Getting Files from Video Copilot into After Effects 7.0

[videocreater]

anyone here know how to do this ? i know how to get the disc into my computer. and open it up but what do i do after that ?

[Chuck Engels]

Did the disc not come with any instructions?

[Bob]

It would also help if you told us which video copilot product disk you have.

[videocreater]

i have Action movie essentials, real clouds,video copilot series one, evolution,designer sound fx,riot gear, film magic pro, video streams hd,

[Chuck Engels]

In most cases it should be as easy as copying the files to your hard drive and then a simple Import in After Effects.
Have you created many compositions in After Effects? That is not an easy program to just jump into. The tutorials at VideoCopilot and Lynda.com are really good for learning the basics and a lot of advanced material.

[videocreater]

how can i copy the files to my hard Drive ? i know after Effects is not Easy but Neither is PE 9 i uninstalled PE 9 From my Computer because i could not get it to Work. and yet my Cam and firewire Cable are fine,

[Bob]

Chuck is correct. For the dvds that are essentially collections of elements that you can use in your projects, you would normally copy the dvd to a local hard drive (for higher performance) and add elements to your projects as needed.

You can copy the dvd to the hard drive using Windows Explorer. Create a folder for the dvd on your hard drive. I have a 1TB internal drive that I use for this. Then, place the dvd in the dvd drive and navigate to the dvd drive using Windows Explorer. Select all the files in the root of the drive and press ctrl-C to copy them. Switch to the folder you created for the dvd and press ctrl-v to paste. The entire contents of the dvd will be copied. Have a cup of coffee, it will take a while.

There should be documentation on the dvds to help you get familiar with the product and tutorials on how to use it, if needed. On the Evolution DVD, for example, go to the Bonus Stuff\Tutorials folder and double click on the "watch tutorials.html" file. That will bring up a local web page with links to seven video tutorials on how to use the various materials on the dvd. Be sure to watch the introduction video first. There is also a gallery web page located in the Bonus Stuff\Gallery folder that will let you preview the various elements.

[Chuck Engels]

I think we are talking about a MAC Bob, not a PC. However you normally copy or transfer files from a DVD to a hard drive on your MAC, that's how you would move these files. Experience with Premiere or Premiere Elements would be good before jumping into After Effects. That is not required but in my opinion it really helps. If you think Premiere Elements was difficult After Effects is 10 times that at least. After Effects is not a video editor, just so you know.

[Bob]

I didn't realize we were talking about a MAC. The MAC has a Finder that works similar to Windows Explorer. You can open two Finder windows, one showing the contents of the DVD and the other showing the folder on the hard drive where you want to copy the files. Select the files/folders on the source location, right click and select Copy from the popup. Switch to the other Finder window, right click and select Paste Items.

If you only have the old style one button mouse, you right-click by holding down the Control key and clicking.