The increment and save feature of After Effects is a really useful option that will help you save time. In this short guide I’ll run through exactly what the increment and save feature is, and how to use it to your advantage.
What is increment and save in After Effects?
When you choose File > Increment and Save, After Effects will save a new version of your project file and increase the version number of the new file by 1.
For example: let’s say your After Effects project file is called: My Awesome Project.aep
If you were to click File > Increment and Save, After Effects would save a new version of your project file in the same directory, it would add a version number to the project name, and it would open the new file.
So for our example, after clicking File > Increment and Save, we would now be working in the new file: My Awesome Project 2.aep.
If you were to click the Increment and Save option again, a new file would be saved only this time it would be: My Awesome Project 3.aep and so on.
Note: The old file (My Awesome Project.aep) isn’t deleted, so you can return back to it later on if you ever needed to.
Why is increment and save useful in After Effects?
Increment and Save is incredibly useful because you’re effectively creating snapshots of your project files that you can return to later if you ever needed to.
Let’s say you get some client feedback about an animation. Before doing any work you could increment and save your project file so you’re now working in a new version of it.
If the client doesn’t like the new changes, you can then simply open up the previous version of your file and you’ll have everything there from before you made your changes!
Increment and Save gives you multiple versions of your project files you can revert back to if something happens to your current file.
When to use Increment and Save?
It’s good practice to use Increment and Save regularly. The more often you use it, the more snapshots you have to return back to later on.
One option would be to make it part of your daily routine: at the start of every day working on a project simply click the Increment and Save option and you’ll create a new version of your project for that day.
If you’re about to try and implement a new feature or make significant changes, it’s also worth clicking the Increment and Save option before you start work. Again this gives you the option of reverting back to a previous version before the changes should you need to.
And there we have it!
That’s the Increment and Save option for After Effects. It can be a real lifesaver so it’s definitely worth using regularly while you’re working on a project.
