Interpret footage items
After Effects uses a set of internal rules to interpret each footage item that you import according to its best guess for the source file’s pixel aspect ratio, frame rate, color profile, and alpha channel type. If After Effects guesses wrong, or if you want to use the footage differently, you can modify these rules for all footage items of a particular kind by editing the interpretation rules file (interpretation rules.txt), or you can modify the interpretation of a specific footage item using the Interpret Footage dialog box.
The interpretation settings tell After Effects the following about each footage item:
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How to interpret the alpha channel’s interaction with other channels. (See Specify alpha channel interpretation.)
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What frame rate to assume for the footage item. (See Change frame rate.)
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Whether to separate fields and, if so, what field order to assume. (See Separate video fields and Determine the original field order.)
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Whether to remove 3:2 or 24Pa pulldown. (See Remove 3:2 or 24Pa pulldown from video.)
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The pixel aspect ratio of the footage item. (See Change pixel aspect ratio.)
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The color profile of the footage item. (See Interpret a footage item by assigning an input color profile.)
Generally, you don’t need to change interpretation settings. However, if a footage item isn’t of a common kind, After Effects may need additional information from you to interpret it correctly.
You can use the controls in the Color Management section of the Interpret Footage dialog box to tell After Effects how to interpret the color information in a footage item. This is usually only necessary when the footage item does not contain an embedded color profile.
Interpret a single footage item using the Interpret Footage dialog box
Select a footage item in the Project panel and
choose File > Interpret Footage > Main.Apply Interpret Footage settings to multiple footage items
You can ensure that different footage items use the same settings by copying interpretation settings from one item and applying them to others.
- In the Project panel, select the item with the interpretation settings that you want to apply.
- Choose File > Interpret Footage > Remember Interpretation.
- Select one or more footage items in the Project panel.
- Choose File > Interpret Footage > Apply Interpretation.
Edit interpretation rules for all items of a specific kind
The interpretation rules file contains the rules that specify how After Effects interprets footage items. In most cases, you won’t need to customize the interpretation rules file. When you import a footage item, After Effects looks for a match in the interpretation rules file, and then determines interpretation settings for the footage item. You can override these settings after importing, using the Interpret Footage dialog box.
In most cases, the name of the interpretation rules file is interpretation rules.txt; however, some updates to After Effects install a new interpretation rules file with a name that indicates the updated version number, and the updated application uses this new file. If you have made changes to the old interpretation rules file, you may need to apply those changes to the new file, too.
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