An AET file functions chiefly as an AE template project, working like a master AEP that you open to generate new projects while leaving the template intact, and it contains the project’s full structure—compositions, timeline layouts, layered elements, animated keyframes, effects, expressions, camera/light setups, render/project settings, and the internal folder organization and interpretations.
Because an AET does not normally embed 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 renamed, 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.
In the event you loved this informative article and you would love to receive more information about AET file opening software kindly visit our web site. An AEP file serves as your live editing project in AE, while an AET is a template meant to be reused, so the workflow contrast is simple: edit an AEP directly as it evolves, but use an AET to spin off a new project that preserves the original template.
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 primarily preserves the structure and logic of a motion-graphics project but not necessarily its media, holding compositions with their resolution, FPS, duration, and nesting order, and keeping the full layer stack—text, shapes, solids, adjustments, precomps, and placeholders—plus each layer’s settings such as position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, and parenting, along with all animation info including keyframes, easing curves, markers, and any motion-driving expressions.
In addition, the template holds all effects and their configured values—whether color correction, blurs, glows, distortions, or transitions—plus any 3D setup involving cameras, lights, and 3D layer controls, along with render/preview preferences and project-level organization such as folders, labels, and interpretation rules, but it usually avoids bundling actual footage, audio, fonts, or plugins, relying instead on linked paths that can produce missing-asset or missing-effect warnings on another machine.
