Automated Versioning of your Comps

The compsFromSpreadsheet script allows you to quickly generate copies of your master comp with data from your spreadsheet used to update text or replace layers.

Getting Started

Before you can use the script you need to setup one or more template compositions to receive data from your spreadsheet. There are three different ways your template comp can be updated from the spreadsheet

• Text layers that begin with ^(shift 6) will be able to receive data from the spreadsheet as the text for that layer.
  If you need a line break in a text layer DO NOT put a line break in your spreadsheet cell as this will cause the script to think it is the end of that line of data. Instead use <br> and the script will replace that with a newline in your text layer
• If you have a text layer named ^date it will receive todays date (great if you’re generating slates)
• If you have a non-text layer in your comp that begins with #, it will be replaced by the project item named in your spreadsheet
• If you have a non-text layer in your comp that begins with >, it will be replaced by a file. The script will import a file based on the path in your spreadsheet, then that imported file will replace the layer. If you have the same file referenced more than once in your spreadsheet, the script will only import it once and use that item for every other time the file is referenced

If you are running the script as a dockable panel, there will be buttons to automatically create either a text, layer replace, or import object in the currently selected comp. When you create the layers this way a window will pop up asking for the name of the layer, do not put in the ^ > or # in this window as After Effects will do this for you.

So if you click on the button to create text object and type “title” in the window, After Effects will create a text layer named “^title” in the currently selected comp.

Setting up your Spreadsheet

The first line of your spreadsheet must contain the names for each column.
When you run the script it will take each of these column names and and allow you to connect that column with elements in your template comp.

After you do this the script will go through the spreadsheet line by line, each line of the spreadsheet will become a new copy of one of your template comps, with data from that line of the spreadsheet updating the layers in the template comp copy that were targeted to receive it.

If you have set up more than one composition to receive data, you will need to have a column in your spreadsheet that holds the name of the comp to be used as the base. In the above sample spreadsheet the column ‘Core Spot’ will be used, so when the script is run, for the first line of data it will create a copy of the comp named “spot 1″ to be used for that line.

Very important: Before After effects can read your spreadsheet, it needs to be converted into a tab-delimited text file (most spreadsheet programs do this easily). This is a universal text format that will allow After effects to read in your data and organize it by rows and columns.

When you run the script be sure to point it to this newly created text file and not your spreadsheet as After Effects cannot read any spreadsheet format (maybe I should call the script compsFromTabDelimitedTextFile).

A word about Commas

If you have commas in your data, they will probably get stripped. Why? I believe it is a bug in Excel. There are two major types of delimited text documents, tab-delimited (which we are using) and comma delimited text. If using a comma-delimited format, commas are used to separate columns, if there happens to be a comma in your data, the program will need to strip them out prior to saving as they will be falsely interpreted as the end of that column.

If saving as tab-delimited, tabs would likewise need to be stripped out from your data. Commas are fine and should not be removed, as they are NOT a separator. Sadly, Excel still strips out commas, even when you are saving as a Tab-Delimited text file.

To overcome this limitation, if you need a comma in a text field write <c> and the script will replace that with a comma.

Running the Script

compsFromSpreadsheet needs to know which comps in your project have been setup for use with the script.

When you run the script a window will pop up with all the comps in the project in the left column . Double click on the comp names that are to be used to move them to the right “selected comps” column. Click continue when you have added all the comps to be used to the “selected comps” column.

If you only have one comp this window is bypassed.

Tip: If you put all your comps in a folder called TEMPLATES the script will bypass this window and assume that the comps in that folder are to be used.

Synching Column Data to your Comp

When the script reads the first line of your spreadsheet, it needs you to tell it where the data from each column should go in your comp. The Field Init window opens. Each column name from the first line of the spreadsheet appears with a dropdown box underneath.

The dropdown box links the data from that column in the spreadsheet to elements in your template comps. The dropdown box contains the names of all the layers that were set up earlier to receive data (remember, the text layers that started with ^ will receive the data from this column, layers with a # will be replaced with the project item named in this column, and layers with > will be replaced by files imported from the location specified in the column.)

