Fill and Stroke are in Separate Groups when Converted to Shape Layer in After Effects

[Lee21785855ekdo]

Hi. I am currently trying to prepare an Illustrator file and import it into After Effects, so that I'm later able to animate it. Main issue is that once converted to a shape layer in AE, the fill and stroke for each object in that layer are in a separate group, for example, I end up having 16 groups when I should actually have 8.

Here's a look at my proccess for more info:

- AI Layers are Released to Layers (Sequence) before importing to AE.

- AI File is imported as a Composition, and I retain layer size.

- Create shapes from vector layer.

I have provided screenshots that show separate groups in AE for a plant illustration where I would like each leaf to be in its own group, but instead, it splits the stroke and fill into Group 1 (stroke)  and Group 2 (fill), same goes for the rest.

Only "fix" is to repeat the same proccess, but instead, delete every other layer in Illustrator and keep the plant only (named "plant R - 1"), which gives me both the fill and stroke for each leaf in a singular group as intended. Not sure why it works this way when the process and layer hierarchy is the same, there's gotta be something I'm missing when I release to layer (sequence) accross all layers at once. I also tried doing it individially for each, but it ONLY works when I delete certain or all other layers, so its possible that its an issue with another layers' grops or clipping masks.

I hope that I was able to describe the issue properly, been going at it for a few hours now and still no fix.

I appreciate any help, let me know if there is any other information I could provide to help resolve this issue.

Thank you

[Ton Frederiks]

There is probably an alternative way to get your Illustrator layers in After Effects.

If I import an Illustrator file as a Composition from Footage, I can select Import As > Composition - Retain Layer Sizes.

All layers are there and fill and stroke are one object.

No need to convert to shape layer. Don't forget to turn on Continuously Rasterize for the best result when scaling.

[Mike_Gondek]

Works fine for me. Try to simplify to not have subgroups.

Also do you have one vector object for each leaf, or do you have  fill object, and then a stroke object?

Check that your appearance looks like mine for each leaf.

[Lee21785855ekdo · Accepted solution]

I just went through each layer and found that the issue was that some objects were not in Normal blending mode and 100% opacity. I simply reset them back to default and that seemed to fix everything once imported and converted to a shape layer in After Effects. I appreciate the help!