Importing Illustrator files to After Effects

[Chris Harvey]

import as COMPOSITION rather than as FOOTAGE.

AFX will create a new composition within your project,
along with a folder containing each, both named as the AI file is named.

bring this comp into your working comp for master manipulation,
or open this comp separately to manipulate within the layers.

[Lars Bunch]

Hi,

When you import the file, AE should pop up with a dialog box that lets you either accept the file as a whole, or you can import a single layer at a time by clicking on the “select individual layer” radio button.

As far as I know, if you have 27 layers (as I did in a recent project) you will have to import and select each individual layer one at a time. Kind of annoying, but that seems to be how it works. If anyone has a script or knows some easy short cut to importing all Illustrator layers as separate layers, I’d sure like to hear about it.

One thing to watch out for, if you set up your comp with the separate illustrator layers and then at some later point add or otherwise change layers in the illustrator file, AE is likely to get confused. Maybe it was an weird, isolated case with what I was doing, but I found that AE would jumble up the order of the layers in the comp unless I was careful, when working in Illustrator, to add the new layers only at the bottom of the layer pallet.

Anyway, it’s a bit tedious, but there is no problem with importing the separate layers (at least with the last few versions of Illustrator and AE)

Hope this helps,

Lars

[Mike Clasby]

When you:

File>Import> File (Ctrl + I)
In the box that opens, after you click on the “Yourfile.ai” (the one you want to bring in),

In the “Import As”: check “Composition”.

Then you get all your ai layers as AE layers in a comp.

Similarly, if you drag and drop files into AE you get an Import Dialogue Box that asks:

Import Kind

Choose “Composition”.

[Jay Gray]

This is what I have been trying, and when I say to import it as a comp, it only opens up as one full layer, but i know i saved the .ai file as multiple layers. I dont know…

[Mike Clasby]

Dunno, but try these two things.

Some versions have trouble (I don’t have this problem but have read of it) when you save the file in AI, choose legacy version and save as Illustrator 10 (or maybe AI 8). Also, PAths can cause problems, in Illustrator under Preferences, Files and Clipboard has AICB turned on with preserve paths checked.

[Lars Bunch]

[yikesmikes] “In the “Import As”: check “Composition”.”

Hmmm… Well, I feel like an idiot. I never tried importing “as a composition” before. Would have saved me a lot of time and frustration…

What scares me is that I’m sure there are a lot of other things that would make my life easier if only I just knew what I was doing.

Lars

[Jay Gray]

Thanks for your help, guys. The wierd thing is that when I import an illustrator file or even a photoshop file, it wont ask me what layers i want to import (under footage) and it wont open all the layers when I import as a composition. Im stumped.

[Steve Roberts]

Since AI version 10 as far as I can tell, you need to make sure that your Illustrator layers are in separate layers, not as objects or paths within layers. This can be a pain, as you need to drag stuff into new layers (in the layers palette) within AI to make that happen.

Then you can import into AE as a composition.

[Lars Bunch]

Hi Again,

Whenever I have imported Illustrator files, they were created in version 11 (CS1) and used in AE 6, 6.5 and 7 When saving the Illustrator file, Illustrator 11 asks if you want the file to be PDF compatible. I have found that it is necessary to check this box, making sure the file is PDF compatible for AE to read it properly.

I have always used the default .ai document format and have rarely run into problems. This has always been on Apple Macs.

I suppose you could try saving it as a PDF or exporting the file as a legacy EPS or .ai file.

What versions of Illustrator and AE are you running and is this on a Mac or Windows system? Any information you can provide about your system and work flow might reveal issues that could be causing the problem.

Lars

[Mike Clasby]

Hey, I’m an original card carrying member of the “if only I just knew what I was doing”-club.