If a column name is the same as an element name in one of your comps, that will be automatically selected in the dropdown i.e. If you have a column in your spreadsheet “phone” and a text layer in one of your template comps named “^phone”, that item will be automatically selected in the dropdown box. If however, your text layer is “^phone number” it will not be selected in the dropdown box.

If you have more than one comp to be used you will need to have a column in your spreadsheet with the name of the comp to be used for that line. Select ‘COMP’ from the dropdown box of the column that holds comp names, if you only have comp to be used ‘COMP’ will not appear in the dropdown as the script will already know which comp to use.

Importing Files Via Spreadsheet

You can have layers in your comps be replaced by files that are not in your project.

Any layer tht begins with > will be replaced by a file imported from the path specified in your spreadsheet. To get the proper path format of a file click on the “Get File Path” button located in the main compsFromSpreadsheet window. When you click this button a window will pop up asking you to navigate to your file; when you click ok the proper path to this file will appear in a window that you can copy and then paste into your spreadsheet.

When the script runs it will import the file from the location specified in the spreadsheet and replace the layer. If you have the same file more than once in the spreadsheet it will only be imported once, and that copy will be used each time that particular file is referenced.

Naming Comps

The next step you need to tell the script how to name the newly created sequence, and where you want the rendered sequences to go. The default naming convention is line number, so the name of the very first Comp is “2″ ( because line 1 holds the column names). and the next comp created is called “3″ and so on until it reaches the last line of the spreadsheet.

Alternately you can have the script keep the name of the original template comp and append a number to the end. so the first time the script creates a comp from “spotA” it is named “spotA_1″, next line that uses that comp will name the new comp “spotA_2″

Lastly, you can choose to get the name from one of your spreadsheet columns. So if you choose “FROM SPREADSHEET | name” from the dropdown, the comp will get its name from the ‘name’ column of the spreadsheet.

Render Settings

Every comp created by the script will be placed in the render que using the default settings for your render que. It will default to saving the renders in the same directory as your project.

If you click the “Render Settings” button (on the “field init” window) you can select which render setting and output module to use for the script and where to put the rendered files. If you check the “Remember Settings” box these settings will be used every time tyou run compsFromSpreadsheet; if not checked, these settings will be used in the current run.

Settings

The settings button on the main UI panel allows you to change the default symbols the script uses to target layers in your Comps.

You can also set the number of columns that appear in the field init window.

And you can also change render settings from here.

Conclusion

The script will run through your data line by line. For each line it will create a new copy of the template comp, put it in a folder called “compsFromSpreadsheet”, update any target layers in that comp with data from the current line, finally, the comp will be placed in the render que using render que defaults and set to render in the same directory as the project (unless you set a different render location in the field init window.

Hit the render button and all your newly created comps will render (go out for a pint while it renders!)

Dockable Panels

The script can either be run as a dockable panel or as a traditional script.

If run as a dockable panel, there will be buttons in the panel to create target text or layer objects to be used with the script. Clicking “Run compsFromSpreadsheet” will bring up the comp select window

If the script is run the traditional way (by accessing it through file – scripts), you will be taken to the comp select window immediately, bypassing the window shown here.

