What carries over from After Effects to EffectCraft, and what doesn't
A converted project is only useful if you know where to trust it. This article lists what moves from an After Effects project into EffectCraft, what arrives with caveats, and what does not arrive at all, based on what the converter does and what its report says.
How the conversion works, in one paragraph
The converter reads the .aep, writes a script that recreates it, runs the script in EffectCraft's own engine and saves an .ecproj. It then reopens the result and compares it with the original, property by property. So the project is genuinely rebuilt in EffectCraft, not wrapped or linked. Where EffectCraft cannot represent something, the converter says so in a report instead of silently dropping it.
Project, comps and markers
Folders, item names and labels carry over, and duplicate names are kept as they are. Composition settings carry over: size, pixel aspect, frame rate, duration, start timecode, background colour, work area, motion blur and frame blending. Comp and layer markers carry over with comments, durations and labels.
Not converted: the Render Queue and output modules. Plan to set up rendering again in EffectCraft.
Layer kinds
| Layer | What happens |
|---|---|
| Solids, footage, precomps, nulls, adjustment layers | Convert, including timing, stretch (also reversed), time remapping, switches, blending modes, parenting and track mattes. |
| Text | Converts. See below. |
| Shape layers | Convert. See below. |
| Cameras and lights | One- and two-node cameras; point, spot, parallel and ambient lights. |
| 3D mesh layers | Cube, sphere, plane, torus, cone and cylinder convert with their dimensions and shadow settings. Any other kind of mesh layer is created as a null and noted in the report. |
| 3D model layers | .fbx, .glb, .gltf and .obj convert, and the model file is relinked like any footage. |
| Layer kinds the converter does not recognise | Created as a null with the same name, timing and parenting, so the rest of the comp keeps working. |
Keyframes and expressions
Keyframes convert with linear, Bezier and hold interpolation, including the exact eases (speed and influence), spatial tangents and separated dimensions. A project that depends on precise easing should survive intact.
Expressions are copied as written and keep their enabled or disabled state. EffectCraft runs After Effects-style expressions, so many work unchanged. The limit is dependency: an expression that refers to an effect EffectCraft lacks, or uses a function only After Effects or a script library provides, will report an error on its property. The converter does not rewrite expressions, so test them. One caveat from the project README: four test projects showed different values for curved motion paths between EffectCraft and the emulation used for comparison, and a check in the real After Effects is still pending, so inspect curved position animation.
Effects: how the mapping works
EffectCraft ships its own implementation of After Effects' built-in effects, with the same parameters. EffectCraft's effect registry currently lists 306 effects. For each effect on a layer, the converter finds the EffectCraft counterpart by After Effects' match name, and falls back to the effect's display name for a few that EffectCraft lists without the match name (CC Sphere is an example). A second copy of an effect, which After Effects names with a trailing number, is matched without it.
Parameters are then paired by name within their group, not by number. This matters because After Effects numbers parameters flat while EffectCraft nests them in groups and orders a few effects differently. Pairing by number would put values in the wrong places. The converter also checks that the kinds of value are compatible and applies unit conversions, because some percentages are stored internally as 0 to 255 or 0 to 1.
Special cases handled: Expression Controls and Dropdown Menu Control convert, and dropdowns keep their menu items. Curves convert (point and pencil), but animated curves change in steps at each keyframe, since EffectCraft does not blend between two curves. If EffectCraft lacks one parameter of an effect, that parameter is listed and the rest still convert.
Third-party plug-ins
Sapphire, Red Giant, Video Copilot and similar plug-ins are not part of EffectCraft. The effect is left out, and the report names it, layer by layer, noting when it looks like a third-party plug-in (a match name not starting with ADBE or CC). The layer itself keeps its timing, transform, masks and its other effects. If the look depends on the plug-in, you will need to rebuild it with native effects or pre-render that layer in After Effects and bring the footage in.
Because the look of native effects is EffectCraft's own rendering, expect close results, not pixel-identical ones.
Layer styles
Drop shadow, inner shadow, outer glow, inner glow, bevel and emboss, satin, colour overlay, gradient overlay and stroke convert. Pattern Overlay does not exist in EffectCraft and is reported.
Text
Point and paragraph text convert with per-character formatting: font, size, colours, stroke, tracking, leading, scale, caps and baseline. Paragraph alignment, indents and spacing, text animators and selectors also convert. Fonts keep the name stored in the project, so install them first or EffectCraft draws a fallback. Values outside EffectCraft's range are clamped and reported: a horizontal or vertical scale outside 1 to 1000 percent, and a font size outside 0.1 to 10000. Variable font axes in text animators have no EffectCraft equivalent and are reported.
Shapes and masks
Shape layers convert with groups, paths, rectangles, ellipses, stars, fills, strokes with dashes, gradient fills and strokes, and path operations. Masks convert with paths, modes, inversion, feather, opacity, expansion and colours.
Essential Graphics
Controls and their values on precomp layers convert. Control groups become a flat list, and media-replacement controls are not supported. Both are reported.
Footage
Media files are never uploaded, so the converted project refers to them by path. They reconnect if they are still at those paths, or if you gave your own folder to the converter, or through EffectCraft's relink command. See the guide for the exact steps.
Quick reference: what does not carry over
- Third-party plug-ins and any effect EffectCraft lacks (reported by name).
- Pattern Overlay layer style.
- Variable font axes in text animators.
- Media replacement in Essential Graphics; control groups are flattened.
- Render Queue and output module settings.
- Smooth blending of animated Curves (they step instead).
- Unsupported layer or mesh kinds (become nulls).
Reading the report
Every layer is marked blue-green (everything compared matched), orange (converted with a note) or striped (replaced by a null). The list headed Didn't carry over exactly groups the differences by kind. An empty list means nothing was left out. The supported features page keeps the current table, and the FAQ answers common version and footage questions.
If you want to see how your own project fares, the After Effects to EffectCraft converter will show the report before you commit to any rework. For the opposite direction, EffectCraft to After Effects works differently: it produces a script, with its own list of limits.