Naming an After Effects project

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
December 6, 2016
2 replies
7341 views

I am refreshing my training with CC 2017 by using videos in Lynda and other courses. In Premier Pro it is easy to name a project at the start of a new project. Unfortunately, each time I start a new project in After Effects the process of naming a project is unlike Premier Pro. The project starts with Untitled Project. I imagined it should be easy to rename but neither Preferences nor Settings have provided me with the answer.

How do I rename an After Effects project?

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Correct answer Rick Gerard

All new AE projects started in AE are called Untitled Project. As soon as you save (Ctrl/Cmnd + s) you are given the chance to give the project a name. You should do this every time you start a new project. That's all there is to it.

Premiere Pro goes through a name the project routine before you start a project because PPro needs to set up all kinds of directories and file structures for every project. There is no default.

Mylenium

Legend

You save it.

Mylenium

R

Rick Gerard

Correct answer

Community Expert

All new AE projects started in AE are called Untitled Project. As soon as you save (Ctrl/Cmnd + s) you are given the chance to give the project a name. You should do this every time you start a new project. That's all there is to it.

Premiere Pro goes through a name the project routine before you start a project because PPro needs to set up all kinds of directories and file structures for every project. There is no default.

John RatardAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you for information that I have so far not found in training videos.

It would be nice if there was consistency in applications. Apart from refreshing my memory on Effects and technique with training videos, I sometimes use AE or P.Pro on an editing support PC to test functions I do not initially intend to save before applying them on the dedicated editing PC. I find a consistent file structure and tidy habits makes editing life more manageable at the start of a project. As a result, an immediate save to apply a trial project name at startup will require me to go back in the files to delete it.

Szalam

Community Expert

I can understand the confusion as some programs let you name a project when you create it but I don't understand your explanation as to why you would rather not save a project under a dedicated name. If you're not going to save it they why does need a unique name? If at some point you decide to save it then you name it at that point. Why would it need a name prior to that anyway?

As for the fact that auto-save doesn't work until and initial save (even though you claim you do not want it to save) just work from a base project. For example I have a project called basicTemplate.aep, it has a folder structure I like & a few compositions (main, titles and assets) that I use in most projects. I just open AE with that file and then immediately save it with a new name. But even if I do not do an initial save the auto-save function works since I'm working from an existing file.

Gutter-Fish wrote:
I have a project called basicTemplate.aep, it has a folder structure I like & a few compositions (main, titles and assets) that I use in most projects.

The CC 2017 release of AE lets you set up something like this a bit more automatically (details here in the "New Project Templates" section), in case future Google searchers come across this looking for template project workflow ideas.

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