Hi,

I had a question related to working between Final Cut Pro and After Effects to create cut-out animation. I'm a total beginner to AE and I've never done animation before, although I am familiar with Final Cut Pro. But I'm confused about how to work between these programs. I understand, from doing the After Effects tutorials and such, that AE is not really designed as an editing program. I read you need to use non-linear editing software like FCP to put your sequences together and such. That's where I start to get confused and I would greatly appreciate any guidance on the following issues:

-I'm planning to use layered Illustrator and Photoshop files, which I'll animate in AE. My first question is how to order my work, technically speaking. Let's say I create those files in Illustrator or Photoshop. Then what? I import them into FCP, put a sequence together, then export them in some format into AE for animating. What format? Or do I first bring those layered Illustrator of Photoshop files into AE and animate them, then bring them into FCP and put a sequence together?

-What's the best ways to get the footage/files in and out of these programs? What format should one use?

If anyone can tell me the most sensible workflow here, and basically how to do this, I would really appreciate it. I'm basically confused about this whole process, specifically how to import and export these files in and out of these programs while retaining the layer info, etc., you need to do the work; the most sensible sequence for the work, etc. 

Much appreciated,

Dmitri