There's unfortunately no direct way to alter the shape of a stroke, beyond the end caps.  There are a variety of techniques to create "brush strokes" of varying levels of realism, though most of these do get processor-intensive, as they're mostly based on either particle generators or heavy use of the Echo effect.    You'll probably just have to import your Illustrator stroke, but depending on the complexity of your design, here's a trick that might work:  If you make your stroke layer twice the width of your fill, apply the stroke, then non-uniformly scale it back to match, you'll be squeezing the stroke in the process. Here I've got a simple design made from shape layers, with a 600x600 circle fill, and 1200x600 elliptical stroke.  If I then scale the layer to 50%, 100%, it'll smush the stroked copy back down to be the right visual size, but now everything on that layer is only half of it's correct width, giving me an elongated stroke.  This is obviously a very simple example, but there are certainly ways you could apply this concept to more complex art, with the right approach. If you're working with vector art, taking advantage of shape layers' internal transform properties and structure could achieve this with more complex shapes. The Transform effect (likely using multiple instances of it on the same layer), should be able to get you a similar effect when you're not able to work with shape layers.  You can take advantage of rotation or Skew properties (either within shape layers or the Transform effect) to angle the stroke as desired.   ... View more

From your follow-up comment, I think you might be trying to copy/paste this into another layer's Position property, to use it as the motion path? If so, the easiest route is just to select all those new Position keyframes you just created (with your current time indicator on top of one of them), and just drag them into the right place visually.  ... View more

In addition to Rick's answer, shape layers have "Position" properties in multiple locations, which can be confusing if you don't know what to look for. I'm guessing that's probably not at play here, but we're not able to rule it out from your screenshots.  By default, any path you create on a shape layer will have a Position within it's shape group (the red arrow), the layer itself has a Position (the yellow arrow), and then a Path is made up of points with their own positions (which aren't directly visible to users).  If you paste a path from one shape layer to another and it doesn't line up, make sure both of the Position properties I've highlighted here have the same values. If they don't, things won't line up. That said, you can always just manually re-align the path visually, too!    If you're working with parametric shapes (rectangles, ellipses, polygons or stars based on values instead of an editable path), those will have THEIR OWN Position as well!  If this seems like a lot for one shape - it is! It's only when you start using multiple objects to a single shape layer that the need for all this complexity becomes clear.  Good luck, and let us know if you need more guidance! ... View more

You created and imported two different files, so that's what After Effects sees. Assuming your files are built properly, you could unlink the layers of the "old" one and then reconnect them to the new file. In the future, if you're adding layers to a PSD you've already imported into AE, just import only that one layer, and don't create a different file.  ... View more

I agree that having this feature natively would be nice, though Un-Precompose is pay-what-you-want, so it can be free if money is truly an issue.  In many cases, you can also just copy/paste elements between compositions to get the same effect. (There are plenty of exceptions here, but unless you start doing more complex rigging or expressions, a few transform adjustments are really the worst side-effects possible here.) ... View more

Yes, updates made to the layers in your PSD *will* be shown in After Effects.  Importing a layered PSD is essentially like importing multiple unlayered image files; AE is just linking to the files on your hard drive, so if they're updated, that's what AE will display. Adding new layers to the file is like having other files on your hard drive you haven't yet imported. (It would be nice if AE was more aware of new layers, but it's just not how it works currently.) If you make updates to a PSD layer that change the bounds of that layer, it may alter the visual position of it in After Effects, beause it's changing how PS/AE calculate the layer's anchor point.  If you make an update in PS and don't see the update in AE, you can always right-click the layer/file in your Project Panel, and choose "Reload Footage." ... View more

23.3.0.55 Still happening with every marker adjustment. 😞 ... View more

re: "wasn't aware you could do so much in it." After Effects is a huge Swiss army knife of a program, so yes, it handles animations, text, video, and special effects. You can use it to create simple animations with one element, but many complex TV show opens, ads, broadcast graphics and more are all made in After Effects.   I'll say that this is a pretty complex and ambitious look to use to start in After Effects. I would focus on a singular element to start, and see if you're able to wrap your head around things before you dive all the way in. Looking at this illustration, I see a lot of discrete pieces that would need to be created/animated, and then assembled together into a rig so they can move properly together, which can involve some of the more technical aspects of the program to be able to set up in a way that makes them easy to work with. Depending on the variety of animations you have in mind, part of me is inclined to agree with Rick that a proper 3D app might end up ultimately being more flexible for something like this, because you'd be able to set up a responsive rig that could be used for a variety of movements and angles. If everything will always be from this same or a similar view, than AE might be a good solution for you.    As far as the "rope," by which I'm assuming you mean the chains of carbohydrates/glycolipids: I would approach this by animating a stroked path and see if you are able to get the movement you're after. With no layers selected, use the Pen tool to create a line in the shape you'd like. You can enable animation on the Path property you just created, and animate it into the various shapes/movements. There are ways to attach other layers to this later (to get those little hexagons on there) but that's where I'd start!    ... View more

