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.
An AEP file functions as the main editable AE file, letting you import assets, edit compositions, and tweak effects over time, whereas an AET is designed as a template to be reused, making the key distinction that you update an AEP directly but open an AET only to build a fresh project based on it without altering the master.
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 inquiries pertaining to in which and how to use AET file opener, you can get in touch with us at the site. 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.
Beyond that, the template stores 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.
