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zythe84
Participant
Sep 25, 2020 12:40 AM UTC
Question

aep file won't open, stuck on "open project (not responding)"

I have an After Effects file that was working totally fine earlier today, but now I cannot open the file.  When I do, it just lingers on the "Open Project" screen, shortly followed by "(not responding)".  I also cannot open any of the Auto-Save files, even the ones from yesterday in which I know the file was working fine.

 

The file has Dynamic Links to a Premiere Project I am working on.  I've tried opening After Effects using the Ctrl+Alt+Shift Click method to clear preferences; I've cleard the cache; copied file to new location and drive; removed MEDIA folder to try to break links.  All have the same result....

 

If the file is corrupt, why would the auto-save files also not be working?  This makes me wonder if there is something fishy going with the Dynamic Links...

 

Please help!

22 replies

jawad_0271
Participant
Oct 7, 2024 11:58 PM UTC

What is the Solution for a Windows user?

 

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Midnight288
Midnight288
Participant
Jul 21, 2025 5:48 PM UTC

Hi. Ok, I have a fix for Windows. Open the task manager using Ctrl. Alt. Delete. Right click and erase all the "Headless Premiere" items that open up. I'm not an expert but I think it's trying to dynamically link and getting hung up when that fails. It should allow you to open AE and sort out the dynamic link.

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    Ahmad Hafidz
    Ahmad Hafidz
    Participant
    Aug 3, 2025 3:54 PM UTC

    I've tried this and it works, but it also messes up the Dynamic Link capability to relink, I've ended up render out my Premiere dynamic link into an MP4 and replace the footage in my AE composition.

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    Mr.37480559baft
    Participant
    May 20, 2024 1:40 PM UTC

    same problem plz help me ?

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    Mr.37480559baft
    Participant
    May 20, 2024 1:51 PM UTC

    same problem 

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      Simone Blax
      Simone Blax
      Participant
      Nov 21, 2020 10:10 AM UTC

      I have a mac, but I solved the problem by shutting down the "aerendercore" process. It's outrageous, but that's the way I do it and it works. You just need to wait less then a minute after closing it and then it all come back to life. 


      Here's an example because it's still doing it to me...

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pva4msbDrdRhC7ZQ37eQLZ7VsRxdeLP_/view?usp=sharing

      ADOBE DO SOMETHING PLEASE

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        ferdinandd55451452
        Participant
        Dec 16, 2020 10:22 PM UTC

        This just helped a lot, thanks!!! 

        But still, this actually outrageous, sometimes i feel like every update I make, makes the CC perform worse. (And also makes me wonder why I pay for it)

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          Simone Blax
          Simone Blax
          Participant
          Dec 31, 2020 2:05 PM UTC

          I know that feeling. But you can't do anything if these major problems begin when you almost finished your project. Still... adobe is a great product 

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          Andrew Yoole
          Andrew Yoole
          Inspiring
          Sep 25, 2020 1:20 AM UTC

          Some of the usual things to try:

           

          • Restart your machine

          • Create a new project and import the old project into it

          • Test the project file on another machine

           

           

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            zythe84Author
            Participant
            Sep 25, 2020 1:51 AM UTC

            Hi Andrew,

             

            Thanks for your reply!  I have tried restarting the machine, no dice.  I have also created a new file and attempted to import, no dice.

             

            I don't have another machine to test on, but I don't believe that the file itself is corrupt, but rather there is some conflict related to the Dynamic Linking.  I think this because I was using After Effects 2019, so I thought I would try updating to 2020.  After installing, I tried opening the file and lo and behold, IT OPENED!  When doing so, it threw all kinds of warning/errors about the Dynamic Links and told me I would need to download and install Premiere 2020 as well.  So I closed it out, downloaded Premiere 2020, then tried again... Back to square one.

             

            I'm kicking myself for not trying to save as while I had it open, but it seemed to have been resolved.  Now, I'm just trying to recreate a way of getting it open again....

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              Andrew Yoole
              Andrew Yoole
              Inspiring
              Sep 25, 2020 6:01 AM UTC

              It's certainly important that you have all the related software to your current AE version installed.  If you're using After Effects 2020, make sure you have Premiere Pro 2020 and Media Encoder 2020 installed as well.

               

              Also note you can have multiple versions installed simultaneously, so make sure you have all the 2019 versions installed as well, then force it to open in the older version?  

               

              Worth a try.

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