Version History

• v3.02 – Oct 2011
  • Fixed orphan target layer bug: previously, when you were connecting spreadsheet columns to target layers in your comp, if you had a target layer not connected to a column, the script would not complain, but when it came to the unlinked target layer it would have an error and stop. Now the script will warn you if you have a target not connected to a column. You can choose to go back and connect the target to a column, or ignore in which case the script will turn of any targeted layer not connected to a column.
  • Fixed import layer bug: previously, if you had a layer name or path name misspelled in your spreadsheet, the error message would not show you the misspelled name, now it does.
• v3.01 Added error handling when importing corrupted files – July 2011
• v3.0 – Feb 2011
  • Now allows you to have the script import files via a spreadsheet
    column
  • You can have the system auto select the column for comps to be used by changing the column name to ‘comp’.
  • User-definable special characters.
  • Inline help file
  • Many bug fixes
• v2.2 – Aug 2010
  • If a cell in the spreadsheet has <br>
    when the script is run it will replace the <br>
    with a carriage return.
• v2.12 – June 2010
  • Now arranges the field init into multiple rows if you have more that 10 fields (and that number is changeble through a “layout” button)
• v2.11 – May 2010
  • Small bug fix to new separate folder feature, now correctly places extension after frame number.
• v2.1 – May 2010
  • You can now choose to have renders go to separate folders, so if you are rendering a tiff sequence for example, each comp will be rendered to an individual folder.
• v2.01 – May 2010
  • Added file extension to output file name in render queue.
• v2.0 – May 2010
  • Added ability to insert footage items.
  • Added dockable UI.
  • Blessed for CS5.
• v1.22
  • Fixed a small bug that prevented the script from running on some non-english systems.
• v1.21
  • Fixed a bug in the program that caused the script not to run in certain situations. Previously, the script would try to create a folder called “Renders” in the same directory as your project to put your rendered files. The script no longer does this. Now there is a button in the field init window which allows you to designate a folder for renders. If you do not choose one, renders will go wherever your render que is set to put them.
• v1.2
  • The comp select window now uses scrolling lists to accommodate projects with a lot of comps. The way it works now is there is a list of all comps in the project on the left side of the window. Any comp you want to use, double click on it and it will go the the list on the right. The list on the right is all the comps to be used by the program.
  • If you create a folder called ‘TEMPLATES’ the comp select window will be bypassed and the program will assume that all the comps in this folder are to be used.
• v1.1
  • Added the ability to choose the naming convention of new comps. Previously the comp was always named the line number of the database, now you can choose if you want line number, original comp name (with an incrementing number), or sync it up with a column in your spreadsheet.
  • Fixed a bug in the new version check.The function is only supposed to run once every 10 days, but the function checked every time the script was run. This has been corrected.
• v1.0 Initial Release

The trajectory script will take all layers in a composition and plot them evenly on a line between 2 nulls.

Getting Started

Install the script in the scripts folder.  To run the script, simply select the layers you would like to be linked in the trajectory and select the script from the File->Scripts menu.  When the script is run, it will take all layers in the selected composition and make them 3d. It then creates 3 nulls, 2 of these nulls are used to create the trajectory along which all layers lie and the third null is a control layer which will be discussed in a moment.  
The 3 nulls must be the last 3 layers in the comp, and the control layer must be the last layer in the comp.

You can move the 2 nulls named “startPosition” and “endPosition” and all the layers in your comp will disperse evenly on a line between the 2 nulls.

Add keyframes to the nulls position and the layers will follow.

Control Layer

The “controlLayer” null controls the rotation and opacity of the layers. The “Transform Delay” slider allows you to offset each layers reaction to changes in the control layer…so if you have xRotation on the controlLayer keyframed from frame 1 to 10 and offset set to 5, layer 1 will do the xRotation from frame 1 to 10; layer 2 will transform from 6 to 15; and layer 3 will transform from frame 11 to 20.

The reverse delay checkbox will cause the delay to go from last layer to first layer instead of first to last.

Check the “Disable Control” checkbox if you would like to individually control these parameters from each layer insted of the control layer.

Compress Expand

The compress expand slider allows you to dynamically lengthen or shorten the length of your trajectory. A positive number will lengthen your line, a negative number will shorten it. a value of zero will give you a normal trajectory where the first layer will have the same position as the startPosition null and your last layer will have the same position as the endPosition null.

Adding Layers to your Trajectory

If you want to add a layer from your project to a trajectory comp, simply duplicate any layer in the comp that is not a null, select the dup, and alt+drag the item and drop it on the selected layer and it will become part of the trajectory.

Using Trajectory Comp in another Comp

If you put your trajectory comp inside your main comp and enable “collapse transformations” for that layer, your trajectory comp will become part of the scene and react to cameras.

