I cannot open my After Effects project.
There are several things that you can do to revive your project file.
A1- First off make sure you are using version 4.5.0 or later. Things were changed in this version to minimize file corruption.
A2- Did you switch to 16 bit color space? Zaxwerks plug-ins are not 16 bit. Set the files back to 8 bit and they should open up just fine.
A3- Don't use AE's auto save feature, instead use AE's Save As command or the Save and Increment command each time you save. This will give you a series of backup files in case your project gets corrupted.
A4- You should also be aware that when a crash occurs and you are asked if you would like to save the project, you should never save that file. This will only save the project in the state that caused a crash. So it won't ever open.
A5- There are a couple of things you can do to try and salvage the project.
First of all, you can try opening the project with the Caps Lock key on. This will prevent the comp window from updating and will sometimes allow the project to open.
A6- Close After Effects and rename the /Documents/Zaxwerks/ to another name. For example, rename the "ProAnimator" folder to "ProAnimator OLD". Then, relaunch After Effects and try re-opening the project file.
A7- If you are using version 4.5.1 or above and run into a file corruption error message, delete the Zaxwerks preference file or the Zaxwerks Swatches.
Go to the following folder:
[Windows XP]: C: Documents and Settings > Zaxwerks
[Windows Vista]: C: UserName > AppData > Zaxwerks
[Windows 7]: C: Users > UserName > AppData > Roaming > Zaxwerks
[Mac]: /Users/Library/Preferences
Then, delete the related preference file:
[ProAnimator]: Zaxwerks ProAnimator Prefs
[3D Invigorator]: Zaxwerks Invigorator Prefs
To delete the swatches, go to the following folder:
[Windows]: Documents (My Documents) > Zaxwerks
[Mac]: Documents > Zaxwerks
Then, delete the program folder. If you are resetting the ProAnimator swatches, delete the ProAnimator folder. If you are resetting the 3D Invigorator swatches, delete the 3D Invigorator folder. This will reset the user swatches.
A8- If the above solutions don't work you can find and delete the corrupt data. This works especially well if you have several Zaxwerks plug-ins being used in the same project. Most times only one or two of the plug-ins will have corrupted data but since AE won't load the project it makes you think the entire project is toast. Here's how to do it:
Quick Fix Method
1- Quit After Effects, then remove the Zaxwerks folder from the AfterEffects Plug-ins folder.
2- Open the corrupted project. After Effects will tell you some plug-ins are missing. That's OK.
3- Once the project is opened, delete the last instance of Zaxwerks you applied, then use Save As... to save the project as an alternate version.
4- Quit After Effects, then return the Zaxwerks plug-ins folder to its original location and open the project you just saved. See if the problem still exists. If it does you'll have to do a more thorough hunting mission.
Thorough Hunting Method
1- Quit After Effects, then remove the Zaxwerks folder from the AfterEffects Plug-ins folder.
2- Open the corrupted project. After Effects will tell you some plug-ins are missing. That's OK.
3- Once the project is opened, delete every instance of Zaxwerks you applied, except for one. Then use Save As... to save the project as an alternate version.
4- Close this project.
5- Reopen the original corrupted file (not the one you just saved)
6- Delete every instance of Zaxwerks except for a different one than the one you left last time. Use Save As... to save the project as an alternate version.
7- Close this project.
8- Repeat steps 5-7 until you have a separate project for every instance of the plug-in. For example if you have 4 Zaxwerks plug-ins in the original corrupted project you'll end up with 4 alternate files with one plug-in in each.
9- Quit After Effects, then return the Zaxwerks plug-ins folder to its original location and open each of the projects you just saved. Some will open and some won't. Make note of which ones won't open.
Now that you know which plug-ins had the corrupt data in them, do steps 1,2 and 3 again but this time delete all of the corrupted plug-ins. Now do step 9 again, and this time open up the clean file. It'll open up with as much of the project as is possible to salvage.
At this point update your software to the current version 4.5.1 is free to existing users so get off that old version that caused the corruption in the first place.