Viewing imported footage
You can view any movie or graphic item listed in a Project window at full size by opening it in a Footage window. You can also view the footage at different magnifications and examine individual frames.
When you double-click a movie in the Project window, it opens by default in the appropriate Footage window: QuickTime (.mov) files open in the QuickTime Footage window; Video for Windows (.avi) files open in the Video for Windows Footage window. Still images always appear in an After Effects Footage window.
Note: Certain AVI files are not supported by the AVI Footage window, and will open in the After Effects Footage window. These include files created with Microsoft's DirectX DV Codec, and all files over 2 GB. If the AVI Footage window is empty, Alt-double-click to open the footage in the After Effects Footage window.
The QuickTime and Video for Windows Footage windows do not display the effect of settings made in the Interpret Footage dialog box, such as the alpha channel interpretation. However, for any footage item that includes audio, the QuickTime and Video for Windows Footage windows play the audio, while the After Effects Footage window does not.
To view the footage with more controls and information but without audio, view it in an After Effects Footage window, where you can trim the footage and insert it into the Timeline window. (See "Working with the Composition, Layer, and Footage windows" on page 34 and "Trimming layer footage" on page 124.)
To open a movie in the default Footage window:
- Double-click a movie in the Project window.
- Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and double-click on the layer in the Timeline window.
- Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and double-click on the movie in the Composition window.
Do one of the following:
To open a movie in an After Effects Footage window:
Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you double-click a movie in the Project window.