An AET file commonly serves as an After Effects template project, 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.
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 font substitutions 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.
If you have any questions regarding where and how to use
universal AET file viewer, you can contact us at our own internet site. An AEP file is the standard working file for After Effects, 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 make a new project so you don’t overwrite the template.
That’s why AETs are widely used for packaged motion-graphics templates such as intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the creator keeps the AET as the master and each time a new video is needed you open it, immediately Save As a new project (becoming your own AEP), then swap text, colors, logos, and media, and although both formats can store the same project elements—comps, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both usually reference external footage, the AET is built to protect the master for repeatable work while the AEP serves as the editable file you keep updating.
An AET file mostly contains the framework and behavior of a motion-graphics project rather than the footage itself, offering compositions with resolution, frame rate, duration, and nesting, and keeping the entire timeline of text, shape, solid, adjustment, and precomp layers, with properties such as position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, parenting, and all animation elements including keyframes, easing curves, markers, and optional expressions.
Additionally, the template retains effects and their configurations, such as color correction, blurs, glows, distortions, and transitions, together with any 3D setup—cameras, lights, 3D layer settings—and render/preview preferences, plus project structure like folders, labels, interpretation settings, and proxies, though it usually omits embedding raw media, fonts, or plugins, depending on linked paths that can lead to missing-footage or missing-effect warnings when the file is opened elsewhere.