Blank screen on after effects

[jpapapot]

I have been using this program for less than 4 hrs. The first few attempts at using it were OK.  I started a composition and moved some pictures from illustrator saved as a PSD. Then out of the blew the screen is black. I can't see any layers i can't see anything. I'm getting frustrated. I uninstalled cleared my cash and everything everyone else is doing but it didn't work. So at my whits end with adobe programs to be honest and the information for solving problems is always pushed to other tutorial groups for extra money. All I want is one program to work so that a newbie can get shit done.

So to be concise i moved pictures into the layered areas and they don't show up on the screen like I'm seeing people do online tutorials and no one has an answer for me. Please help.

[Horshack]

Can you post a screenshot of your After Effects window when it's in this state?

[Horshack]

Also, a quick fix to try would be going to the Window -> Workspace menu and selecting 'Essentials' to reset the workspace to a known state.

[jpapapot]

this is step by step from opening a composition to adding in layers. Please help me solve this before i break my computer.

[Horshack]

Can you post a full-sized screen capture after your final step - these shots are too small to see. Please also expand all elements of your layers too (Ctrl-a to select all layers, then ctrl-click on one of the layer arrows at the left of the layer name).

[jpapapot]

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better?

[Horshack]

Thanks. Nothing stands out so far. Can you double-click on your .psd layer so that it opens up in the layer viewer and then post a screenshot of that?

[jpapapot]

[Horshack]

That's still the composition view. When you double-click on the psd layer it should open up the layer view. It'll look like this:

[jpapapot]

i think i see now. that none of my psd files have anything in them but my PNG do so i started using them. Will that file be a problem?

[Horshack]

AE supports PNGs. Do your PSD files not have anything in them even when viewed in Photoshop? Or does that only happen when you import them into AE? Also, there are multiple ways to treat PSD files in terms of layers.

[jpapapot]

so i saved them from illustrator as PSD and used them to layer a few times as i goofed around, then all of a sudden there's nothing in the file anymore. Which is weird because I have other PSD files I saved at the same time but never used and they seem to show up. But now I'm having a black screen when i press play after i put in the layers. I hate this program all i want is a 5 second intro to a YouTube video with my logo and name is that too much to ask?

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi papapot,

Did you ever figure this problem out? What happened?

Thanks,
Kevin