An AET file is essentially a master After Effects template, intended for repeated use so you open it, save a new project, and customize that copy, while the template stores the construction plan of the animation including comps, timelines, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, camera/light settings, render configurations, and all the folder/interpretation organization that holds the project together.
An AET typically doesn’t contain the full source files; instead it holds references to external video, audio, and images, which is why template packs often come zipped with an assets/Footage folder and why missing-file dialogs appear if media gets moved, and since AETs may require certain fonts or plugins, opening them on another system can trigger missing-effect errors until you install or relink what’s needed, with the added note that file extensions can overlap, so confirming the true source via "Opens with" or the file’s origin folder is the best way to know what program created it.
An AEP file functions as the main project you keep modifying, holding all your comps, effects, and imported media, whereas an AET is intended as a template, meaning you reopen an AEP to keep editing but open an AET to launch a new project so you don’t overwrite the template.
That’s why AET formats are commonly packaged 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.
If you have any queries about where by and how to use AET data file, you can speak to us at the web site. An AET file captures 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.
On top of that, the template retains all effects and their settings—color correction, blurs, glows, distortions, transitions, and more—along with any 3D setup such as cameras, lights, 3D layer properties, and render/preview settings, plus project-level organization like folders, label colors, interpretation rules, and sometimes proxies, but it typically does not bundle full footage, images, audio, fonts, or plugins, instead keeping links and dependencies that may trigger missing-asset or missing-plugin warnings on another computer until everything is relinked or installed.
