[After Effect MKV] Import MKV to After Effect for Proper Video Editing

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[After Effect MKV] How to Edit MKV in After Effect Without Error?

Updated on Apr 08, 2025

Getting an error message when importing MKV into Adobe After Effects for editing? Only video (audio) can be imported into Adobe After Effects?

No worries! This post shares why your MKV cannot be imported into Adobe After Effects properly and a complete guide to help solve the MKV importing and editing issues.

Tips. Converting MKV to After Effects-supported formats is a 100% workable and easy solution. Get the recommended MKV to After Effects converter here and follow the guide to fix the After Effects MKV import issue:

https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/download/hd-video-converter-pro.exe hd-video-converter-pro.exe

❓ Why Doesn't Adobe After Effects Import MKV?

🤔 How to Solve Adobe After Effects MKV Importing Error?

---1. 📝 Change the File Extension

---2. 🔄 Convert MKV to After Effects Video Formats with HD Pro

---3. 🔗 Use Influx Plugin

📚 Conclusion

❓ Why Doesn't Adobe After Effects Import MKV?

Q1: "I've installed AE, but it cannot import my MKV files even when I've installed QuickTime. How to avoid that limitation? Thanks advance."

Q2: "I need to edit some videos but some of them are in .mkv extension, is there any way to import it to AE? The videos are just screen capture with no audio. I've tried mkvToVob in order to try to unpack to another type of file but because there is no audio mkvtovob was unable to work."

Q3: "Hi, I have an MKV file I would like to import into AE. What is the best way to do it in order to keep the highest possible quality?"

After Effects video/audio formats

A: Actually, the above MKV import error is because Adobe After Effects does not support the MKV format.

From the left-side image, you can clearly see that MKV is not on the After Effects supported file list.

Also, not only is MKV an AE-unsupported container format, but you also need to ensure that the media codecs packed within MKV are supported by After Effects.

But don't worry, this post shares 3 simple solutions to fix the issue.

Just keep reading to learn the detailed guide.

So, my recommendations here are:

MOV container, H.264 video + AAC audio; Good compatibility and performance in editing.

MP4 container, H.264 video + AAC audio; Best compatibility for any-platform import and export.

To convert MKV files to After Effects supported formats/codecs, you can follow the two ways below:

🤔 How to Solve Adobe After Effects MKV Importing Error?

1. 📝 Change the File Extension

If you are sure that the video and audio codecs wrapped in your MKV files are compatible with After Effects, you can change the file extension from .mkv to .mp4 to fix the MKV import error. But note that you should also ensure the new container format supports the codecs inside your MKV files.

For example, if your MKV file is encoded with H.264 and AAC, then you can directly rename the file extension to MP4, as MP4 also supports video and audio encoders.

Otherwise, you may damage the original footage. If you're not sure, backup your original files before changing the file extension.

Rename File Extension for After Effects

Step 1. Find the video file in your file folder.

Step 2. Right-click on an MKV file you want to edit. Choose “Rename”.

Step 3. Input the new extension name that ends with .mp4 or other After Effects-friendly container formats.

Step 4. Press “Enter”. Hit “Yes” on the pop-up confirmation box.

2. 🔄 Convert MKV to After Effects Video Formats with HD Pro

If the renamed file doesn't work, you may need to convert the MKV video to other formats supported by After Effects.

Here are two recommended video formats for importing to After Effects without error:
MOV container, H.264 video + AAC audio; Good compatibility and performance in editing.
MP4 container, H.264 video + AAC audio; Best compatibility for any-platform import and export.

WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is a robust all-in-one video processing tool that can convert MKV to After Effects-compatible formats and codecs. It supports many output presets and provides high output quality.

How to Convert MKV to After Effects Video Formats with HD Pro

Before start, please free download free download the After Effects MKV converter software and install it on your Windows PC.

Step 1. Load Unsupported MKV Videos into the Program

Launch WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro, click “Converter” module to enter the converter workplace.

Go to the upper-left corner and click on “Add Files” button to add unsupported MKVs into the program. Then define the destination path at “Output folder” box underneath.

💡 You can simply trim, crop, rotate videos, etc. with the built-in simple video editing tools on the toolbar below the video list.
💡 If you fail to load your MKV files, check this post for possible reasons and solutions >>>.

Step 2. Convert MKV to After Effects Video Formats

Click on the output format section on the right side of the main workplace, locate “Video” category from the category box above. Then, select MP4, MOV, or other After Effects-supported formats.

Hit “Run” to start the conversions, videos in queue will be batch converted.

Adjust Video Parameter for After Effects

💡 If needed, you can open the “Parameter settings” window to check the video and audio encoder, and adjust the video resolution, bitrate, etc. for desired output file size and quality.

💡 Hardware acceleration (Intel QSV and Nvidia NVENC) is available for H264 and H265/HEVC encoding.

3. 🔗 Use Influx Plugin

If you don't want to change the file format for importing into Adobe After Effects, here is a powerful plugin you can use.

With the Influx plugin provided by Autokroma, you can easily get MKV, FLV, WebM, and more format and codec support for Adobe apps like After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Media Encoder.

Follow the steps below to import MKV into After Effects with Influx:

Step 1. Visit https://www.autokroma.com/Influx to download the appropriate Influx installer for your OS.

Step 2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Step 3. Launch After Effects, and Influx will be automatically integrated into your Adobe environment.

Step 4. Now, Influx will enable After Effects to recognize and open MKV files without conversion.

🚨 However, Influx is a paid plugin, and some MKV files may still have codec issues after installing Influx.

At last...

After learning the above three methods, the After Effects MKV importing issue should no longer trouble you. You can feel free to choose a suitable way according to your actual needs.

Anyway, it's highly recommended to convert MKV files to other formats with WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro. It is a 100% workable way and easy to get started. Download this software and convert your MKV videos to After Effects-compatible formats now!

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