After Effects to Final Cut Pro Workflow

[John Kaley]

Thanks Jeremy, There simply must be a difference in how you’re set up. Is your AE and FCP on a different machine by chance?

I’m on one machine with an 8TB Caldigit HDOne. This sounds like a permissions thing, but I’m glad to know that it’s possible to do this somewhere in the world.

[Jamie Pickell]

I use a free script from Popcorn Island that you drop in your AE scripts folder. You can find it here:
https://www.popcornisland.com/2009/03/final-cut-2-after-effects/
I drop the shots I want to send to FCP on a new timeline, export an XML and then run the script in AE to interpret the XML into an AE timeline. This allows you to see the original media so you have handles. Once I do my graphics work, I export a QT in the matching codec of my FCP timeline and drop it on a layer above the shots I sent to AE. This way I always know which shots I sent to AE and it helps the poor AP or AE who has to create an Annotated EDL or Shot Sheet. If I have to make revisions, I just export a new QT from AE and replace the one on my FCP timeline. I always keep my various exports and AE timelines.

Hope that helps.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[John Kaley] “Thanks Jeremy, There simply must be a difference in how you’re set up. Is your AE and FCP on a different machine by chance?”

I’m setup just like you, just a Sonnet raid, not CalDIg.

Could be some sort of permissions thing, I guess.

[Jeremy Garchow]

What version of AE do you have, John? I have seriously been doing this all the live long day, today.

[John Kaley]

Jeremy, I’ve had every version of FCP and AE back to version 3 in 1995 and have never been able to do your process. Now that I know it’s possible, I’m really interested in making it work.

My process is to make the AE clip offline in FCP, go to AE and render the new clip, then relink in FCP.

I’m currently using FCP 7 and AE CS5.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[John Kaley] “I’m currently using FCP 7 and AE CS5.”

Yep, that’s what I have too.

I don’t touch the file in FCP first, though, I simply blast over the current file out of AE. I have seriously done this about 25 times today for both movies and text graphic stills.

Jeremy

[Ian Corbin]

Hey Chris,
I am having the exact same problem you explained in your initial post. I’m starting to think it’s a permissions problem as well. I used to be able to render a file out of AE and them it would dynamically relink in FCP, but within the last year I often have to quit FCP and restart so it won’t link up to the old file in the trash. I’m trying to solve this.

Ian

[Ernie Geefay]

I’m no expert but I was having the same problem trying to overwrite a file in after effects for a Final Cut Pro project.

I found that if I tabbed away from my FCP project sequence…. over to an empty sequence (or a different sequence) BEFORE trying to render my after effects clips, After effects would let me overwrite the old movie file with the new one.
Then when I went back to FCP I would just tab back to the sequence for my project and the clip would automatically update….just like in the good old days