After Effects

This page describes some best practices for using Adobe After Effects.

The default setting you should change immediately - 30 fps ingest

By default After Effects assigns unlabeled image sequences a frame rate of 30 frames per second. This is obviously a problem since most of the time we are animating in 24 frames per second. importing something at 30 fps when it's meant to be played at 24 fps make it seem faster than it really is. We can change this by going to Edit > Preferences > Import. Under the Sequence Footage section, click on the blue "30" before frames per second and change it to "24". After Effects will remember this setting, just remember to migrate your settings when upgrading your version.

If you have already imported something and need to change the frame rate, you can right click on the footage in the Project panel and select Interpret Footage > Main... . Under the Frame Rate section, after Assume this frame rate: change the "30" to "24".

If you have several footage items that need to be changed, change the first one using the method above, right click it again and select Interpret Footage > Remember Interpretation, and then select the rest of your footage that needs to be changed and then select Interpret Footage > Apply Interpretation. 

If you made a composition with your 30 fps footage, that composition is still 30 frames per second, as well as your project. You can change the project settings by clicking on the 3 horizontal lines next to Project on the top of the Project panel. Click on the Time Display Style and change the Default Base from "30" to "24". Open the Composition Settings by right clicking on composition in the Project panel. Change the Frame Rate from "30" to "24".

Once you have done this, make sure that the timing in your compositions is still correct. After Effects is known to change the length of the footage in the timeline when the time base is changed.

Useful tools

Reduce Project and Remove Unused Footage
We can easily remove unused footage and compositions by using the "Reduce Project" and "Remove Unused Footage" tools in the File > Dependencies menu.

• If you have one composition that houses all your comps and footage, you can select this composition in the project panel and use File > Dependencies > Reduce Project. This will remove everything not in this composition. You can undo this step, but you should save a new version in case you delete something that you need.
• If you have a couple compositions that are independent from each other, you can use File > Dependencies > Remove Unused Footage. This will remove any footage that is not used in any compositions. Once done, you should save a new version in case you delete something that you need.

Collect
If you need to share your project with someone else or want to archive it, the Collect tool is the way to go. This will gather all of your footage into one folder along with your project file and organize it based on the folder system in the Project panel (hint: use folders to organize your footage in After Effects). Combined with Reduce Project and/or Remove Unused Footage, this is a great way to move your project as efficiently as possible. To use Collect go to File > Dependencies > Collect Files... and select "Collect..."

Clear Disk Cache
Finding that After Effects is slowing down after a long session? You can clear out the RAM that After Effects is holding onto by going to Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache... Your previews should load faster now, at least until your RAM and cache fill up again. 

Red Giant Trapcode
Trapcode is not offered as a default tool, but is the single most useful special effects plugin for After Effects. It has a wide range of high quality special effects, including particles, physics and fluids, 3D objects, lights and glimmers, sound and motion, and the power to combine them in complex ways. Trapcode is offered as part of a bundle with other amazing plugins and software, including Cinema 4D, Redshift, and ZBrush. This is an incredible student bundle for a very good price (around $2 a month as of July 2022).