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An AET file is mainly recognized as an After Effects template project, designed so you can open it repeatedly and save new versions rather than overwrite the source, with the file storing everything that defines the motion graphic: comps, timeline structure, layer stacks, animation keyframes, effect setups, expressions, cameras/lights, render settings, plus organizational items like folders and interpretation settings.

What an AET generally does not contain is the full media; instead it stores links or paths to footage, images, and audio kept elsewhere, which explains why templates are often zipped with a Footage or assets folder and why missing-file prompts appear if media was relocated, plus the fact that AETs can depend on certain fonts or plugins means opening them on a different computer may cause missing-effect messages until everything is installed, and since file extensions aren’t exclusive, verifying the file’s “Opens with” setting or checking its source location is the most reliable way to confirm its creator and needed companion files.

AET file information represents the editable project you’re actively working on, while an AET is a reusable template, so in practice the difference lies in purpose: you open an AEP to continue that same project, but you open an AET to start a fresh file so the original stays clean.

That’s why AET formats are widely shared in motion-graphics template sets like intros, lower-thirds, and slideshows: the AET remains the creator’s master, and for each new video you open it, Save As a new AEP, then swap in your own text, media, logos, and colors, and even though both formats store the same project components—comps, layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, cameras/lights, and settings—and both usually reference external files, the AET safeguards the layout while the AEP becomes the editable end-user project.

An AET file preserves the structure and animation logic of an After Effects project but not always the media assets, containing compositions with defined resolution, FPS, duration, and nesting, plus the complete layer arrangement—text, shapes, solids, adjustments, precomps, and placeholders—with layer properties like position, scale, rotation, opacity, masks, mattes, blending modes, parenting, and the project’s animation data including keyframes, easing, markers, and any expressions used to automate motion.

On top of that, the template retains all effects and their settings—color correction, blurs, glows, distortions, transitions, and more—along with any 3D setup such as cameras, lights, 3D layer properties, and render/preview settings, plus project-level organization like folders, label colors, interpretation rules, and sometimes proxies, but it typically does not bundle full footage, images, audio, fonts, or plugins, instead keeping links and dependencies that may trigger missing-asset or missing-plugin warnings on another computer until everything is relinked or installed.