Q: what is the .AAE extension?

Admittedly I've not read to the end, but I found if the accompanying .aae file is not kept with the video (.mov) file then the slow-motion aspect of the video will not function as that file describes what to do, when and how.

On a separate note, for those still (like me) using Aperture you will not be able to import that sidecar metadata file, so slow-motion will not work. However, it will import into the newer Photos automatically, even if the movie and .aae file remain inside the Photos folder as it makes a copy into the Database file (Open Package Contents to check) and thus is compatible with the slow-mo feature from newer iOS releases.

Hi Lawrence.  You seem to know a lot about this.  Question:  I've decided to switch from using Apple Photos to Adobe Lightroom 6 for managing and editing my images.  Since I have a lot of photos I've edited in Photos already, I thought I'd export the photos I've edited along with the unmodified original files (.RAW and .JPEG) - so I'd end up with three files for each EDITED photo:  1. a .JPEG copy of the edited photo, 2. the original .JPEG and 3. the original .RAW file.  (I have a plan to reduce the redundancy - let's just accept that for now.)  Among these exported photo files, I have all of these .AAE files.  My questions are:

1.  What are they for?  Please go a little deeper than you have previously - I've exported hundreds of edited photos from Photos - shared them on flickr, Shutterfly, e-mailed them, printed them, moved them from drive to drive, opened them in Windows, on other Macs with various other software - never encountered an .AAE file.  I would assume that exporting an edited photo creates a "flat" (destructed) copy.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Or, maybe the .AAE files are associated with the original unedited files?  And if so, the RAW, the JPEG, or both - or is there a separate file for each type?

2.  Because they're XML, is Adobe Lightroom able to use them?  Or are they just useful to Photos?  If it's just Photos, and I don't plan on using Photos anymore, I assume it's safe to just delete them.

Thanks for any help.

John

Johnny Simpson wrote:

 

Hi Lawrence.  You seem to know a lot about this.  Question:  I've decided to switch from using Apple Photos to Adobe Lightroom 6 for managing and editing my images.  Since I have a lot of photos I've edited in Photos already, I thought I'd export the photos I've edited along with the unmodified original files (.RAW and .JPEG) - so I'd end up with three files for each EDITED photo:  1. a .JPEG copy of the edited photo, 2. the original .JPEG and 3. the original .RAW file.  (I have a plan to reduce the redundancy - let's just accept that for now.)  Among these exported photo files, I have all of these .AAE files.  My questions are:

 

1.  What are they for?  Please go a little deeper than you have previously - I've exported hundreds of edited photos from Photos - shared them on flickr, Shutterfly, e-mailed them, printed them, moved them from drive to drive, opened them in Windows, on other Macs with various other software - never encountered an .AAE file.  I would assume that exporting an edited photo creates a "flat" (destructed) copy.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Or, maybe the .AAE files are associated with the original unedited files?  And if so, the RAW, the JPEG, or both - or is there a separate file for each type?

 

2.  Because they're XML, is Adobe Lightroom able to use them?  Or are they just useful to Photos?  If it's just Photos, and I don't plan on using Photos anymore, I assume it's safe to just delete them.

 

Thanks for any help.

John

If you export a file from iCloud Photos you are given the choice of the edited or original. If you choose edited you will get just one file. I don't know if the edits in the AAE file are saved as metadata or not; I haven't tried to undo edits, which would be a good test.

Adobe Lightroom should be able to use the .AAE data, as Adobe invented the format. But again, I have no direct experience. You can try it easily enough; copy the original and the .aae sidecar file with the same file name to a directory and see if Lightroom recognizes the edits. And report back what works; we can create a user tip based on the results.

Thanks for the reply, Lawrence.  Given my "conversion" project, I was hoping for a quick answer, but I did some experimenting and here's what I found:

Using Apple Photos (not iCloud Photos) on my Macbook Pro, I exported a few files a few different ways:

1. Canon EOS photo, unedited, having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, simple export as .JPEG

2. Canon EOS photo, edited (cropped), having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, simple export as .JPEG

3. Canon EOS photo, unedited, having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, export unmodified originals

4. Canon EOS photo, edited (cropped), having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, export unmodified originals

5. iPhone 6 photo, unedited, having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, simple export as .JPEG

6. iPhone 6 photo, edited (cropped), having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, simple export as .JPEG

7. iPhone 6 photo, unedited, having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, export unmodified originals

8. iPhone 6 photo, edited (cropped), having both RAW and JPG formats imported into Photos, export unmodified originals

NONE of these exports resulted in the production of an .AAE file.

So, I then went and looked at one of the .AAE files that resulted from my mass export from Photos.  It was from an iPhone photo that I had apparently edited on my iPhone prior to importing it into Photos on my Mac.  Now, I'm ASSUMING this - who knows if I imported it to Photos, edited it there, and my highly intelligent Apple system didn't go and copy the adjustments to my iPhone.  I don't THINK so, but I don't KNOW.

To straighten it all out, I did another experiment:

1. Took a photo with my iPhone, imported it into Photos on my Mac, using Photos.  Exported it as a .JPEG:  No .AAE file was created.

