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james grochowalski
james grochowalski
New Participant
December 18, 2017
Question

Preview Files in Ae easier

  • December 18, 2017
  • 5 replies
  • 6825 views

Hi,

I'm wondering if theres a way to preview files in a folder just like Premiere pro has it's features to view images/video in a folder showing thumbnails. It's odd to me that After effects doesn't have this same capability. Opening one by one in a preview window takes forever. Wondering if theres an add on or script that helps with this.

Thanks!

    5 replies

    lflegg
    lflegg
    Inspiring
    December 1, 2024

    It blows my mind how AE can be such a mature and widely used product and STILL somehow doesn't support thumbnails in the Project panel?! - like not even the option to enable them. What in the world are the design team thinking? Every app including Adobe (Premiere, Photoshop, etc) have all had thumbnails since the dawn of time. 

    But in AE, I have to scroll through a list of potentially hundreds of images, individually clicking on each of them one by one and previewing them to see what they are. 

    So incredible that in 2024 this is still lacking.

      desobot
      desobot
      Participating Frequently
      April 28, 2023

      Is there STILL no thumbnial view within AE? This seems insane. 

        westmeetseast
        westmeetseast
        Participating Frequently
        June 18, 2024

        Not so insane once you realize that A-duh-be is here to only take your money, not help you work more efficiently!

          D
          David Arbor
          Inspiring
          December 19, 2017

          There's a much more robust Media Browser-like script called AEViewer: AEViewer - aescripts.com

          In fact, it was just updated today!

            V
            vobrazovka
            Known Participant
            March 12, 2024

            But AEviewer is only for importing media, does not show those are already imported? Or am I missed something?

            Mylenium
            Mylenium
            Brainiac
            December 19, 2017

            AE has no thumbnail mode, but as Dave said, the preview shows at the top of the project window when you select an item.

            Mylenium

              Dave_LaRonde
              Dave_LaRonde
              Inspiring
              December 18, 2017

              What, are you saying that when you highlight a clip in the project pane, you don't see a thumbnail at the top of the pane?

              A
              Anthony5ECB
              Known Participant
              November 16, 2023

              This isn't the answer. The answer is simply "no". Obviously you can see the preview up top in the project panel, but you cannot see every clip as a preview thumnail in one window. This is what the OP was asking about. This is unfortunate if you have a lot of footage and are looking for clips of specific content. You have to go through every single clip one-by-one to find what you're looking for, and the only difference between doing this and opening each clip in the Footage window is that you click on it once instead of twice. 

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