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Viewing imported footage


    You can view any movie or graphic item listed in a Project window at full size by opening it in a Footage window. You can also view the footage at different magnifications and examine individual frames.

    When you double-click a movie in the Project window, it opens by default in the appropriate Footage window: QuickTime (.mov) files open in the QuickTime Footage window; Video for Windows (.avi) files open in the Video for Windows Footage window. Still images always appear in an After Effects Footage window.

    The QuickTime and Video for Windows Footage windows do not display the effect of settings made in the Interpret Footage dialog box, such as the alpha channel interpretation. However, for any footage item that includes audio, the QuickTime and Video for Windows Footage windows play the audio, while the After Effects Footage window does not.

    To view the footage with more controls and information but without audio, view it in an After Effects Footage window, where you can trim the footage and insert it into the Timeline window. For more information about playing back, magnifying or reducing, viewing the alpha channel of a footage item, and trimming video, see Composition, Layer, and Footage window controls and Trimming layer footage.

To open a movie in the default Footage window:

    Double-click a movie in the Project window.

To open a movie in an After Effects Footage window:

    Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you double-click a movie in the Project window.

    In the After Effects Footage window, you can trim the footage and insert it into the Timeline window.
    In the After Effects Footage window, you can trim the footage and insert it into the Timeline window.