An AET file is mainly recognized as an After Effects template project, designed so you can open it repeatedly and save new versions rather than overwrite the source, with the file storing everything that defines the motion graphic: comps, timeline structure, layer stacks, animation keyframes, effect setups, expressions, cameras/lights, render settings, plus organizational items like folders and interpretation settings.
What an AET generally doesn’t hold 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 renamed, plus the fact that AETs can depend on certain fonts or plugins means opening them on a different computer may cause alerts 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.
Should you loved this post and you want to receive much more information regarding AET file error generously visit our own website. An AEP file is the working project you continually modify, letting you import assets, edit compositions, and tweak effects over time, whereas an AET is designed as a template to be reused, making the key distinction that you update an AEP directly but open an AET only to start a fresh project based on it without altering the master.
That’s why AET formats are frequently bundled in motion-graphics template sets like intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the AET remains the creator’s master, and for each new video you open it, Save As a new AEP, then swap in your own text, media, logos, and colors, and even though both formats store the same project components—comps, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both usually reference external files, the AET safeguards the layout while the AEP becomes the editable end-user project.
An AET file holds onto the structure and animation logic of an After Effects project but not always the media assets, containing compositions with defined resolution, FPS, duration, and nesting, plus the complete layer arrangement—text, shapes, solids, adjustments, precomps, and placeholders—with layer properties like position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, parenting, and the project’s animation data including keyframes, easing, markers, and any expressions used to automate motion.
The template also saves effects and their specific settings—color correction, blurs, glows, distortions, transitions—and any 3D layout using cameras, lights, and 3D properties, plus the project’s render/preview options and organizational details like bins, labels, interpretation settings, and proxies, yet it typically doesn’t embed real footage, audio, fonts, or plugins, which means opening it elsewhere can prompt missing-file or missing-effect notices until you relink or install the required resources.
