How After Effects works with imported filesWhen you import files, After Effects does not copy the footage item itself into your project but creates a reference link in the Project window to the footage item. This saves disk space. If you delete, rename, or move an imported source file, you break the reference link to that file. When a link is broken, the name of the source file appears in italics in the Project window, and the File Path column lists it as missing. If the footage item is available, you can reestablish the link--usually just by double-clicking the item and selecting the file again. See Replacing and substituting footage. If you use another application to modify footage that is used in a project, the changes appear in After Effects the next time you open the project. See Opening footage in its original application. When you add a footage item to an After Effects composition, you create a new layer, and the footage item becomes the source for the new layer. You can replace the source without affecting any edits you make to the layer properties. |