Supported file formats | After Effects CS4

• Supported import and export file formats
• Supported CMYK file formats
• Supported 16-bpc and 32-bpc file formats
• Obtain support for additional formats and codecs

This document lists the file formats which Adobe After Effects CS4 can import and export. Third-party plug-ins are available to extend these capabilities, see the "Obtain support for additional formats and codecs" section of this document for more information.

Note: In order for After Effects to import a QuickTime or AVI file, the codec that a particular file uses must be installed on the computer. (Common codecs are installed by both QuickTime and Video For Windows.) If you receive an error message or the video does not display correctly, you may need to install the codec used by the file. For more information about the codec in use, contact the manufacturer of the software or hardware used to create the file. You can read more about codecs and digital video file formats in the Adobe Video and Audio Primers.

Important: QuickTime is required to import and export some file formats on Windows. You can download the latest version of QuickTime from the Apple web site at http://www.apple.com/quicktime.

Most file formats are rendered from After Effects by adding the composition to the render queue; see Render and export a movie using the render queue. Some formats are only available through the File > Export menu; see Render and export a movie using QuickTime components.

Note: You can import files of any still image format as a sequence. See Preparing and Importing still images in After Effects help.

After Effects CS4 can import Adobe Photoshop (.PSD), Adobe Illustrator (.AI), and Encapsulated PostScript (.EPS) files that use the CMYK color space. After Effects will convert the CMYK color values to RGB.

Note: After Effects cannot assign an input color profile to files that use non-RGB color spaces, such as CMYK. Color management on CMYK files is therefore limited. To effectively color manage CMYK files you should convert them to RGB before you import them into After Effects. For more information, see Interpret a footage item by assigning an input color profile.

While After Effects can operate in 16 and 32 bits per channel, most video and animation file formats and codecs support only 8-bpc. Typical cross-application workflows for higher bit-depth color involve rendering to a still image sequence rather than a video or animation file. Still image formats that support 16-bpc that After Effects can render to include PSD, PNG, TIFF, IFF, and SGI. Formats that support 32-bpc include PSD, EXR, HDR, and TIFF.

Video codecs that support 10-bpc are provided with hardware such as a capture card or software such as Adobe Premiere Pro. You can import 10-bpc uncompressed YUV AVI files created in Adobe Premiere Pro into 16-bpc RGB After Effects projects. You can also render from After Effects with 10-bpc YUV compression. (See Specify Video for Windows compression options.)

You can add support for additional file formats to After Effects by installing a third-party plug-in. For example, the Pro Import AE plug-in from Automatic Duck, Inc. allows you to import project files from popular non-linear editing applications into After Effects. You can find a list of software developers that make plug-ins for After Effects on the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/aftereffects/.

Similarly, you can add support to After Effects for additional video codecs by installing the codec on your system. Most codecs must be installed into the operating system (Windows or Mac OS) and work as a component inside the QuickTime or Video For Windows formats. Codecs are available for a variety of hardware (capture card, camera, etc.) and software workflows. Contact the manufacturer of your hardware or software for more information about codecs that work with the files that your specific device or application creates.

Note: After Effects may not be compatible with all codecs. Test codecs that you intend to use before implementing them in your workflow.

If you intend to render your composition using multiple computers over a network, then any third-party plug-ins or codecs used by your project must be installed on each computer in the render farm. See Network rendering with watch folders and render engines for more information about network rendering.