TechNote

Custom interpretation rules don't work after the After Effects 8.0.2 update is applied

Issue

After you install the Adobe After Effects CS3 8.0.2 update, custom interpretation rules that you added to the interpretation rules.txt file are not applied when you import footage.

Solution

Copy your custom rules to the new interpretation rules 802.txt file.

Quit After Effects.
Navigate to the interpretation rules.txt file:
- On Mac OS: Applications/Adobe After Effects CS3
- On Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CS3\Support Files
Double-click on the interpretation rules.txt file to open it in TextEdit (Mac OS) or Notepad (Windows).
Select the text for any custom rules that you have added, then choose Edit > Copy.
Close the interpretation rules.txt file.
Double-click on the interpretation rules 802.txt file to open it in TextEdit (Mac OS) or Notepad (Windows).
Place the cursor at the end of the file, then choose Edit > Paste.
Choose File > Save.
Close the interpretation rules 802.txt file.

Additional Information

The After Effects CS3 8.0.2 update includes new interpretation rules for YUV color spaces for SD and HDV footage. In order to prevent the deletion of any custom rules that you created, After Effects does not overwrite the original interpretation rules.txt file. Instead it installs a new copy of the standard rules, interpretation rules 802.txt. After Effects uses this file after the 8.0.2 update has been installed. If the interpretation rules 802.txt file is not present, then After Effects will use the original interpretation rules.txt file.

Note: If there is a problem with the interpretation rules 802.txt file, then any error message that After Effects displays will refer only to the interpretation rules.txt file. To correct the error, edit interpreation rules 802.txt file.

For more information about interpreting footage or creating custom interpretation rules, read "Interpret footage items" in After Effects Help and the instructions at the beginning of the interpretation rules file.

Note: On Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard), by default the intepretation rules 802.txt file has restricted permissions. If you attempt to save the file after making changes, then an error message will occur: "You do not have appropriate access privileges." To solve this problem, change the privileges for the file in the Get Info dialog in the Finder to allow you to read and write the file. Alternately, you can save a copy of the file with the same name but to a different location, and then move the new copy into the Support Files folder to overwrite the old one.