An AET file serves as a reusable 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.
Because an AET usually skips the raw media, it instead holds paths to video, image, and audio files stored elsewhere, explaining why template downloads often include a zipped assets/Footage folder and why After Effects may report missing files if items get left out, and since some AETs depend on specific fonts or plugins, opening them on another computer can cause missing-effect prompts until everything is installed, with the reminder that AET is not an exclusive extension, so checking the file’s "Opens with" settings or remembering where it came from helps confirm the correct application and required companion files.
An AEP file represents the evolving project file you edit, whereas an AET is a template designed for reuse, meaning you open an AEP to keep working on that same animation but open an AET to create a new copy without modifying the master template.
That’s why AET templates are frequently used for ready-made motion graphics such as intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the creator treats the AET as the permanent master, and you open it only to Save As a new AEP before customizing elements like text, color, media, and logos, and while both formats store the same structures—compositions, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both typically link to external footage, the AET exists to preserve the original design whereas the AEP is your editable working file.
An AET file retains 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.
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 If you have almost any questions with regards to wherever and tips on how to employ
AET file error, you are able to e-mail us on the web-page. .