Can't get a illustrator file to work in ae

[okke wolfk94726709]

Dear reader,
I've been trying all day and night (literally) to try the following problem:

I want to import a Ai file into after effects (which in the past, even yesterday, has worked out fine) but in any possible way I can import it, it always shows up as a black background, or no background at all (just the grey of the composition window). I have tried about every setting there is to import the file, I've copied the drawings in ai into a different ai file and saved it, I even tried making the file compatible for lower versions of ai, but none have worked so far. I also tried moving it from my external disk to my pc.

This is what I get when I open the comp;

I'm, pretty sure the problem is in the file but I can't even begin to imagine what the problem could be, so please help me guys.
For reference, this is the Ai file I'm trying to import (it has 7 layers.)

[Davide Boscolo · Accepted solution]

Tried this?

[okke wolfk94726709]

Hey, In the picture it doesn’t show they are checked, but a sec before posting the pic they were. I unchecked them to see if one layer was blocking the view of the rest (which wasn’t the case)

[Davide Boscolo]

Mmhhh no idea mate sorry...

In Illustrator if you go in File > Document Color Mode is it RGB or CMYK?

[okke wolfk94726709]

I’ve tried both...

[Davide Boscolo]

Can you send us the AI file by any chance?

[davidarbor]

No matter what, you should leave your document mode in RGB.

That aside, what happens when you double-click one of the layers to open it in the Layers palette? It looks like you already did that with Layer 6, but that would be helpful info to know.

How did you make the comp? Is that the one that was create when you imported the file, or did you copy the layers to a new comp with different dimensions?

Two more things to test:

1) What happens if you right-click a layer and go to "Edit>Edit Original"?

2) What happens if you right-click any of the layers and choose "Convert Shapes from Vector Layer"?

[Rick Gerard]

All of your layers are turned off. Make sure that you can preview the layers in the Project Panel by selecting them in the folder and checking the thumbnail.

This looks like user error to me.

[davidarbor]

It could still be user error, but the OP said in a reply above that the screenshot was taken after they temporarily shut off the layers' visibility, but that the problem was occuring before then.