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MaxZaina
Participant
July 14, 2023
Question

Importing PNG Sequence problem - Error ( 39 :: 44 )

  • July 14, 2023
  • 6 replies
  • 2713 views

hi there, 

 

im having a problem importing a simple PNG sequence into after effects, it keeps coming up with this error and i have no idea of how to resolve it. 

ive looked at a lot of tutorials and have tried changing the names of each png files but still nothing is working.

 

Help!!

    6 replies

    C
    cfparks17402620
    Participant
    April 10, 2025

    I am having this same issue. I exported PNGs from Procreate with an alpha channel. I can import the sequence into Premiere just fine but I get this same error importing into After Effects. I can import a jpg sequence into After Effects. I even tried exporting a new PNG sequence from premiere and also a tiff sequence and both gave me this error. I have yet to test other formats, but I need the alpha channel so options are limited! I can import the same files as individual images, just not in a sequence.

    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2025

    @cfparks17402620 

     

    It is very unusual to be able to import a PNG Image Sequence into Premiere Pro but not After Effects.

     

    I would try selecting the PNG Image Sequence in your Premiere Pro Sequence, right-click, and then choose Replace with After Effects Composition to continue working with the Image Sequence in Ae.

     

    That, or place the PNG Image Sequence in a Timeline by itself, send the Timeline to Media Encoder, and then choose "QuickTime" as the Format and "Apple ProRes 4444 with alpha" as the preset.  The resulting movie file will be large, but it should import into After Effects and maintain the transparency. 

     

    C
    cfparks17402620
    Participant
    April 11, 2025

    Thanks, I did end up making a quicktime with alpha from the sequence in premiere and that imported into AE just fine. I'm baffled as to why it is only AE that is not recognizing the sequence. I tried batch renaming the sequence as well, to no effect. Could there be something embedded in the metadata of each image that overrides the file names?

    C
    Connor33103949j6yy
    Participant
    September 17, 2024

    PC's have a max character count for file paths of 256. Could your file path be too long? I get this problem loads when working on our company Dropbox instead of one of my main drives.

    N
    Nathalie38426404npfc
    Participant
    July 4, 2024

    so anyone found the solution? or not yet 

      D
      david31892088zjog
      Participant
      August 25, 2023

      I have been having this exact same issue same error code mentioning 39::44. Hopefully Adobe can fix this

      R
      Community Expert
      Rick GerardCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 15, 2023

      What does the file name look like? It should be something like myImage-001.png If there are more than 1000 frames, the file name should be myImage-0001.png.  All images should be in the same folder. The numbers should be sequential and they must be at the end of the file name.

      Ishan Y
      Community Manager
      Ishan YCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      July 14, 2023

      Hey MaxZaina,

      Welcome to the community. Could you let us know what is the source of this PNG sequence? Do you see this error message only while importing this specific image sequence? What type of storage device is this sequence saved in? Please also share your current After Effects version (Help > About After Effects) and OS version. 

       

      Thanks,

      Ishan

        M
        MaxZainaAuthor
        Participant
        July 14, 2023
        hello Ishan,

        thanks. I'm assuming the source of the image means that i exported them
        from TVPaint. And no, this error comes up when i try to import any image
        sequence from any format, whether jpeg or from another program (i.e. Adobe
        Animate). I'm assuming the storage device you're referring to is that i put
        them into a separate folder. and my current version of after effects is
        23.5.0, 2023, and my computer is MacOS Ventura, Version 13.4.1

        hope this helps
        Ishan Y
        Community Manager
        Ishan YCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        July 17, 2023

        Thanks for sharing the details. Could you try granting full disk access to After Effects and check if that helps? (Here's how: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/learn-how-to-give-full-disk-access-to-photoshop-on-macos-quick-tip/m-p/12889716#M637838)

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