How to use a template in After Effects?

[omnius42]

This seems so simple, I have to be missing something.  I created a new project and bunch of compositions.  I made several animations, created a complex parent comp, and connected it to variables in Essential Graphics.  I then told it to create a template from that and told it to put it in the "Local Templates Folder" (wherever that is).

I then create a new project and composition and now can't find anywhere in After Effects that I can import/use/load a template.  I thought it would be in libraries, but searching for the name I provided above returns nothing at all.  There is no "template" window and the Essential Graphics panel has nothing about importing or using a template.

Every tutorial I can find online is for Premiere users.  I don't need to use this template in Premiere, I need to use it in After Effects.  Of course, I can just add the original project, but it has dozens of comps in it.  I just want the template.  Not to mention that I might have downloaded the template from someone else, so I don't have the original project.

How do I use a template in After Effects?

[Jqke]

If you have an AEP file just drag it into the Project panel like you would with footage. Same with an AET file. With a MOGRT, you have to go to File > Open Project > MOGRT FILE LOCATION and open it through the browser.

[omnius42]

Jake,

Thanks but that doesn't answer my question.  I asked how to use a MOGRT file in another project, not how to open it as a project.  I found 154 other MOGRT files that Creative Cloud installed into multiple locations.  However, I cannot just drag an MOGRT file into an After Effects project (I tried that).  So, I still don't know how to incorporate either my MOGRT files or any of these 154. 

In my research I did find instructions on how to dig down into a MOGRT and pull out the files (of which apparently there could be many depending on the complexity of the template, including fonts, graphics, videos, AEP files, etc.) and then add all those to an AE project, but that's extremely inconvenient to have to do that to every template I want to use.  It makes no sense that you can create templates but can't actually use them in AE.

I did figure out that the "Local Templates Folder" is actually "C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Motion Graphics Templates".  

[Jqke]

Oh.. I'm sorry, I misunderstood. Yeah it's odd that you can use templates in a project... definitely something Adobe should fix. Glad you figured something out! 🙂

[omnius42]

Thanks Jake.  Something else I didn't realize is that the Essential Graphics variables work if you use the template just as an AEP file.  This is not obvious.

[Roland Kahlenberg]

There are two amazing features built into the Essential Graphics Panel and one of them is Essential Properties - this feature works only in AE and it allows you to nest a preComp and have control over an Essential Property's keyframes and values independent of the KFs/value of the originating comp - a bit tricky to conjecture at first thought but it's an immensely powerful feature that any serious AE user will want to use - I probably saved about 100 hours of rendering on a single project, with the use of Essential Properties tied to expressions to help speed up setups/rigs.

More info here 
https://helpx.adobe.com/si/after-effects/using/essential-properties.html#:~:text=To%20create%20Essen....

Another good-to-know thingy is that a MoGRT (mgrt file extension) is essential a Zip Package that contains the original AEP as well as all the assets required in the Primary Comp (based on the Essential Graphics Panel) and all related preComps. So, there's quite a bit of leg work happening in the background when you save an AE Comp into a MoGRT. 

For an ideal workflow, when creating a template for use within AE, using the Essential Graphics Panel is to Reduce Project and Remove Redundancies - this reduces dependencies/filesize of the AEP and required assets. This way, you can hand off the AEP while being assured your file size is minimized and your user or you will be able to access the Essential Graphics Panel/Template efficiently. HTH

[Roland Kahlenberg · Accepted solution]

MoGRTs (with the mgrt files extension) were designed to be used in PPro. If you want to use your tempate, designed in AE, within the Essential Graphics Panel, you save it as an AEP and share it similarly. 

However, you can OPEN a MoGRT in AE BUT it has to be done via File Open and not via File Import. So, it has to be the first AEP opened before you bring in anything else. 

Also, you can download AEViewer2 (from Aescripts.com) which allows you to Import MoGRTs into AE, via its UI.

HTH

[omnius42]

Thanks for the reply, it sure seems like an obvious thing to want to use a template you've created in the product in which you created it.  It sure feels like a half-baked feature in many ways, I figured I was just missing something.