Animating AI symbols in AE

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies.

Firstly - I'm aware of the possibility of precomping layered AI files and replacing them, or clicking on/off in timeline if that's a preference - but I'll quickly explain what the weather bulletin is about:

The AI file has three views on the same pasteboard - seen as consecutive precomped single screen images individually in AE - of the same location at 12am, 10am and 4pm - and there are five weather symbols, for indicated towns, on each map in precisely the same location each time.

There is also a three-day outlook as a fourth view with five more of those weather symbols.  So every day I have to update 20 (twenty!) weather symbols along with temperature icons (the easy bit)

So as you can imagine, precomping AI weather icons and putting them in AE would lead to a long list of icons to use for EACH indicated town.  It'd be time-consuming (as opposed to simply shift-selecting any number of relevant weather symbols and replacing them in one on-screen view on AI - very quick process.)

I'm trying to avoid anything that makes the weather update a longer process to be honest.  If there is no way of animating weather symbols that isn't then an intuitive on-screen update process (as opposed to scrolling down long lists in the project window or timeline layers) then I'd just drop that idea.

But thanks for getting back to me so quickly.  If you do have any further tips, always pleased to hear more though!

jamesn44620985When I export the AI symbol into AE, the layers are merged rather than kept separate, so I can't do anything with the symbol in AE as far as I know.

you should separate the elements you wish to animate to different layers. Ae only converts the top most layers to Ae layers. read about it here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/preparing-importing-still-images.html#preparing_and_importing_illustrator_files

I'd like to be able to replace a weather symbol in AI (eg from sunny to cloudy) and then save the file to update it, while AE uses a precomp to animate WHATEVER that symbol is, on specific parts of it, eg the cloud, or the sun and so on.  Is that ever possible?

you could do that. if you replace the artwork in the layer in Ai, it will update in Ae.

but maybe what you should do is create all the various elements you need in Ai (cloud, sun, rain etc. in one file) bring them all to Ae as composition with layers, create animation for each in it's own comp, and then in the master comp you can place the one you need from the library of comps you would have in your project panel. if you need to replace an animated symbol in your timeline, simply select the replacement in the project panel and use the replace source short cut Ctrl+Alt+/. here's an example of a similar setup of a weather map we use here:

Well, you have to start by putting the individual elements of each icon onto its own Illustrator layer -- not a path or compound path, but a real Illustrator layer.  This is typically something people who principally work in Illustrator hardly ever do, because they rarely have to do it.