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Michal30658209d88r
Participating Frequently
May 16, 2025
Open for Voting

Importing as footage or composition - why AE asks twice for this?

  • May 16, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 333 views

Hi,
This is going on for years and I dont get it - why AE is asking us TWICE, in two separate dialogue windows, wheter we want to import the asset as a composition, or footage? So annoying! At least when You choose "footage" there's no additional dialogue necessary, with "compostion" i get it - there are some additional options regarding layer styles from PS.

    3 replies

    G
    Guru35926625f4pm
    Participant
    June 5, 2025

    exactly! I am thinking about this behavior for almost decade and I still do not get it. Why this option is duplicated..

    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 19, 2025

    It's my understanding that the dialog box on the After Effects side allows for options that are not supported in the macOS/Windows dialog boxes like "Merge Layers Styles Into Footage".

    If you switch to drag and drop import, you'll just have the After Effects dialog box.

      thepixelsmith
      Community Expert
      thepixelsmithCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 18, 2025

      Also if you import as footage you have to decide whether you want to flatten the entire document or just extract a single layer from it. That is the way it is handled in both AI and PSD import.

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