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Importing Illustrator Files into After Effects

 

Preparing still-image files for importing

You can import individual supported still images into After Effects or a series of still images as a sequence.

After Effects works internally in an RGB color space, but it can import and convert CMYK images. However, when possible, you should work in an RGB color space in applications such as Illustrator and Photoshop when creating images for video, film, and other non-print media. Working in RGB provides a larger gamut and more accurately reflects your final output.

Before you import a still image into After Effects, prepare it as thoroughly as possible to reduce rendering time. It's usually easier and faster to prepare a still image in its original application than to modify it in After Effects. Consider doing the following to an image before importing it into After Effects:

  • Make sure that the file format is supported by the operating system you plan to use.
  • Crop the parts of the image that you do not want to be visible in After Effects.
Note:  Illustrator files can have fractional dimensions (for example, 216.5x275.5 pixels). When importing these files, After Effects compensates for the fractional dimensions by rounding up to the next whole number of pixels (for example, 217x278 pixels). This rounding results in a black line at the right (width) or bottom (height) edge of the imported image. When cropping in Illustrator, make sure that the dimensions of the cropped area are whole numbers of pixels.

  • If you want to designate areas as transparent, create an alpha channel or use the transparency tools in applications such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

  • If the final output is broadcast video, avoid using thin horizontal lines (such as 1-pixel lines) for images or text because they may flicker due to interlacing. If you must use thin lines, add a slight blur so that the image or text appears in both video fields instead of flickering between them. Learn more about interlaced video and separating fields and best practices for creating text and vector graphics for video.

  • If the final output is a broadcast video, make sure that important parts of the image fall within the action-safe and title-safe zones. When you create a document in Illustrator or Photoshop using a preset for film and video, the safe zones are shown as guidelines. Learn more about safe zones, grids, guides, and rulers.

  • If the final output will be broadcast video, keep colors within the broadcast-safe ranges. Learn more about broadcast-safe colors.

  • Save the file using the correct naming convention. For example, if you plan to import the file into After Effects on Windows, use a three-character filename extension.

  • Set the pixel dimensions to the resolution and frame aspect ratio you'll use in After Effects. If you plan to scale the image over time, set image dimensions that provide enough detail at the largest size the image has in the project. After Effects supports a maximum image size of 30,000x30,000 pixels for importing and rendering files. The size of the image that you can import or export is influenced by the amount of physical RAM available to After Effects. The maximum composition dimensions are also 30,000x30,000 pixels.

Note:  The image size or pixel dimensions setting in Photoshop (or other image-editing application) is relevant for the preparation of image data for import into After Effects—not dpi (dots per inch) or ppi (pixels per inch) settings. The image size determines how many pixels wide and tall an image is, whether those pixels are the tiny ones on a mobile device or the big ones on a motion billboard. The dpi or ppi settings are relevant to printing an image and to the scale of copied and pasted paths.

Import a single still image or a still-image sequence

You can import still image files as individual footage items or a series of still image files as a still-image sequence, which is a single footage item in which each still image is used as a single frame.

To import multiple image files as a single still-image sequence, the files must be in the same folder and use the same numeric or alphabetic filename pattern (such as Seq1, Seq2, Seq3).

When you import a file that appears to After Effects to be one file in a still-image sequence, After Effects, by default, imports all other files in the same folder that appear to be in the same sequence. Similarly, when you select multiple files that appear to be in a sequence, After Effects, by default, imports them as a sequence. You can see what After Effects is about to import by looking at the bottom of the Import dialog box. You can also import images and sequences by dragging files and folders into the Project panel.  

Note:  To prevent After Effects from importing unwanted files when you want to import only a single file or to prevent After Effects from interpreting multiple files as a sequence, deselect the Sequence option in the Import dialog box. After Effects remembers this setting and thereafter uses it as the default.

You can import multiple sequences from the same folder simultaneously by selecting files from different sequences and selecting Multiple Sequences at the bottom of the Import dialog box.

When importing a sequence of still images, you can use the Force alphabetical order option in the Import dialog box to import a sequence with gaps in its numbering (for example, Seq1, Seq2, Seq3, Seq5). If you import a sequence with gaps in its numbering without selecting this option, After Effects warns you of missing frames and replaces them with placeholders (if the Report Missing Frames option is checked in After Effects > Settings > Import).

After Effects uses the settings of the first image in the sequence to determine how to interpret the images in the sequence.

If the image files in a sequence are of a layered file type—such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator documents—you can choose to import the sequence as a standard footage item or as a composition in which each layer in each file is imported as a separate sequence and appears as a separate layer in the Timeline panel.

Note:  When you render a composition that contains a numbered sequence, the output module uses the start frame number as the first frame number. For example, if you start to render on frame 25, the name of the file is 00025.

Verify individual image sequence files

Importing image sequence files in After Effects does not individually verify every file in the sequence. This accelerates the image sequence import process, especially when you import from network storage. However, if the sequence includes files that are aliases or shortcuts that don't resolve, for example, if the drive is offline, After Effects does not report those files as missing.

Suppose you encounter unexpected missing frames while importing an image sequence. In that case, you can enable the Verify Individual Files option, which is comparatively slower but verifies all files in the sequence (Select After Effects > Settings > Import > enable the Sequence Footage and Verify Individual Files (slower) options.

Import a still-image sequence as a single footage item

  1. Select File > Import > File.

  2. Select any file in the sequence. To import a subset of files in a sequence, select the first file, hold down Shift, and then select the last file to import.

  3. Choose Footage from the Import As dropdown menu.

  4. Select Open.

If at any time you decide that you want access to the individual components of the footage item, you can convert it to a composition.

Import a still-image sequence as a composition

When you import a Photoshop or Illustrator file as a composition, you can access the individual layers, blending modes, adjustment layers, layer styles, masks, guides, and other features created in Photoshop or Illustrator. The imported composition and a folder containing each of its layers as footage items appear in the Project panel.

  1. Select File > Import > File.

  2. Select any file in the sequence. To import a subset of files in a sequence, select the first file, hold down Shift, and then select the last file to import.

  3. Choose one of the following from the Import As dropdown menu:

    Composition - Retain Layer Sizes

    Import the layers, each with its original dimensions.

    One reason to import as a composition with layers at their original dimensions (rather than importing each layer at the composition frame size) is so that each layer has its anchor point set at the center of the cropped graphics object rather than at the center of the composition frame. This often makes transformations work more than you’d expect and prefer when animating individual layers of an imported graphic item. For example, suppose you have a car with a separate layer for each wheel. In that case, importing as a composition with layers at their original sizes puts the anchor point of each wheel in the center of the wheel, which makes rotating the wheels work as you’d expect.

    Composition  Import layers and have the dimensions of each match the dimensions of the composition frame.

  4. Select Open.

Convert a merged footage item into a composition

When you import a layered file, such as a Photoshop or Illustrator file, as footage, all of its layers are merged together. If at any time you decide that you want access to the individual components of the footage item, you can convert it to a composition.

  • To convert all instances of a footage item, select it in the Project panel and select File > Replace Footage > With Layered Comp.
  • To convert only one instance of the footage item, select the layer in the Timeline panel and select Layer > Convert To Layered Comp.
Note:  It may take a few moments to convert a merged footage item to a layered composition.

Change the frame rate of a sequence

When you import a sequence of still images, it assumes the frame rate specified by the Sequence Footage preference in the Import category. The default rate is 30 frames per second (fps). You can change the frame rate after importing by reinterpreting the footage item:

  1. Select the sequence in the Project panel, select File > Interpret Footage > Main, and then enter a new value for Assume This Frame Rate.

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