Normally, when you install a minor update to After Effects, it does a pretty good job at remembering your previously-installed plug-ins and the such. That said, there is an exception in the case of the 8.0.2 updater. This version writes a brand-new interpretation rules file that alters how it handles some YUV color space files. However, it does not merge in any changes you may have made to the previous interpretation rules file. Fortunately, it doesn’t delete your file; it just sets it aside.

Click here for an Adobe Tech Note on what’s going on, and how to work around it.

Don’t know what interpretation rules are? They are a set of guidelines After Effects uses to help guess what frame rate, field order, pixel aspect ratio, alpha channel type, and color profile to use for certain types of footage. Adobe provides a number of factory defaults; you can also add your own rules – including new pixel aspect ratios to add to the popup menus in the Interpret Footage and Composition Settings dialogs. If you have a certain footage type you know you always want treated a certain way, creating your own rule to handle it can save time when importing footage. You can figure out most of what you need to know by opening the existing rules document, reading Adobe’s comments, and studying their preset examples. If you’re having trouble, post a comment to this entry and we’ll try to help.)