When you render a comp created by Dynamic Link, you must manually replace the shot in the Premiere Pro timeline. The Linked AEP/Comp file will remain in the sequence and increase the render time. If I am planning to render and replace a shot in a Premiere Pro sequence, I first change the label color of the shot and rename the shot in the timeline. Then I create an After Effects composition from the shot, save the AEP file, return to Premiere Pro and undo the Dynamic Link. This leaves me with a different colored shot in the Premiere sequence so I can easily find it and drop the rendered shot above it, which keeps Premiere running smoothly and helps keep things organized.
The answer to your second question is pretty straightforward. Dynamic Link creates After Effects Compositions. You can have many compositions in a single Project file. I almost always keep all created comps in the same AEP (project file) for every scene in the movie I'm editing in Premiere Pro.
To answer your third question, generally, you should do everything you can to finish the shot in After Effects before returning to Premiere Pro. I often create more than one version of a shot. Sometimes I go back to the same comp four or five times to make subtle changes. If you go into your finder or folder, rename an earlier version before rendering the replacement, and use the same file name to render the update, your Premiere Pro sequence will update automatically.
Developing an efficient workflow for editing a movie takes a long time. No two projects are the same, and no two people work the same, but there are some things you can do to stay organized and use your time better. There is no magic book or tutorial that I know of that will make you a master in a few weeks. You will get better at it.
I'm going to get on my soap box for a minute. When I started in this business about a half-century ago (yeah, I'm an old guy), my first real project was an—hour-long documentary shot on 16mm film with double system sound. The project director was a very experienced film and television producer/director and writer. I will never forget our first planning meeting. We sat down in the conference room at KIRO television in Seattle with the entire team. Jim Topping, our producer, said, "We are all going to use the same system for keeping track of our notes, shots, locations, and ideas that successful filmmakers have been using since people started making movies." I still use the same system today. Here are the basics:
Every project has a master file (folder), which includes the start date, the project name, and the project description. I'm just starting a documentary on farming in the Sacramento valley. I put the Project Master folder in Dropbox to easily share it. The file name for the master folder is 22-0708 SacValey Ag MSTR 001. That tells me that the project was started on July 8, 2022. The Project Name is SacValey Ag and the first set of master files inside the folder. Every folder I create to store anything from footage to Premiere Pro, Photoshop, to After Effects files start with 22-0708 Sac Valey Ag and then describes the folder's contents with names like Script, SB (storyboards), Notes, REL (releases). Not all the folders are on the same drive or in the same filing cabinet, but they all start with the start date for the project, the project name, and the contents.
Let's get down to the editing and workflow part of your project. A movie is comprised of scenes and shots. A short film may have one scene. A feature film may have several acts, and each show may have several scenes. I have a master Premiere Pro project with version numbers. Inside the project is a master sequence (Premiere Pro Timeline), but the master for a long film is a compilation of shorter scene sequences that are all cut on separate timelines. Did you follow that? I never work on a long-form project where every shot is in one timeline. Changes get too hard to handle.
Let's dive down to the scene levels. You have footage folders that should also be organized and effects shots that may be included in a scene. When you use Dynamic Link to generate an After Effects comp, you are asked to save a Project file before you begin. When you want to use Dynamic Link to create a new comp for another shot, you can keep that comp in the same AE project file you have already started. If you have followed a good file naming convention, the file name for that AE project file might be something like 22-08 SacValey Ag FX Scn 22.aep. That file name tells me this AEP file is for my Sac Valey project scene 22. The comps would be named for the shot number and have a description in the sequence, and now everything can be easily located. When the comps are rendered, the files take on the shot name and are placed in the rendered FX footage folder, so all rendered effects shots for the film are in the same folder. Everything is organized, and I can find everything if I have to return to the project a month or two years later.
I hope that helps you get and stay organized.
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