An AET file is usually an Adobe After Effects template, acting like a master version of an AEP that you open to create fresh projects without touching the original, and inside it holds the blueprint for the animation such as compositions, timelines, layered elements, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras, lights, global settings, and the project’s internal organization including folders and interpretation rules.
What an AET generally does not contain 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 omitted, 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.
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AET format kindly visit our web site. An AEP file is your ongoing After Effects project, while an AET is a reusable template, so in practice the difference lies in purpose: you open an AEP to continue that same project, but you open an AET to start a fresh file so the original stays clean.
That’s why AET files are typically used for template-based motion graphics (intros, lower-thirds, slideshows): the master AET stays unchanged while each new project starts by opening it and doing a Save As to create your AEP, where you modify text, colors, logos, and media, and although both formats include the same elements—comps, layers, effects, keyframes, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both rely on external footage paths, the AET is meant for safe templating and repeatable output, while the AEP is the editable project you keep refining.
An AET file generally stores everything needed to preserve the structure and behavior of a motion-graphics setup but not the raw media itself, keeping all compositions with their resolution, frame rate, duration, nesting, plus the full timeline of layers—text, shapes, solids, adjustments, precomps, and footage placeholders—along with each layer’s properties like position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, and parenting, as well as animation data such as keyframes, easing, markers, and any expressions that automate motion.
Beyond that, the
template includes your effects and their parameters, from color correction and blurs to glows, distortions, and transitions, as well as any 3D configuration with cameras, lighting, and 3D layer options plus render/preview settings, and it also preserves project organization like folders, label colors, and interpretation settings, though it usually doesn’t pack raw media, audio, fonts, or plugins—only file paths—so opening it elsewhere may cause missing-footage or missing-plugin alerts until dependencies are restored.