These days most everyone in post production knows about Automatic Duck. The Auto Duck tools have been translating editing timelines from application to application (among other things) for many years now. One of their most famous (and oldest) products is Pro Import AE. From the Automatic Duck Web site:

With Pro Import AE for Adobe After Effects, your digital desktop has never been more powerful or compete. Translating a sequence from an Avid® or Final Cut Pro editing system, or a project from Apple’s Motion takes just seconds, importing all your media and clips in one step. Effects are translated and recreated for you and your timeline becomes a composition in After Effects, ready for you to take your vision to the next level.

As an editor who traditionally hasn’t done a lot of After Effects work, I’ve rarely had the need for this tool. The importing of single clips or a few clips into an AE Comp has never been much of a hassle. But as I’ve been moving more stuff in After Effects this year I jumped at the chance to review the newest version of Pro Import AE for Studio/monthly. I knew it would work well but hadn’t used it myself. Needless to say it’s an impressive tool that can make life much, much easier for the editor who has to move edits from Avid Media Composer, Apple Final Cut Pro or Motion into After Effects. At $495, it isn’t cheap but the time it could save is enormous. It’s indeed a very useful tool so if you aren’t familiar with it check out the ROI review and visit the official site for even more info.