An AET file is primarily a template version of an AEP, letting users open it and save a fresh project each time to preserve the template, and it contains the full design of the animation—compositions, timelines, layer structures, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras, lights, render settings, along with organizational components such as folder layouts and interpretation rules.
An AET generally doesn’t embed media, instead storing references or paths to external audio, images, and video, which is why template sets are bundled as ZIPs with Footage/assets folders and why After Effects reports missing items if things were not packaged, and because AETs might rely on certain fonts or plugins, opening them elsewhere can trigger font swaps until everything is installed, and since file extensions aren’t exclusive, checking “Opens with” or the file’s source location is the best way to confirm the program behind it and what extra files should accompany it.
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 create a new project so the template stays untouched.
That’s why AET files are standard choices for motion-graphics template packs like intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the creator preserves the AET as the untouched master and you open it only to Save As a separate AEP for each new video, replacing text, images, colors, and logos, and even though both AET and AEP hold the same kinds of data—comps, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both normally reference external media, the AET’s job is to safeguard the template while the AEP becomes the project you actively modify.
An AET file primarily preserves the structure and logic of a motion-graphics project but not necessarily its media, holding compositions with their resolution, FPS, duration, and nesting order, and keeping the full layer stack—text, shapes, solids, adjustments, precomps, and placeholders—plus each layer’s settings such as position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, and parenting, along with all animation info including keyframes, easing curves, markers, and any motion-driving expressions.
In case you have any inquiries concerning in which and tips on how to use AET file error, you’ll be able to e mail us from the site. It further remembers 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.
