User Guide

CHAPTER 2
80
Preparing and Importing Footage
To import an Adobe Illustrator path as a mask:
1 In Adobe Illustrator, create your path, select all of the points along the path, and then
choose Edit > Copy.
2 In After Effects, open the Layer window for the layer into which you want to import
the path.
3 Choose Edit > Paste.
Note: This process works best if your Adobe Illustrator Preferences are set with AICB
Clipboard and Preserve Paths selected.
Importing an After Effects project
You can import one After Effects project into another. Everything from the imported
project, including footage files, compositions, and folders, appears inside a new folder in
the current Project window. When you want to repeat a complicated mask, effect, or anima-
tion in a different project, you can import the project containing the effect and simply
replace the source footage, keeping all the effect, composition, and layer settings intact.
See “Importing files into a project” on page 68 for the procedure for importing.
Importing After Effects projects from different platforms
You can open and import an After Effects project from a different operating system as long
as you maintain the filenames, folder names, and either full paths or relative paths (folder
locations) for all files in the project. To maintain relative paths, the source footage must
reside on the same volume as the project file.
If a file format is not supported on the operating system you are using, if the file is missing,
or if the reference link is broken, After Effects substitutes a placeholder item containing
color bars. You can reconnect the placeholder to the appropriate file. You can use the same
process to connect a footage item in the Project window to a different source file.
To relink a reference:
1 Select the placeholder or footage file in the Project window, and choose File > Replace
Footage > File.
2 In the Replace Footage File dialog box, locate and select the footage file you want to use.
Note: You can also open this dialog box by double-clicking the footage item.
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