2. Exported the unmodified original:  No .AAE file.

3. Edited the photo in Photos on my Mac, then exported it as a .JPEG:  No .AAE file.

4. Exported the unmodified original again:  No .AAE file.

5. Checked the photo on my iPhone (connected to the same network as my Mac) and, no, the Mac edit was not transferred to the iPhone copy of the photo.

6. Took another photo with my iPhone, EDITED IT ON MY PHONE (adjusted the tilt and crop), imported it into Photos on my Mac, using Photos.  Exported it as a .JPEG:  No .AAE file was created.

7. Exported the unmodified original:  FINALLY, an .AAE file was created.  I got the original image I captured PLUS the information for the crop edit I made using my iPhone.

So, it APPEARS that these .AAE files are used to transfer non-destructive edits from one Apple device to another.

If I export a .JPEG copy of a photo I've edited in Apple Photos, I get the MODIFIED image.  Edits are irreversible.

If I export the unmodified original, I get the UNMODIFIED image, and no .AAE file.  Edits are UNAVAILABLE.

-- UNLESS, I check the Export IPTC as XMP checkbox at the top of the Export unmodified original dialog box, in which case, presto!, original + .AAE!

Questions still unanswered:

1. Is this for only Apple "stuff"?  E.g., If I edited a photo directly on my Canon EOS prior to importing it into Apple Photos, would there be an .AAE file created for THAT edit?

2. What does other software, e.g. Adobe Lightroom, do with an Apple-created .AAE file?  (I'll let you know the answer to this one as soon as I find out.)

P.S.  I can't find any reference online to Adobe having created this file format.  Googling ".AAE" brings up a lot of message boards with people frustrated over it, but no concrete documentation.  Really sad.  The only connection I can find to Adobe is their "After Effects" software, which, maybe creates .AAE (Adobe After Effects) files - which have nothing to do with this.  It looks like an Apple thing.  It's really too bad that Apple didn't document this information (beyond "this is not an error").  This has been a lot of time away from my photo organizing project.

Johnny Simpson wrote:

 

 

P.S.  I can't find any reference online to Adobe having created this file format. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Metadata_Platform

Ah.  And with that, I find an error in my analysis above.  I didn't get an .AAE file by checking the IPTC as XMP file, I got an .XMP file.  ... Considering that you were referencing .AAE files when you stated Adobe created the format, and now refer me to a link on .XMP files - are they the same thing?  Especially, does the .XMP file contain EDIT information (e.g. crop, lighting, color adjustments, etc.) or just the general metadata (camera, date, aperture, etc.)?  Thanks.

Johnny Simpson wrote:

 

...

 

So, it APPEARS that these .AAE files are used to transfer non-destructive edits from one Apple device to another.

 

 

YES.  Quite self-centered of Apple!   (Are you surprised?)   My guess is that Apple was forced to embrace the sidecar notion when iCloud Photo Library was developed, so that one could move around between different Macs and iOS devices, editing here and there, and be looking at the "same thing" on the different platforms.  Unfortunately this concept takes the giant leap that everyone is going to use iCloud, everyone is logged in with an Apple ID (the same one) on all devices and computers, etc.   In the real world, people have all sorts of cameras, different devices and computers with different operating systems, and multiple family members all using and perhaps sharing the same resources.  There should therefore be an OPTION for those who are not using iCloud.  Either the ability to just "turn off" lossless edits entirely (for those who don't care) or at least some better functionality when editing specific photos on the iPhone, e.g. a "Commit Edits" function, or "Save As" to a separate (flat) file.   Currently the least painful way to get the edited photos off the phone, en mass, is to Select each manually in the Camera Roll, and AirDrop them (but this is time consuming to select them one by one, since theres no "Select All" option, and also requires that you have AppleID set up and signed in on the receiving computer to accept the AirDrop.)    People have written about other time-wasting methods such as emailing photos to yourself, or iMessaging them, etc.  Ludicrous that people should be forced to do that.

Johnny Simpson also wrote:

 

P.S.  I can't find any reference online to Adobe having created this file format.  Googling ".AAE" brings up a lot of message boards with people frustrated over it, but no concrete documentation.  Really sad.  The only connection I can find to Adobe is their "After Effects" software, which, maybe creates .AAE (Adobe After Effects) files - which have nothing to do with this.  It looks like an Apple thing.  It's really too bad that Apple didn't document this information (beyond "this is not an error").  This has been a lot of time away from my photo organizing project.

Your statement is spot on.   Tons of people are frustrated about this, and Apple's response is one of a conceited jerk.   "It works as designed".

Kudos to you for compiling all those tests and outcomes, by the way.  These should prove to be very helpful to others in understanding the impact on their workflows.

B

Hi

I have imported photos from my iPhone to my windows pc with "Import Pictures and Videos" and have now the .jpg and .aae file in a windows folder. The photos were deleted during the import from my iPhone.

No I want to sync this windows folder back to my iPhone with iTunes to have the pictures available in the "Photo" app. I do get the pictures. But it looks like the AAE file does not get synched back and the changes are lost.

Is there any way to simply sync back the .jpg and .aae files to the "Photo" app on the iPhone with keeping the changes?