.AEP File Extension

When you save a project in After Effects, it creates an AEP file to preserve your timeline, assets, and settings. However, the file does not contain the actual media files; it only stores references to their locations. If you move or rename those files outside After Effects, you will need to relink them when reopening the project.

You can save After Effects projects in two formats:

• AEP (binary) – the standard format, which loads quickly and is ideal for most users.
• AEPX (XML) – a text-based format that's larger and slower to open but can be read or modified with an XML editor, making it useful for automation or backups.

You can also create Team Projects, which are saved to Adobe's cloud and allow for real-time collaborative editing (available to Creative Cloud Enterprise and Teams users). Additionally, After Effects supports project templates saved in .AET (binary) or .AETX (XML) formats for reusing design elements across projects.