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Vault

Storage and packaging limits.

What Vault collects when you save a comp, what stops a save, the size limits for Team libraries, and where imported files and caches live.

What packaging collects

When you save a comp, Altar works on a disposable copy of your project, never your open one. It keeps the comp and what it depends on, copies each external footage file into the package, and relinks to the copies. Duplicate files are copied once. Solids and placeholders stay as they are.

Footage types that can travel inside a comp:

  • Images: png, jpg, jpeg, gif, tif, tiff, bmp, psd, ai, exr, tga, webp, heic
  • Video: mov, mp4, m4v, avi, mxf, mpg, mpeg, mkv, webm
  • Audio: mp3, wav, aif, aiff, aac, m4a
  • 3D: glb

The same applies to proxy footage.

What stops a save

Altar refuses before saving anything, and the message names the file:

  • Missing footage - relink or remove it, then save again.
  • A nested project - a source that is itself an .aep or .aepx.
  • An image sequence - not supported yet.
  • An unsupported footage type - anything not in the list above.
  • An unsaved project - a message tells you to save the project first. Import and Save word it differently.

Size limits

| Where | Limit | | --- | --- | | Local Library | Your disk. No limit from Altar. | | One Team asset (all files together) | 250 MB | | One team’s library | 10 GB by default. Sidequest can set a different allowance for a team. |

Altar checks the size before it starts uploading, so a too-large asset stops early. The server checks again at the end, and that check is the final word. Deleting assets from the team library frees space.

Preview clips are small (960 by 540, no audio, about 2.5 seconds) and count towards the 250 MB.

Where imported files go

Importing never edits the library. It copies files into an Altar folder beside your saved After Effects project, one subfolder per asset, and After Effects references those copies. That keeps the project self-contained if you hand it on.

  • Altar does not overwrite a file already in that folder.
  • If a folder for the asset already holds the same files, it is reused.
  • If it holds different files, the import uses a numbered folder (name-2).
  • Send the whole project folder, not just the .aep, so the Altar folder goes with it.
  • Deleting the Altar folder leaves the project with missing footage.

Caches

Altar keeps two download caches on your computer, Catalog and Library, each up to 2 GB, so re-importing skips the download. Settings → Vault → Import cache shows both sizes and has one Clear import cache button. Clearing never touches your libraries or your projects.

Browse thumbnails and clips are cached for the session and reloaded as needed.

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