Hey Tom, The answer to most of your questions is "yes," but I know that in itself isn't helpful. To answer most of these helpfully, we'll probably need more information from you.    Illustator (or Photoshop, or Fresco, or other non-Adobe options) can indeed be used to create art. The amount of layering/separation needed will depend on what you need the animation to do. Stock art is always an option as well, though you'll likely need to do some prep work before it's ready for animation.   Either Animate or After Effects can be used to create animations. Which is "correct" depends on your needs and your comfort level with the apps.    To your rope question: this could be done in either place. Are we talking an illustrated/cartoon rope? Photorealistic?    After Effects can work with 2d (flat) layers in 3d space, and/or can add 3d extrusions to certain types of layers. It also has a variety of ways to work both directly and indirectly with actual 3d files.   You'll probably get some responses suggesting After Effects beginner guides, etc., which I typically assume people can Google for if they want them. If you can provide some stylistic references for what you're hoping to achieve, we might be able to guide you more clearly. Animation is a complex subject, so there's only so far our recommendations can go until we get a little closer to what you're truly trying to achieve here.    Let us know how we can help! ... View more

Update for anyone reading this later: I got the same error on my machine, in both the current release and beta. I think this person is out of luck, unfortunately!  This is a good time to underline the importance of a good backup strategy, because sometimes the worst happens!  You can increment save in After Effects, so even if one file gets corrupted, you'll have previous versions of the file to go back to. It's basically a manual Auto-Save. File > Increment And Save. Also, having automated system backups of some kind is advisable for ... pretty much anyone who values what's on their computer, but especially anyone making a living off of digital creations. I personally use BackBlaze, but there are a variety of solutions available. Most of these services allow you to look back at earlier versions of files from your hard drive, up to 30 days ago, which will hopefully get you back to a usable version.  ... View more

Did you get the exact same error after attempting ALL of these?  If you're able to DM me the file, I can see if there's any difference on my system. ... View more

I can't make any promises, but here are some things to try, roughly in the order I'd attempt them. - Do you have AutoSaves? They should be in a folder right next to your project file. - Try creating a new, empty AE project, and import this existing .aep into that. Sometimes it works!  - Have you tried opening this file in the Beta version of AE? You can install from your Creative Cloud App -> Beta Apps. - Do you have any unqiue file types being referenced here? Maybe especially large files? If so, you could try moving them to another location on your hard drive, and see if the file will open then.  - Are you using any third-party plugins for this project? Sometimes those can be finicky, and temporarily uninstalling them can help salvage an otherwise un-openable project. - Try resetting preferences to see if something in there is causing a conflict.  - It sounds like there might be a font-related bug currently, so you could try disabling the fonts used in this project through the Creative Cloud app.    Obviously, a few of these will block your ability to keep working, but if you can at least narrow things down and find your culprit, that's progress! ... View more

Can you post some more details about the sound file(s) you've tried using?   Can you post a screenshot of an After Effects composition with audio that isn't working, including the full timeline and Preview panels?  ... View more

I often keep Libraries open for color palettes, but that's about it. Agree with other comments that it otherwise doesn't feel like a super-relevant need in AE, and probably doesn't need to be in the Default workspace.    Preview and Audio need a lot more vertical space than they're given in the proposed layout. Wouldn't this cause a lot of manual adjustment for those two panels? I personally use a combination of stacked/horizontal panel groups, but imagine the combination of this with the vertical "Accordion" style might be less intuitive for newer users.    I'm probably ok with the Props Panel extending to the bottom of the screen. It feels like it's more effective if you can indeed see more properties at once, and while horizontal space in the Timeline is already at a premium, I'm guessing this layout makes more sense for the intended users of this layout.    Idea: Properties Panel incorporates the functionality of Effect Controls, making the latter mostly obsolete. (I'd want it to remain available for power users, though.) ... View more

Always nice when it's an easy solution!  ... View more

I agree that CC Bend It or CC Bender could both be solutions here. If you needed a more fine-tuned solution, you could use the Bezier Warp effect (under Distort) or Puppet pins. ... View more

