Keep Your Project Organised

Here are example layouts which help keep everything organised, even when working in remote teams.

File Management

I layout each folder so it’s as easy to digest as possible. Even if you’ve never worked with me before, this folder layout is intuitive and you should know where to look for what you need.

Numbers are important as they add a chronology to the folder structure.

Generic Assets Folder vs Assets for Each App

A generic assets folder works for assets that span multiple apps. (Or if I’m working on a project completely solo.)

For certain projects, assets used in After Effects aren’t needed in Premiere. The apps are for distinct parts of the creative process, after all.

This is a judgement call.

To get work from After Effects into Premiere (and vice versa) I usually just render my timeline. I could use Dynamic Link, but the feature breaks often enough to have put me off using it!

Project Organisation

Whether it’s for a teammate, supplier or just your future self, it’s important to keep your project tidy.

This doesn’t need to be complicated!

01 Main contains one comp, the one I render from.

The name matches the export, so it’s clear for anyone which comp generated a particular export. I know that “Example Project v1.mp4” was made by exporting “Example Project v1”.

Usually, each project I work on contains individual scenes, so an 02 Scenes folder makes my life easier.

These are distinct from 03 Precomps. This folder might be a bit of a mess, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to get those Precomps in one place, out of the way, so you can stop looking at them in the Project panel.

When you need to find a Precomp, you can find it by double clicking on it when you’re in a scene. You don’t ever need to navigate to it from the project panel.

(You can right click any layer and click “Reveal in project” if you need to duplicate or rename it.)




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