FAQ: How to fix "Unknown BIB Error" in After Effects

[nishu_kush]

When do I get the "Unknown BIB Error" error in After Effects?

A bad font or corrupted font cache could cause this error to appear in the following situations:

• While previewing.
• When opening a project.
• In some cases, you might see this error at launch.

Solution:

Our community recommends the following solutions:

• Reload Illustrator files - Right-click the Illustrator files in the Project panel and select Reload Footage

• Remove newly installed and duplicate fonts. Instructions are below - 

• Windows: https://bit.ly/3Uf9fwK 
• macOS: https://apple.co/3BzjqF3

• Clear the font cache. Instructions are below -

• Windows: https://bit.ly/3B7u841 
• macOS: Restart your Mac in Safe mode to automatically remove font cache: https://bit.ly/3La85yh

• Clear After Effects preferences -  https://adobe.ly/3t5x7Hd 

[Jürg5FCD]

What Media Codecs to you have? We use .mxf long gop. I assume some troubles from this side or maybe the blackmagic Decklink card we are using for video playback.

[limcsi]

Now I'm facing with this error for the first time. I'm working with expression drivem offset path on shape layers. I have to switch them off and it's working. But I need to find another way to visualize what I want.

[Gunes Ozcan_work]

I tried all these, and I am still having the issue. 

[20656899229705822p4nn]

They were corrupt AI files but even after reloading them the error kept happening. I copied and pasted my elements into a new  AI file an resaved under a different name and tried again and nothing worked. I cleared the cache, unsyced my fonts, resynced, updated my driver, changed AI preview to CPU and off, updated AE and AI, nothing.

If this is happening to you even after doing all of this, do your AI files have links to PSD elements? Remove those elements and try again. I deleted all those layers that were just linked assets and the error stopped. This project got collected and passed around 5+ times, so Im sure along the way those assets got corrupted, but the vector parts themselves were fine, obviously. I just had to manually replace the missing AI layers that were originally the PSD link, and manually replace them in AE with the ACTUALY photoshop file, and not just the AI layered version that comes in when you import as a composition/retian layer sizes.

Took 2 days but it was the PSD links in AI the whole time. 

[Martini Peres]

One of the possible causes of this error is that you have imported some Illustrator files in your project, and After Effects is having trouble reading them. This happened to me as well when my files were corrupted and were having have complex vector shapes that i used for my client project [1]. Illustrator files are vector graphics, which means they are made of mathematical curves and points, rather than pixels. After Effects can import Illustrator files and convert them into shape layers, which are also vector graphics.

• Step 1: Open After Effects, find the Illustrator files (.ai) in the Project panel or via Window > Project.
• Step 2: Right-click an Illustrator file, select “Reload Footage” to fix errors, or select multiple files for a batch reload.
• Step 3: Open the error-causing Illustrator file in Adobe Illustrator via “Reveal in Explorer” (Windows) or “Reveal in Finder” (Mac).
• Step 4: In Illustrator, copy all elements (Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C) and paste them into a new file (Ctrl+V), save as a new name.
• Step 5: Import the new Illustrator file into After Effects as a composition with “Composition - Retain Layer Sizes.”
• Step 6: The imported file appears as a .aep composition in the Project panel.
• Step 7: Adjust layer properties and add effects in the Timeline panel; preview with spacebar or 0 on the numeric keypad.
• Step 8: Replace the original file with the new file in your project by dragging it while holding Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac).
• Step 9: Save your project (Ctrl+S or Command+S) or save a new version via File > Save As with a different name.

Thanks and Hope it helps too.

N

[larsonreevers]

Thanks Martini, this really helped