Exporting Growing Object

[Dave Johnson]

In order to answer, it would be heplful to know:

• what codec the MOV your trying to import is in
• how exactly you’re importing it (drag & drop, file>import menu, etc.)
• what version of AE you’re using
• any other details you can provide

It’s hard to say without much info, but my guess is it’s one of two things … either there is an issue with the file and AE can only read it as a project file or you have a preference set somewhere that makes your default import type project instead of media.

Sorry if I misunderstood your question.

[Ed Blackford]

codec = mpeg-4
importing by file>import
AE CS4

I was following the tutorial on forgingfire.com (if you are familiar with that) on how to make an animated flourish. He forgot to tell us how to export the file correctly. I figured out how to import it as footage after working with it for a while but now it imports with the flourish white and has a black background which i didnt want because now I can’t colorize.

Maybe the question I should ask is in what format should I export my flourish?

[Dave Johnson]

Personally, I consider MPEG4 a web delivery format only (not a working/intermediary or mastering format) so I never import MP4s into AE … for details as to why, look at any of Dave LaRonde’s posts that include his “stock AE answer #1”.

There many good formats and codecs you can use to render out your animation … you just need to choose one with an alpha channel to resolve the black background issue … I usually use Animation, although I’ve also started using PNG a lot lately (PNG lossless video codec, not a PNG sequence).

[Ed Blackford]

Thanks both Daves. I always use Add to Render Queue but don’t really know much about different video files. Now I am going to start reading up on this so I don’t have to ask about them anymore. Thanks a lot guys