An AET file is typically used as a master template in After Effects, letting users open it and save a fresh project each time to preserve the template, and it contains the full design of the animation—compositions, timelines, layer structures, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras, lights, render settings, along with organizational components such as folder layouts and interpretation rules.

What it usually doesn’t contain is the raw media itself; instead it keeps references or paths to external footage, images, and audio, which is why templates are often delivered as a ZIP with an assets/Footage folder and why you’ll see missing-file prompts if items were left out or not synced, and because AETs may rely on specific fonts or third-party plugins, opening one on another machine can trigger missing-effect alerts until everything is installed or relinked, with the final reminder that although AET typically means an After Effects template, file extensions aren’t exclusive, so checking "Opens with" in file properties or recalling where the file came from is the safest way to confirm what program created it and what extra files it should include.

If you have any kind of inquiries relating to where and ways to utilize AET file extension reader, you can contact us at our own web-page. An AEP file acts as the main After Effects project for ongoing work, while an AET is a template meant to be reused, so the workflow contrast is simple: edit an AEP directly as it evolves, but use an AET to start a new project that preserves the original template.

That’s why AET templates are frequently used for ready-made motion graphics such as intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the creator treats the AET as the permanent master, and you open it only to Save As a new AEP before customizing elements like text, color, media, and logos, and while both formats store the same structures—compositions, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both typically link to external footage, the AET exists to preserve the original design whereas the AEP is your editable working file.

An AET file typically preserves the framework and behavior of a motion-graphics project rather than the footage itself, offering compositions with resolution, frame rate, duration, and nesting, and keeping the entire timeline of text, shape, solid, adjustment, and precomp layers, with properties such as position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, parenting, and all animation elements including keyframes, easing curves, markers, and optional expressions.

On top of that, the template retains all effects and their settings—color correction, blurs, glows, distortions, transitions, and more—along with any 3D setup such as cameras, lights, 3D layer properties, and render/preview settings, plus project-level organization like folders, label colors, interpretation rules, and sometimes proxies, but it typically does not bundle full footage, images, audio, fonts, or plugins, instead keeping links and dependencies that may trigger missing-asset or missing-plugin warnings on another computer until everything is relinked or installed.