Update the way AE handles alphabetizing in the Project Window

Rather than "unexpected", I think the problem here is that After Effects is using sorting rules that aren't obvious. There ARE rules, they just don't conform to your expectations. 😉

I'd like to add to this suggestion (which is good, and I did vote for it) that perhaps instead of just changing the universal sorting rules to be different, that After Effects gives you some sort of control over the sorting rules.

For example, you could choose whether or not that hyphen on the end of "04-" causes a different sorting order. The option could be called something like "names that end in numerals sort separately" or something like that. And then we can argue over whether it should be enabled by default. 😛

Regardless, hopefully that clarifies that the sorting rules that After Effects uses were intentional and put there for a reason a long time ago, so if we're going to reassess those rules we should do so in a way that doesn't look archaic in another 20 years, and maybe also gives you some flexibility.

(As you think about this, I encourage you to look at how other apps with sorted lists do this. macOS Finder, Windows Explorer, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, etc. etc. What do you like about those solutions? What would you like to bring to After Effects?)