Importing Media to a Composition

Drag from the panel to the AE project, the composition, or the timeline. The file is copied to your AE project folder and imported.

Drag to project bin

Drag a thumbnail from the panel into AE’s Project panel. The file is copied into the active project’s folder (or AE’s import location, depending on your project settings) and added to the project. Position is unchanged on any open comp.

Drag to comp

Drag a thumbnail into an open composition view. The file is imported and added as a layer at the centre of the comp, at the playhead time.

Drag to timeline

Drag a thumbnail into the timeline. Drop on an existing layer to replace its source; drop in an empty area to add as a new layer.

Batch import

Shift-click to multi-select in the panel, then drag. All selected elements import in one operation.

Where the file ends up

The panel copies the file from your desktop app’s media folder into AE’s project folder by default. The copy is independent — modifying the copy in AE does not affect the original board element.

If you want to keep AE referencing the live board file directly (so updates from the desktop app propagate to the AE comp), enable Settings → Link instead of copy in the panel. AE then references the file in the desktop’s media folder.

Imported as

  • Image — imported as a still layer.
  • Video — imported as a footage layer with audio.
  • HTML — imported as a Quicktime if the desktop app has pre-rendered an MP4 version, otherwise as a still PNG.

Audio

Video files keep their audio track. AE handles muting / soloing per-layer.

Re-import after update

If you re-render or replace an element in the desktop app, the AE panel shows a Re-import badge on the changed element. Click it to refresh the AE project file with the latest version.

Where to go next

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