Move Assets Between Premiere Pro and After Effects
Find out how to easily move your media assets between Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects without dynamic linking.
I’ve been using After Effects and Premiere Pro for years, and I often use dynamic linking to bring an After Effects comp into Premiere and vice versa. Only recently did I realize that you can simply copy/paste media between the two programs. While it’s obviously not the same as dynamic linking, the copy/paste method can nevertheless be quite useful. Let’s take a look at the specifics of what you can copy/paste between the two programs.
How to Copy/Paste between Premiere Pro and After Effects
When you have both Premiere Pro and After Effects open, there are several different ways to copy/paste assets between the two programs:
From Premiere Pro to After Effects
- Project Panel to Project Panel
- Project Panel to Composition
- Sequence to Composition
From After Effects to Premiere Pro
- Project Panel to Project Panel
- Composition to Sequence
What You Can Copy/Paste between Premiere Pro and After Effects
You can quickly and easily copy/paste several types of media assets between Premiere and After Effects, including:
- Video
- Audio
- Photos
- Bins
- Sequences (PP)
- Compositions (AE)
- Video Effect Adjustments
- Video Effect Keyframes
*When you copy/paste from a sequence (PP) to a composition (AE), After Effects will paste the asset on the comp in the same place as it exists within the Premiere Pro sequence from which it was copied. If the clip starts at 16 seconds in the Premiere sequence, it will paste at 16 seconds in your AE comp. Hold command/alt to paste directly on your playhead in After Effects.
What You Cannot Copy/Paste between Premiere Pro and After Effects
Unfortunately, there are quite a few items that will not copy/paste between Premiere and After Effects. These include:
- Text Layers
- Transitions
- Audio Keyframes
Be aware that the copy/paste method should be used to quickly move assets between the two programs. If you are looking to get any kind of motion graphics workflow set up, then you should be using dynamic linking. As the name implies, dynamic linking LINKS the media between the two programs. Copy/Paste simple moves the assets.
Got any quick video editing workflow tips to share? Let us know in the comments below.
