Exporting After Effects sequence to Premiere project

arthouse
Member

Hi everyone. Can anyone help explain something to me? I'm fairly new to After Effects (CS5) and don't use it often but I'm wanting to include some motion graphics in a project I'm working on. Is it possible to create a sequence in AE, render it and then export it as an HD video file (in whichever format) to then just insert into a Premiere Pro project as just another video clip?

If so, could anyone tell me which settings I would need to begin the After Effects project in if my Premiere project is set for AVCHD 50i PAL, 25fps, upper fields first?

Any help would be fantastic. Thanks!

Posted 6 months ago #
Jaimie
Member

Hi, I am not familiar with PAL editing, but in the NTSC HD world I do exactly what you are asking about all the time. I simply set the AE rendering to match the Premiere project settings. In my case, that is almost always 1080i.

You can experiment by making really short test clips say, around 30 seconds so they render quickly, and exporting them from AE and importing them into Premiere. You may find that Premiere accepts several types of files, in that case, pick whichever one gives the best results. Don't forget the "Scale to Frame Size" command in Premiere can solve some size problems.

Posted 6 months ago #
Charles Schultz
Adobe Host

Arthouse, use the dynamic linking function in PP it will bring the file in without having to be rendered, it basically is a raw file without any loss of quality. When you open up the dynamic link function, find your After Effects file, click on it and in the box on the right will be the compositions. Click on the one you want to bring in and click ok. In the project panel you will have to double click the comp to open it up in the preview panel and then just insert it over the footage that you want the graphics.

Hope this helps.

Posted 6 months ago #
Charles Schultz
Adobe Host

Just remember you cannot round trip a project, as far as I know of anyway, meaning that you cannot use dynamic linking to bring in a PP project into After Effects then use Dynamic linking to bring it back into PP. I hope adobe fixes this little issue as it will save a ton of time.

Posted 6 months ago #
Jaimie
Member

Hi Charles,

You are fight about the dynamic link function, I have used it, but didn't mention it because to me, it seemed to deliver a lot less than the advertising implied. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but it took me a long time to figure out that I couldn't "round trip" it as you mention above. I just assumed that I could "round trip" clips and that was my mistake.

Along that line, do you know what the best memory allocation settings in CS5 are when a Premiere project has a dynamic link to AE? My system has 12 GB ram and is configured at 9 GB for Premiere and 3 GB for other stuff including AE. I believe these are the default settings.

But, if a PP project is dynamically linked to AE it seems that maybe a different allocation would improve performance. I haven't experienced any particular problems, but more speed is always better.

Regards, Jaimie

Posted 6 months ago #
BJBBJB
Member

Greetings,

I am pretty familiar with Pr Pro 5.5 but new to after effects. I noticed this thread because I was reading a book about after effects and one of the lessons talked about taking an existing dynamically linked project and doing the round trip. It said you could leave it open in Pr Pro, and if it was open in AE you could make a change in AE and it would appear in Pr Pro.

Of course I know what you read is not always how things work but thought I would pass along! :)

Perhaps the difference is this project starts in Pr Pro? I want to do something similar. Have a sequence in Pr Pro, right click and send to AE. Make changes in AE and then see them in Pr Pro. Does this work as advertised?

Thanks,

BJBBJB

Posted 6 months ago #
pseudosafari
Member

>>> Have a sequence in Pr Pro, right click and send to AE. Make changes in AE and then see them in Pr Pro. Does this work as advertised?

I do this all the time. That is what dynamic linking is. Yep, works as advertised.

Also works with Soundbooth (in CS4) and Audition (in my CS5.5), etc.

Posted 6 months ago #
BJBBJB
Member

Sorry for the delay in following up. It seems like the dynamic link works for some and not others. If I want to play it safe, what is the safest way to make sure it works?

Is it right click in P Pro to go into after effects. I want to use the new stabilizer there on the entire clip in this case. Then save that project in After Effects in case the effect does not make it in Pr pro?

Then look in Pr pro and if not there, you can import the project from After Effects?

Sorry if this is obvious. Pretty familiar with Pr Pro, but not AE.

Thanks!

BJBBJB

Posted 5 months ago #
pseudosafari
Member

okay to go into AE via right click from PP. If by "whole clip" you mean more than one clip in PP, then make sure you highlight all the sequencial clips you want to edit in AE before you right-click.

to play it safe, save the AE project as soon as you get there (save it somewhere as a separate AE file so you can open it and modify it on its own as needed). then, you can open it, play with it, and if for some reason "it doesn't work" (i.e., if the effects don't show up in PP--not sure why that would happen, but just in case) you can import that separately into PP later.

it might be intimidating at first, but just do it a few times. you'll get the hang of it. if you're like me, the only problem you'll have is you'll get addicted to it and start doing it all the time.

Posted 5 months ago #
jerronsmith
Moderator

@Jamie,

If you have Premiere Pro and AE installed as part of the Creative Suite then the memory allocation setting in Preferences are set for the entire suite and not only for PP.

@BJBB,

1: When you right-click on a clip on your timeline in Premiere Pro and select "Replace with After Effects Composition" it immediately allows you to save the new Project it is creating. It then imports the clip or clips you had selected in PP, creates a new AE comp in the project you just had to save, and adds the clip or clips to this comp. The comp will match the settings of the PP sequence the footage was in when you initiated the replace command.

2: Once you make your adjustments in AE and save the project, those changes should be visible when you return to PP. Keep in mind this operation is not affecting the original clip in your Project panel, only the one or ones that were on the timeline.

You should also notice that there is a new AE comp icon in the PP Project panel. It will be named after the Premiere Pro project name and have the phrase "linked comp" at the end, for ex. "project01 Linked Comp". If you have closed the After Effects project you can also right click on the linked comp in PP and choose Edit Original from the menu that appears. This will reopen the AE project and allow you to make most adjustments.

**On a side note, sometimes I have noticed I have to scrub the playhead in PP to make the Program monitor refresh to see the changed I have made in AE.

Jerron Smith
Editor-Animator-Educator
blog: http://www.thepixelsmith.blogspot.com

Posted 5 months ago #
barth36
Member

The Dynamic Link works great for me. The only thing is, if I do a lot of work over in AE, when I bring the clip back to PR, the clip will not play in real time which makes critical edits impossible. Guess my editing system isn't as powerful as I thought. So I prerender an avi to use in PR, then when I'm done cutting, replace it with the AE linked clip. Sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't and it works great.

Posted 4 months ago #
Jaimie
Member

Jerronsmith, thanks for the info. I am running CS5 Production Suite and am still baffled by what is the best memory settings. Adobe is not helpful and I have switched back and forth between "performance" and "memory" and not been able to tell which is better. My system has 12 GB installed and I never get a low memory message. But I am interested in whatever gives the fastest performance, especially in AE.

I sometimes use the dynamic link when I feel my frustration tolerance is high. But mostly I export clips from PP, work on them and render them in AE, and then re-import them to PP. It's not all that difficult.

Posted 4 months ago #