Single Channel image format support

[nickn35634941]

Ello, I'm working on a heavy project in after effects, using a lot of greyscale content for masks etc, which made me wonder:

1. what single channel image formats does AE support?
2. if it supports any, does it internally handle them as single channel textures? or is it treating them as rgb under the hood, in other words, does it make use of the 3x perf increase of only having to calculate 1 channel instead of 3?

[lillian_8167]

After Effects supports single-channel image formats like .EXR and .TIFF for grayscale content. When you import them, AE typically handles them as single-channel textures for tasks like masking, which means it doesn't use the full RGB data. However, under the hood, AE might still process them as RGB, meaning it could potentially use more memory and processing power than if it were purely a single channel. The performance increase from using only one channel isn't always fully realized unless you're specifically optimizing the workflow for that purpose.