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Where to Find AE Preferences in Finder
updated 13 years, 5 months ago
3 Members
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9 Posts
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Hey gang,
So this seems like it should be immensely easier than it is, but I’m trying to copy my preferences from AE CS3 to AE CS4, but cannot find a “preferences” file anywhere. Surely there must be a simple way!
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
What makes you explode?
http://www.explosivegraffix.com -
i’m not sure that you’ll be able to just place the cs3 prefs inthe cs4 folder and have that work…
first off, they have different file names. but i wouldn’t recommend renaming it either… there are several changes to cs4 that would likely effect the preference file and render it invalid or cause issues if it didn’t.
you may be able to move the modified workspaces from cs3 to cs4… on osx, those are in the users/[username]/library/preferences/adobe/after effects/[version#]. the preference file is in the same directory, but again, i would recommend replacing then newer version with the older one.
if you have any presets that you want to move from cs3 to cs4, you should be able to do that. those are should be in the after effects application folder in a folder called presets. don’t replcace the whole presets folder (you’ll lose any new cs4 presets), but you should be able to pullover any from within that folder.
Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Thanks, Kevin!
I’ll give this a try with utter prudence and repost if there’s any bizarre issues…
Thanks again!
What makes you explode?
http://www.explosivegraffix.com -
my assumption is that ae will recognize that it is not the right preference file and recreate a new one with default values.
Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
If someone asked the easiest way to make AE go berserk, I’d probably say replace the prefs with the prefs from a different version.
With that said, this question touches on a real issue so I’ll ramble on a bit in hopes that Todd K. or one of the other Adobe AE gurus will see it and get a great idea that’ll solve a recurring problem that many AE users dread, but don’t bother talking about …
Along with the fact that some features I rely on were dropped from CS4, the main reason I’m skipping CS4 entirely and waiting for CS5 is inability to spend many hours getting highly customized setups on 4 machines from one version to the next … not to mention the additional hours for re-installing a ton of third-party plugins and their corresponding presets, etc., then having to do all the same things with Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.
I know Adobe can’t do anything about third-party plugins, but an “import preferences and presets from previous version” option that takes all the preferences, workspaces, presets, etc. that are compatible with the new version and leave alone things that don’t directly correlate would be soooooo appreciated. Although it sounds fairly simple to me since I’m not a software programmer, I do realize that it may be a programming nightmare.
Every pro I know absolutely dreads changing software versions for these reasons, but it was much more tolerable back in the day when it was only necessary every couple/few years … now it seems every few months so it has become a real issue.
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Thanks for your honesty, Dave. I think your insights in such a public forum are necesssary!
What makes you explode?
http://www.explosivegraffix.com -
Thank you, Mark … that’s good to hear since I’m always hesitant to go on with my opinions beyond directly answering the question.
One other thought you may find helpful … this subject is one reason I’ve always made a practice of keeping several copies/versions of my preference files, opening them with a text editor and transferring over the things I know are transferable. I work on both Mac and Win machines daily, but find that much easier to do on Win machines.
By the way, the other reason I do that is, having come from the ever-mobile freelance world, I needed a way to work with AE, PS, etc. the ways I’m most efficient regardless of whose machine I’m working on. If you do choose to mess with the prefs in any way, be careful … doing it wrong is a sure-fire way to screw things up, although you can always delete prefs and start over from defaults, but I find getting back from that a time-consuming last resort too.
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Hey Dave,
I was just fishing around Adobe’s website and came across the feature request portion. I’m sure you’ve heard of it before, but it gave me a certain sense of closure by formally submitting a request for CS5 to be a native 64-bit app!
https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform
What makes you explode?
http://www.explosivegraffix.com -
Yes, I know that form so well the Adobe AE team is probably considering banning me from submitting any more requests.
I’m sure you know you’re not the first or last to ask for that, but the more users that request something the higher priority it gets so I’m glad you chose to make your voice heard.
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