEP but meant to be opened repeatedly without overwriting the original, so After Effects treats it like a master you open and then save as a new project, containing the full “recipe” for the animation—comps, timelines, layer stacks, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, render settings, and organizational elements like folders and interpretations.
What an AET generally doesn’t bundle is the full media; instead it stores links or paths to footage, images, and audio kept elsewhere, which explains why templates are often zipped with a Footage or assets folder and why missing-file prompts appear if media was relocated, plus the fact that AETs can depend on certain fonts or plugins means opening them on a different computer may cause missing-effect messages until everything is installed, and since file extensions aren’t exclusive, verifying the file’s “Opens with” setting or checking its source location is the most reliable way to confirm its creator and needed companion files.
An AEP file is the standard AE project where you build and edit animations, updated as you import footage, adjust comps, and refine effects, while an AET is a template meant as a reusable starting point, so the practical difference is workflow: you reopen an AEP to keep editing the same project, but you open an AET to generate a new project so the template stays untouched.
That’s why AETs are frequently relied on for packaged motion-graphics templates such as intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the creator keeps the AET as the master and each time a new video is needed you open it, immediately Save As a new project (becoming your own AEP), then swap text, colors, logos, and media, and although both formats can store the same project elements—comps, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both usually reference external footage, the AET is built to protect the master for repeatable work while the AEP serves as the editable file you keep updating.
An AET file stores the structural and behavioral setup of an After Effects project without always embedding media, including compositions with their resolution, frame rate, duration, and nesting, alongside the full timeline build of layers like text, shapes, solids, adjustment layers, precomps, and placeholders, each with properties such as position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, and parenting, plus animation data like keyframes, easing, markers, and any expressions that automate movement.
Should you loved this article along with you want to get details concerning advanced AET file handler generously pay a visit to our own internet site. It further stores all applied effects with their settings—ranging from color correction and blur to glows, distortions, and transitions—along with any 3D environment of cameras, lights, and 3D layer attributes, plus render controls and project organization like folders, label colors, and interpretation rules, but it generally doesn’t contain the actual footage, audio, fonts, or plugins, instead relying on paths that may trigger missing-asset or missing-plugin prompts when opened on a different computer.
