An AET file serves primarily as a reusable template for AE, working like a master AEP that you open to generate new projects while leaving the template intact, and it contains the project’s full structure—compositions, timeline layouts, layered elements, animated keyframes, effects, expressions, camera/light setups, render/project settings, and the internal folder organization and interpretations.

What it usually doesn’t include is the raw media itself; instead it keeps references or paths to external footage, images, and audio, which is why templates are often delivered as a ZIP with an assets/Footage folder and why you’ll see missing-file prompts if items were renamed or not synced, and because AETs may rely on specific fonts or third-party plugins, opening one on another machine can trigger missing-effect alerts until everything is installed or relinked, with the final reminder that although AET typically means an After Effects template, file extensions aren’t exclusive, so checking “Opens with” in file properties or recalling where the file came from is the safest way to confirm what program created it and what extra files it should include.

An AEP file is the normal After Effects project you work in, updated as you import footage, adjust comps, and refine effects, while an AET is a template meant as a reusable starting point, so the practical difference is workflow: you reopen an AEP to keep editing the same project, but you open an AET to spawn a new project so the template stays untouched.

That’s why AET files are a standard format for motion-graphics template packs (intros, lower-thirds, slideshows): the designer keeps the AET untouched as the master, and you begin each new video by opening it and doing Save As to create your AEP before customizing text, logos, colors, and media, and although both AET and AEP contain the same technical elements—compositions, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both refer to external footage, the AET protects the template while the AEP serves as the editable, ongoing production file.

If you liked this write-up and you would certainly like to receive additional facts regarding AET file type kindly go to our own web site. An AET file is designed to store the structural and behavioral blueprint of an After Effects project rather than the actual media, including compositions with resolution, frame rate, duration, and nesting, plus the complete timeline layout with layers for text, shapes, solids, adjustment items, precomps, and placeholders, alongside properties like position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, parenting, and all animation data—keyframes, easing, markers, and expressions when used.

It further stores all applied effects with their settings—ranging from color correction and blur to glows, distortions, and transitions—along with any 3D environment of cameras, lights, and 3D layer attributes, plus render controls and project organization like folders, label colors, and interpretation rules, but it generally doesn’t contain the actual footage, audio, fonts, or plugins, instead relying on paths that may trigger missing-asset or missing-plugin prompts when opened on a different computer.