Any files stored locally will open just fine once you reactivate your subscription.   If you have files stored in the cloud, you'd want to download those to make sure they still exist. The easiest place to do this is probably on the Creative Cloud desktop app, under "Files." You can manually back up Libraries, or manually download files that you've directly saved to the cloud from mobile apps, for example. Select all applicable files, then on the right-hand menu, you'll see three dots (just below the trashcan icon). In there is a "download" option.    ... View more

Have you tried ungrouping the layers in Ps before importing? If EVERYTHING is nested into one group, I could see how perhaps Ae is getting confused somehow? Ae will typically interpret Ps groups as pre-compositions, but there's a limit to how deeply it can be nested before that stops working.    One other thought: If your .psd has already been imported into Ae as a piece of footage (i.e. everything sandwiched into one asset), you can right-click > Replace Footage > With Layered Comp.  ... View more

I cover that exact question in the linked video!   In most cases, you can also solve this without expressions by pre-composing your layer before applying the affect, but using expressions feels like the most efficient and editable solution to me.  ... View more

re: Anchor Point vs Position (Parenting) & Point Controls in Effects These two are related issues, relying on an understanding of "Composition Space" vs "Layer Space."   This stuff can be a little tricky to wrap your head around at first (and takes a while to write out explanations). Fortunately, I've explained these concepts in videos already, so I'll just refer you there to start:   This video will both explain this concept of Comp Space vs Layer Space, and also offer some solutions to common questions: https://www.youtube.com/live/xeBrtrrKDVA   A short summary: Position is actually the position of the layer's Anchor Point in Composition Space. ...until you parent that layer to something. The child layer's Position is now the position of its Anchor Point in the Parent layer's Layer Space. (That's why the Position value changes when you parent a layer.) The Point controls within effects add another layer of complication here (a different but similar issue, which can also be combined with the above idea to make it even more confusing - ha!)   Hopefully the above video will point you in the right direction - once you've got your head wrapped around that, let us know if you have more questions!     ... View more

re: Track Mattes / Set Matte   Yes, the Set Matte effect works differently from Track Mattes, though they have some overlapping functionality.  Here's a good overview of Track Mattes, respecting the recent updates to this feature: https://youtu.be/rvAXZl8Ypus    Here's a good overview of Set Matte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfmuXUgATpo Personally, I mostly end up using Set Matte for textures (like in Jake's example), or to matte a layer with itself. (Example, you get a logo from a client with a white background instead of transparent; you could possibly use Set Matte, set to luminance, to use the layer's own white/black values to cut itself out.) It does have a "gotcha," in that it requires your layer and matte source to have the same dimensions (which usually means pre-composing). In short, this new Track Matte functionality makes a lot of what Set Matte *used* to be needed for obsolete, so if you can't understand how to make it work quite yet, direct your energy at Track Mattes.      ... View more

In some cases, the little "sun" icon in the Switches column can solve issues like this. Depending on the context, that's either enabling "Continuous Rasterization," (when dealing with an imported Adobe Illustrator doc/layer) or "Collapse Transformations," (when dealing with a pre-composition).      Without knowing more about what kind of layer you were working with here, the workaround seemed like the best suggestion. There are plenty of cases where that "workaround" is the totally-correct solution, too! ... View more

Since you don't need a ton more, I would just add the effect Grow Bounds above your Wave Warp (I presume) effect. Crank the "Pixels" value up until nothing is being cut off. Should do the trick!  ... View more

I'd also love to see all these features!  For the time being, there's a tool named AE Viewer that does help address most of this request. https://aescripts.com/aeviewer/ ... View more

Once you've created at least one stroke with the Roto Brush, you should see this "Freeze" button at the bottom of your viewer.  ... View more

I'm very much on board with this. After Effects has this functionality, copying the folder structure you create within AE's project panel. My edit projects usually have WAY more assets, with WAY more bins. Being able to retain that organization in a collected project just makes sense. ... View more

+1 for an option to disable this. Keyframing in Pr is already clunky (compared to AE), and this is just one more strike. The animation features that exist in Pr are very helpful, but definitely need some help on usability. Giving us one little checkbox to disable this pop-up would be a step in the right direction. ... View more

Glad you found this!  I have noticed this as well - sometimes if you had used the C4D Renderer in a previous project, it can "stick" and actually be selected in comps that don't have 3d layers - which normally doesn't present a problem, unless you're exporting Mogrts!  ... View more