After Effects project importer enables importing aep projects to Autograph. It works by running a JS script in After Effects that writes a Python script for Autograph containing commands for Autograph to re-create the content of the AE project.

Importing AE Projects in Autograph

First thing, check that After Effects scripting is enabled in the Preferences of After Effects, otherwise, the process will fail.

The process is pretty simple. Autograph automatically detects the highest installed version of After Effects on your computer. If it was detected, the File/Convert AE Project action should be enabled.

Just click on the action, then select the aep file to convert. This will then start After Effects in the background and automatically run the JS script, which will in-turn create a Python script that is executed by Autograph to recreate the project. While all that happens, the main window is greyed-out with a waiting message. The process can take between 5 to 30 seconds, depending mainly on how long AE takes to start.

Once the project is converted, Autograph will prompt you to save the project in the location of your choice. If you are using Autograph Starter you can choose between one of your free projects slots.

Manually running the script in After Effects

You can also run the converter script in After Effects manually. The script will convert the currently opened project into a Python script that Autograph can then execute.

The converter script is located in your installation directory of Autograph. On Windows, this is usually C:\Program Files\Left Angle\Autograph2025v7.1\Resources\AEConvert\ConvertToAutograph.jsx. On macOS, this is usually /Applications/Autograph2025v7.1/Autograph.app/Contents/Resources/AEConvert/ConvertToAutograph.jsx. You can then run the script in After Effects with the menu action File/Scripts/Run Script File.... Then in the promp dialog, select the ConvertToAutograph.jsx script. The script will run and first prompt you to indicate where to save the Python file that will be written. Once selected, the script will write the Python script. This is generally pretty fast.

Running the Python script in Autograph

To run a Python script in Autograph, ensure that the Python Console panel is visible in the interface.

If you are using Autograph Creator or Autograph Studio you should now see the Python Console.

In the toolbar of the Panel, click on the Import script and Execute button. Then select the Python script that was exported from After Effects. This will run the script and execute commands to create the project.

Limitations of the After Effects Converter

While the converter script does its maximum to convert as best as it can After Effects data to Autograph, there are features that do not translate automatically to how Autograph works. Instead of listing what is not supported, we will list below what is supported in the script.

Properties

All After Effects basic properties type are supported in Autograph and converted accordingly. Keyframe animations are 1:1 converted, both for spatial and time interpolation. Spatial coordinates are converted to Autograph coordinate system: After Effects 0,0 is at the top left of the Composition, whereas in Autograph it is in the center of the Compsition. 3D coordinates are also converted: After Effects 3D coordinates are in pixels whereas in Autograph they are in units of half the Composition width.

Blend Modes

The following blend modes are not supported in Autograph:

• Darker Color (Converted to Darken)
• Lighter Color (Converted to Lighten)
• Dissolve (Converted to Source Over)

Layers

Properties of layers that are converted are:

• Guide Layer
• Solo
• Visible
• Lock
• In/Out points are converted to Visibility keyframes
• Blend Mode
• Motion Blur. Since in Autograph motion-blur settings can be controlled per-layer, the setting is set to Composition Settings to match AE.
• Opacity
• Time Stretch
• Time Offset
• 2D Transform
• 3D transform. Note: the rotation order is set to YZX to match AE behavior.
• Preserve Underlying Transparency
• Parent Layer
• Masks
• Layer Styles
• Layer Effects

The following layer types are converted:

Null Layers

In Autograph, these are regular 2D layers with no source.

Media Layers

In Autograph, these are regular 2D layers with a Reader source from the project panel. Media files have their framerate converted. For video files, their File Colorspace parameter is set to sRGB to match AE behavior.

Adjustment Layers

In Autograph these are regular 2D layers with the property Adjustment Layer turned on

Solid Layers

In Autograph, Solid Layers are regular 2D layers with a Constant Generator on the source. Since in Autograph, Constants are by default infinite, they are set to Custom Format to match AE solid size.

Shape Layers

Shape layers in Autograph are actually regular 2D layers with a Shapes generator on the source. The following content of the Shapes is converted:

• Groups are converted in Shape Groups in Autograph
• Stroke is converted in Stroke Style. The following properties are converted: Color, Opacity, Blend Mode, Stroke Width, Line Cap, Line Join, Miter Limit, Dashes
• Fill is converted in Fill Style. The following properties are converted: Color, Opacity, Blend Mode
• Gradient Fill is converted in a Fill Style with a Gradient Modifier. See note on gradients.
• Gradient Stroke is converted in a Stroke Style with a Gradient Modifier. See note on gradients.
• Paths are converted as Path parameters in Autograph, within in a Path Group. Paths animation is converted.
• Rectangle is converted as a Path with a Rectangle generator. The following properties are converted: Size, Position, Roundness
• Ellipse is converted as a Path with an Ellipse generator. The following properties are converted: Position, Size
• Polystar/Star is converted as a Path with a Star generator. The following properties are converted: Position, Outer Radius, Inner Radius, Points, Rotation
• Polystar/Polygon is converted as a Path with a Polygon generator. The following properties are converted: Position, Outer Radius, Inner Radius, Points, Rotation