Version History

• 2.51 Added new slider on the control null that allows you to lengthen and shorten (compress-expand) the length of the line. Thanks to Dan Ebberts for help with the code – 10/2010
• 2.01 Blessed for CS5 and updated to run in any language not just english. Thanks to: François Cora for the French translation and Jakob Behrends for the German translation – 06/2010
• 2.0 Initial release on aescripts.com – 01/2010

Getting Started

The script is designed to be used as a dockable panel, click here for a quick tutorial on installation

You need to begin with a comp with a single layer. This will be the layer that will be chopped up. The options for the effect are as follows:

Transition Type Animate in: the pieces of your image will start at a Z point in space that you choose and will end at 0. Animate Out: the pieces will start at position Z 0 and will end at a Z point in space that you choose. Order Random: Pieces will animate in random order. When this option is chosen an additional field “Transition Min” appears in the interface; the script will make the transition lenght a random value between Transition Min and Transition Length Directional:Pieces will animate in order. When this option is chosen two additional fields Delay Across and Delay Down appear Fragment Size X and Y The size of the pieces that the image will break into. If you choose very small pieces it can take a long time to build. Use caution Gap How many pixels of space between pieces. 0 leaves no gap, a higher number will cause space between the individual pieces Target Z Z position where the pieces will either start or finish (depending on whether you are animating out or animating in) Rotation XYZ Rotation XYZ where the pieces will either start or finish (depending on whether you are animating out or animating in) Start Frame Which frame in your comp to start the animation. If your order is Random, this is the earliest frame a piece will start animating. Start Variation Only visible if your order is Random. All pieces will start animating at a random frame between ‘Start Frame’ and ‘Start Frame’ + ‘Start Variation’. For example, if ‘Start Frame’ is 10 and ‘Start Variation’ is 5, every piece in your matrix will begin animating at a random frame between 10 and 15 Transition Length The amount of time it takes for an individual piece to go from 0 to target Z (or vice versa depending on whether you are animating out or in) . If your order is Random, this is longest possible time for an individual piece to animate, and Transition minimum is the shortest. Transition Min Only visible if your order is Random. this is the shortest possible time for an individual piece to animate, and Transition Length is the longest. Delay Across Only visible if your order is Directional. On each row, the pieces start their animation one after the other, this is how many frames before the next one in a row starts. Delay Down Only visible if your order is Directional. On each column, the pieces start their animation one after the other, this is how many frames before the next one in a column starts. Fade If checked, when a piece animates it will either fade out or fade in (Depending on animation type) Ease Keyframe Makes the transition smoother by easing the keyframes Motion Blur enables motion blur for all layers When you have all parameter set, hit the “Build Matrix” button. The script will only run if you are in a composition with only 1 layer. (after you build it you may re-edit its parameters, but this is done through the edit button which will be discussed later).

What Happens When I Hit Build Matrix

The script precomposes your master layer (unless it already is a precomp). Then the script makes as many solids as it needs to cover your comp from top left to bottom right. It duplicates your master layer for each of these solids, parents and track mattes to the solid and animates the solid based on your settings. All the master layer duplicates are made shy. The master layer is duplicated one final time and placed at the top of the timeline with the eyeball turned off. This layer is not made shy and is there to make it easier to access the preconp that housed your original layer.
There are two layers at the very bottom of the comp that are shy and locked. These layers should not be touched, they are used by the script if you want to change any parameters.

Editing A Matrix

If you have built a matrix and want to change any of the parameters, click the edit button while you are in that composition. A window will popup with all the parameters that were used in that matrix build. You will not be able to do anything else in After Effects until the popup window is closed. If you hit cancel, the popup will close and nothing will happen. If you hit Rebuild Matrix, the matrix will be rebuilt using the parameters set in the popup. Version History

• Initial release – Aug 2010

I finally decided to take matters into my own hands. I used the scripting functionality in After Effects to build my own spellchecker. The script goes through the currently selected composition, and any precomp contained within and checks every text layer for proper spelling.

If a word is misspelled, the script will give you the opportunity to enter in the propper spelling or get a suggestion. The spell suggestion comes from my website. I originally had the script come up with suggestions but it was taking nearly 15 seconds per word, so I created a script on my website using perl (which gets the suggestion very quickly). When you click on the suggest button, your computer connects to my website and gives it the misspelled word. The script on my website then gives the spell check script a list of suggestions.

Please note that even though this script has a UI, it is installed in the Scripts folder not in the ScriptUI Panels folder.