Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 28

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
Importing files into a project
With After Effects 5.0, you use the same Import File dialog box to import any usable file
into After Effects. To save time and minimize the size and complexity of a project, import a
footage item once and then use it multiple times in a composition. It is occasionally useful,
however, to import a footage item more than once, such as when you want to use it at two
different frame rates.
After Effects supports 24- and 32-bit files using 8 bits per channel (bpc)—including alpha
channel—and the RGB, Grayscale, and Black-and-White color modes. For information on
supported formats, see "Working with file formats" on page 25.
Note: The After Effects Production Bundle provides support for 16 bpc.
To import footage into a Project window:
1 Open a project or choose File > New > New Project.
2 With the Project window active, choose File > Import > File.
3 In the Files of Type pop-up menu, choose the setting you want to use:
All Acceptable Files (the default selection). Shows files that After Effects recognizes as
•
supported formats.
All Footage. Shows only supported footage files. Project files are not shown.
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All Files (*.*). Shows all files, whether or not After Effects recognizes them as supported
•
formats. (This is useful for compatible files transferred from another platform, such as a
Silicon Graphics workstation.) This option requires you to identify the format.
A specific format. Restricts the files shown to the format you choose from the menu. (Use
•
this option as a convenience when the files you want are in large folders containing files
of mixed types.)
4 Do one of the following:
To import a file, locate and select it, and then click Open.
•
To import multiple files from the same location, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Shift
•
(Mac OS), select the items you want, and then click Open.
To import all the files in a folder, locate and select the folder, and then click the Import
•
Folder button.
The imported footage appears in the Project window. For more information about
importing folder contents, see "Importing a sequence of still-image files" on page 29.
Note: If the Interpret Footage dialog box appears instead, the imported footage item
contains an unlabeled alpha channel, and you'll need to select a type or click Guess to let
After Effects determine the type. See "Interpreting alpha channels as straight or premulti-
plied" on page 31.
To search for a file in Mac OS, click Find, type the name of a file or folder, and click OK.
After Effects finds the first file or folder that matches the text.
To import items by dragging:
From the desktop or a folder, select one or more items you want to import and drag them
to the After Effects application icon (on the Windows Explorer or Macintosh Finder) or to
the Project window (in After Effects).
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Preparing and Importing Footage
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