How to convert a project
EffectCraft and FilmCraft can't open Adobe projects on their own. Craft Converter rebuilds After Effects projects as EffectCraft projects and Premiere Pro projects as FilmCraft projects, and turns EffectCraft projects into scripts After Effects can run: here is how to get the best result, and what to do once the converted project is on your computer. The Premiere Pro steps and the steps for taking an EffectCraft project back to After Effects are at the end.
Before you upload
Any project saved by After Effects 2018 or later works, as an .aep or as an .aepx (the XML version from File ▸ Save As ▸ Save a Copy As XML). You don't need to collect files or send footage: only the project file is uploaded, and the converted project remembers where every file was.
Big projects with hundreds of comps convert fine, but the report is easier to read for a smaller one. To convert a single comp and what it uses, select it in the Project panel and choose File ▸ Dependencies ▸ Reduce Project, then save a copy.
Tell the converter where the project lives
The .aep remembers where every file was on the computer that saved it, often another drive or another operating system. If you paste the path of the project's folder on your computer into the field above the converter (the folder that holds the .aep and its footage), the converted project points straight at your files and EffectCraft loads them all when it opens. On a Mac, hold Option, right-click the folder and choose Copy as Pathname; on Windows, Shift + right-click and Copy as path. Only the path text is sent, never the files.
Reading the report
When the conversion finishes, the timeline shows the composition with the most layers, and the tabs above it switch to the others. Each bar is one of your layers, placed at its In and Out points:
| Bar | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blue-green | The layer converted with everything the checks compare: timing, switches, transform and keyframes, masks, effects and their parameters, text formatting, layer styles. |
| Orange | The layer converted, but something on it didn't come across exactly. Click the bar to read what. |
| Striped | The layer couldn't be rebuilt and was replaced by a null with the same name, timing and parenting, so the rest of the comp still works. |
Under the timeline, Didn't carry over exactly lists every difference by kind: an effect EffectCraft doesn't have yet (third-party plug-ins such as Sapphire or Red Giant), a layer style it lacks (Pattern Overlay), a text setting outside its range, and so on. If the list is empty, nothing was left out.
Opening the project in EffectCraft
- Download the .ecproj and open it with File ▸ Open Project in EffectCraft 0.9.2 or later.
- If you gave the project's folder, your footage is already connected. Otherwise, files still where they were when the .aep was saved reconnect by themselves.
- For anything still missing, choose File ▸ Dependencies ▸ Relink Missing Footage… and pick the folder that holds it. EffectCraft looks for each file by name and accepts it only when its size, rate and length match exactly, so a few audio files (whose length decoders measure slightly differently) may need Replace Footage instead, or a new conversion with the folder filled in.
- Install the fonts the project uses. Text keeps the font names from the .aep; a font that isn't installed is drawn with a fallback until it is.
What to check by eye
The converter compares the two projects value by value, but some things only show when you look:
- Expressions are copied as they are. EffectCraft runs After Effects-style expressions, but an expression that relies on a missing effect or a third-party function will report an error on its property.
- Effects are EffectCraft's own implementations of After Effects' effects, with the same parameters. Their look is close, not pixel-identical.
- Animated Curves change in steps at each keyframe, because EffectCraft doesn't blend between two curves.
Premiere Pro projects
The same steps apply to a .prproj. Any project saved by Premiere Pro 2020 or later works; only the project file is uploaded, and the converted project remembers where every media file was. To convert one sequence and what it uses, create a new project, copy the sequence into it and save.
Paste the folder that holds your media on your computer in the field above the converter and the .fcproj is written pointing at your files, so FilmCraft finds them when it opens. Only the path text is sent.
Reading the report
The timeline shows each sequence with its clips, labelled by track (V1, V2 for video, A1, A2 for audio, C1 for captions). The bars mean the same as above: blue-green for a clip that converted with everything the checks compare, orange for a clip with notes (click it to read them), striped for a clip that is only an empty placeholder (a shape layer, for example). Didn't carry over exactly lists every difference by kind: an effect FilmCraft doesn't have, a transition replaced by a dissolve, variable speed played at one constant speed.
Opening the project in FilmCraft
- Download the .fcproj and open it from inside FilmCraft: File ▸ Open Project (Cmd+O) or drag it onto the window. Double-clicking it in Finder does not open it in FilmCraft 0.8.
- Media still where it was when the .prproj was saved reconnects by itself.
- For anything offline, right-click it in the Project panel and choose Link Media, then pick the folder that holds the files. FilmCraft looks for each one by name; stills, video and audio match with the default settings.
- Image sequences (numbered stills): give the media folder before converting, and FilmCraft opens them as sequences. Link Media in FilmCraft 0.8 would turn a sequence into a single still, so the report names each one.
- Install the fonts used by your titles. A font that isn't installed is drawn with a fallback until it is.
The converter compares the two projects value by value, but check by eye what depends on the picture: titles (their look can differ), effects (FilmCraft draws its own versions, close to Premiere's but not identical to the pixel) and Bezier keyframe curves.
EffectCraft projects, back to After Effects
After Effects can't open an .ecproj. Craft Converter gives you a script instead: a .jsx file that After Effects runs to build the project by itself. Only the .ecproj is uploaded; the script is written in a moment and nothing is kept.
Before you upload
Any project saved by EffectCraft 0.9.2 or later works. Footage is not uploaded: the script looks for each file at the path stored in the project, then next to the script itself. If your footage is on another drive or computer, paste the folder that holds it on your computer into the field above the converter and the script looks there first. On a Mac, hold Option, right-click the folder and choose Copy as Pathname; on Windows, Shift + right-click and Copy as path. Only the path text is sent.
Running the script
- Open After Effects 2023 or later, with a new, empty project.
- Choose File ▸ Scripts ▸ Run Script File… and pick the downloaded .jsx. Wait for the message at the end: a big project can take a few minutes, and After Effects may seem frozen meanwhile.
- Read the message. It lists footage the script couldn't find (a placeholder stands in), what After Effects can't build from a script, and any step After Effects refused. The report on the website has the same list, layer by layer.
- Save with File ▸ Save. You now have an ordinary .aep, made by After Effects.
For footage that is still missing, choose File ▸ Dependencies ▸ Find Missing Footage, or right-click the placeholder and choose Replace Footage ▸ File….
Reading the report
The timeline and its bars mean what they do for the other converters: blue-green for a layer that converted with everything compared, orange for a layer with notes (click it), striped for a layer that could not be created and is a null in its place. Didn't carry over exactly lists each difference by kind: an effect EffectCraft has and After Effects doesn't (the VR and OCIO effects, for example), a gradient or a curve that After Effects can't take from a script, a 3D primitive, Essential Graphics. If the list is empty, nothing was left out.
What to check by eye
- Effects are After Effects' own, drawn by After Effects: the look can differ from EffectCraft's. Parameters are written by their match names, which work in any language of After Effects; for effects the converter hasn't met in a real After Effects project it falls back to English names, and the end message tells you if some could not be found.
- Expressions are copied as written. They are After Effects-style, but one that uses a function only EffectCraft has will show an error on its property.
- Text keeps its font names as PostScript names; install the fonts first. Formatting of single characters needs a recent After Effects; if yours can't, each text keeps its first style and the message says so.
What has not been tested
There is no Adobe After Effects in our test setup. Each script is run in EffectCraft's own After Effects-compatible scripting engine, which builds the project it describes, and that project is compared with the original value by value. That proves the script says what it should; it doesn't prove that every call does in Adobe's After Effects exactly what its documentation promises. If After Effects refuses a step, the end message names it: write to us with that message and we will look at it.