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Substituting a placeholder for footage


    A placeholder appears in After Effects as a still image of color bars. You can apply a mask, effects, and geometric properties to a placeholder. When the actual footage item becomes available, you can replace the placeholder with it, and the applied attributes and keyframes are transferred to the actual footage.

    For best results, set the placeholder to exactly the same size, duration, and frame rate as the actual footage.

To use a placeholder:

  1. Choose File > Import > Placeholder or File > Replace Footage > Placeholder.
  2. In the New Placeholder dialog box that appears, specify the placeholder's name, size, frame rate, and duration, and then click OK.

To replace a placeholder with the actual footage:

  1. In the Project window, double-click the placeholder you want to replace.
  2. Locate and select the actual footage, and then click OK, or choose File > Replace Footage > File to locate the file.