Path modifiers are applied on all Paths in the current group. The following modifiers are supported:

• Trim Paths is converted as a Trim Path modifier. The following properties are converted: Start, End, Offset, Trim Multiple Shapes
• Wiggle Paths is converted as a Noise modifier. The following properties are converted: Size, Detail, Wiggles/sec, Correlation, Random Seed
• Repeater is converted as an Instancer modifier on the Shape Group. The following properties are converted: Copies, Offset, Transform
• Twist is converted as a Swirl modifier. The following properties are converted: Angle, Center
• ZigZag is converted as a Oscillate modifier. The following properties are converted: Size, Ridges per segment, Points

Text Layers

Text layers are converted with support Text Animators. Some Text Documents are supported, although some properties in AE's Text Document do not translate in Autograph or are not exposed by AE's JS API. A Text Document is broken into paragraphs. Each paragraphs corresponds to a text block with a TextBlockFormat. The TextBlockFormatcurrently only converts the text alignment. Since alignment is not exposed by the JS API, it is currently extracted from the binary aep file directly. Range of characters with a specific format corresponds to a TextCharFormat. The following properties are converted: Font Style, Font Family, Italic, Size, Font Stretch, Stroke Over Fill, Stroke Width, Stroke Color, Fill Color, Faux Bold, Faux Italic, Font Capitalization, Tracking.

The following Text Animators are supported:

• Position
• Rotation
• Scale
• Skew
• Opacity
• Fill Color
• Stroke Color
• Stroke Width
• Tracking Amount

Both Wiggly and Range Selectors are supported. They can slightly vary their result compared to AE selectors as AE clamps and rounds the weight of selectors, whereas Autograph lets the user control when clamping occurs.

Camera Layers

In addition to the 3D transform, the camera focal length and aperture are set. Since AE doesn't expose the film length, we assume a default focal of 36mm.

Light Layers

Only the 3D transform is converted. The light properties are currently not converted.

Layer Masks

Masks are converted in Autograph as a Shapes Generator set on the Mask parameter. Each mask is inserted as a Path in a Path Group followed by a Fill style. The Invert Mask property is converted into a Invert Modifier on the Fill style. Vector shapes are converted similarly to shape layers.

Layer Styles

The following layer styles are supported:

Drop Shadow

Converted to a Drop Shadow modifier on the layer source. The following properties are converted: Blend Mode, Opacity, Color, Distance, Angle, Blur

Inner Shadow

Converted to a Drop Shadow modifier on the layer source, with type set to Inner Shadow. The following properties are converted: Blend Mode, Opacity, Color, Distance, Angle, Blur

Fill

Converted to a Fill modifier on the layer source. The following properties are converted: Blend Mode, Color.

Stroke

Converted to a Stroke modifier on the layer source. The following properties are converted: Blend Mode, Position, Size, Color, Opacity

Bevel Emboss

Converted to a Bevel Emboss modifier on the layer source. The following properties are converted: Style (Outer, Inner, Emboss, Pillow. Stroke Emboss is not supported), Technique (Chisel Soft is not supported), Direction, Blur, Softness, Angle, Altitude, Highlight Mode, Shadow Mode, Light Color, Shadow Color

Gradient

Converted to a Gradient modifier on the layer source. The following properties are converted: Blend Mode, Type, Angle, Reverse, Radius, Offset, Scale

Effects

Noise

Converted to a Noise generator on the layer source.

Displacement Map

Converted to a Displace modifier on the layer source.

Polar coordinates

Converted to a Polar Coordinates modifier on the layer source.

Mirror

Converted to a *Mirror on the layer source.

Circle

Converted to a Circle geenerator on the layer source.

Ramp

Converted to a Gradient generator on the layer source.

Fill

Converted to a Fill modifier on the layer source.

Transform

Converted to a Transform modifier on the layer source.

Fast Blur & Gaussian Blur

Converted to a Blur modifier on the layer source.

Drop Shadow

Converted to a Drop Shadow modifier on the layer source.

CC RepeTile

Converted to a Tile modifier on the layer source.

Note on Gradients

After Effects expose gradient midpoints as stops in their JS API. They are converted as regular stops in Autograph, but AE stops are non linear, whereas in Autograph they are. To achieve the same result when using default midpoints, just remove Gradient Stops corresponding to midpoints in Autograph.

Project Panel

The project structure is replicated in Autograph and filenames are preserved

Project Properties

Currently, project properties are not imported. Autograph assumes the project uses the default After Effects sRGB color management and not OCIO color profiles. If you need to apply the same OCIO color profile in Autograph, you can change them in the settings of your project.