If you saved a comp and it now will not open, and you cannot import the comp, and you have restarted your computer, and other comps open without issues, then the problem comp is corrupted beyond repair. Sorry about your troubles, but those are the cold hard facts.
Try this workflow in the future.
- Make sure AutoSave is turned on in your After Effects Preferences and the timing is set to a reasonable amount
- Start a new comp and/or import some assets and create a new comp
- Before you do anything else, save the project file, select a proper folder, and give the project file a name.
- After you make significant changes or after you change design ideas save a copy with a version name so you can easily go back if you need to.
I have been using the same folder and file naming structure since 1970 when I started in this business and clips were stored in a clip bin, call sheets and shot logs were written on paper, and big metal filing cabinets with file folders in them kept track of everything from the script, to storyboards, to directors notes, to the scene and shot logs. It's pretty simple. Everything goes in a Project folder that starts with a start date (year first) Client name or Project, and version number and/or project number. Inside that folder are folders for everything from scripts, storyboards, notes, even invoices, and contracts. I also have Separate Project files for all major apps. For example, on my working Project Drive called "Master A" I have a Projects folder. Inside that Project folder, I have a folder named 21-0525 MH Documentary that contains everything related to that project. The project was started May 25, 2021, and it is simply named "MH Documentary."
Inside the 21-0525 MH Documentary folder I have folders named Agreements, Invoices, Assets, Notes, Script, and finally, for my AE, Premiere, Logic, Audition, DaVinci, C4D, Blender, and any other app that I may use I have a ProjectMain folder that holds all of those files. Inside the Assets folder, I have aliases that point to my Master Storage drive (a large, fast external thunderbolt drive formatted as raid 10 for redundancy) for footage and large assets that would choke my Master A drive. The documentary has 3 years of 4K footage and it fills 30 TB so it would not be a good idea to put that much footage on the same drive that contains the project files or the program files. All of that footage is organized by date, location, camera, and subject matter.
Are you following this? It doesn't matter if my project is a 30-second TV commercial with three shots or a documentary with more than 200 hours of footage, everything is always organized in a way that I can quickly find anything I want. and when It comes time to archive a project I just hook up to my network and more the 21-0525 MH Documentary folder to the archives and file the footage folders in my archival storage. This lets me return to any project in a few minutes and have everything in place. All major studios, tv stations, and production facilities have the same kind of system setup. It's only freelancers, independent filmmakers, students, or enthusiasts that have files scattered all over the place and lose things. Maybe I should do a tutorial.
One more point, my Projects folder never gets extremely large because it only contains aliases to the larger asset files, and the Projects folder always has a Dropbox folder in it where the current WIP-00 folder lives, and that folder is the one that contains the 21-0525 MH Documentary folder so power failures, complete computer failures, fire, and theft have little or no chance of destroying any of my critical files because they are all backed up on the net and the original footage files and images are all locked in a safe.
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