VIDEO DEMO/TUTORIAL

HOW TO USE

Launch the earlier version of After Effects (CS3 or later) and run OpenSesame. Click Import Project, then choose the exported OS project file.

NOTE:Some parts of projects can’t be exported due to scripting limitations. The following features aren’t currently supported:

• Paint, Rotobrush and Puppet Pin effects.
• Text style support is CS4+ only and doesn’t include features like kerning, vertical and paragraph text, or multiple text styles on one layer.
• Proxies.
• Custom data values. Effect properties with custom data values can’t be exported, such as the Levels Histogram and the Hue/Saturation effect. In these cases you could use the Levels (Individual Controls) and Color Balance (HLS) effects instead.

TRIAL VERSION:

Version History

• 1.02 – Fixed licensing issue – Feb 2012
• 1.01 – Added support for legacy OS X 10.4 PPC systems – Jan 2012
• 1.0 – Initial release – Jan 2012

New features in v2.3:

Version history

• 2.3 – Jan 2012
  • now works on layers that have been transformed/animated.
  • option to use null controllers.
  • various improvements / bug fixes.
• 2.2 Added CS5 compatibility – may 2010
• 2.1 Added AE6.5 and AE7 compatibility – dec 2009
• 2.0 Initial release on aescripts.com – dec 2009

New features in version 1.3:

New features in version 1.2:

• Adds support for the SubRip subtitle file format.
• Support for RightToLeft languages.
• Vertical text alignment.

HOW TO USE:

1. Create a new composition with the correct format for your output.
2. Subtitles are created using the settings in the Character/Paragraph panels, so create a sample text layer first and change the font, size and alignment as required. For example, you may want the text alignment in the Paragraph panel set to “Center Text”. You can then delete the text layer.
3. Run the script, choose the subtitle format, then click Import Subtitles and select the file to import.
4. To change the text size or style after import, select the imported text layer and change the settings in the Character/Paragraph panels as required. Then delete the subtitle layer and use the script to import it again.
5. Drag the subtitle layer to the bottom of the comp, using the Title Safe comp guides if necessary.
6. Then you have the option to:
• Render the with an alpha channel, import into your editing software and put the subtitles onto your video.
• Import the video into After Effects and place under the subtitle layer, then render the result.
• With Premiere Pro you just need to save your AE project, then you can drag the subtitle comp from AE’s project panel directly into Premiere Pro’s project panel, and from there, into the edit.

Version history

• 1.3 – Jan 2012
  • CS5.5 compatibility.
  • recreates italic and bold style tags in .srt files.
  • bottom alignment option.
  • use vertical or paragraph style text.
  • fixes some timing errors.
• 1.2 Support for the SubRip format, RightToLeft languages and vertical text alignment – Dec 2010
• 1.1 Added CS5 compatibility – May 2010
• 1.0 Initial release – Dec 2009

New features in version 3.0:

• Now imports Karafun Studio (.kfn) files.
• New basic presets which import and render much faster.
• Animated text crawl option.
• Highlight, timing and non-english language bug fixes.

Upgrade notice: If you bought pt_SSAKaraokeAnimator in the last year (between Jan 04, 2011 and Jan 03, 2012) you can receive a discount code equal to the full 100% amount of what you originally paid for it. If you bought it before Jan 4, 2011 you can get a discount code equal to 50% of what you paid.  To request this discount code please go here.

 

Version History

• 3.0 – Jan 2012
  • Now imports Karafun Studio (.kfn) files.
  • New basic presets which import and render much faster.
  • Animated text crawl option.
  • Highlight, timing and non-english language bug fixes.
• 2.3 Initial release on aescripts.com – Dec 2010

Use pt_TextEdit to search for and edit text layers in your AE project. You can create your own text style presets and apply them to multiple layers at the click of a button.

HOW TO USE:

SEARCH: Click Search to show all text layers, or use the options to find specific layers. For example, search for layers containing Bold in the font name. Or put tags in the layer comments and search for them.

TEXT STYLE SETTINGS: The panel on the left contains the preset options and a list of text properties that can be edited. Check the properties you want to change, or click the box beside the Preset pulldown to toggle between the checked settings.

TEXT LIST: The text list at the bottom shows any text layers found in the search, along with their text property values. Select the layer or layers that you want to edit.

FETCH: When the box to the left of the Fetch button is checked, selecting a layer from the list will automatically copy its values into the checked settings in the top panel. When the checkbox is off, use the Fetch button to copy the values from the selection. Select a text layer in your comp instead of the list to fetch values directly from that layer.

APPLY: When the box to the left of the Apply button is checked, any change you make is applied instantly to the selected text layers. Alternatively, use the Apply button to apply all checked text settings to all selected layers on one go.

ADD TO TIMELINE: This is like the Apply button except it applies the currently checked settings to any text layers selected in the active composition. If no text layers are selected it adds a new text layer to the active comp instead.

PRESETS: You can save your text styles as presets to be reused later. Click the Save button and choose a name for the preset to add it to the Action/Preset pulldown. Select a preset and click the Delete button to remove that preset.

ACTIONS: The Action/Preset pulldown contains a few other options. Choose “Refresh List” to update the values in the text list after doing an undo or manually editing the text layers. You can also choose to turn on or off any layers selected in the list.

Upgrade notice: If you previously bought pt_TextEdit v1.0 (before February 2011) you can receive a discount code equal to the same amount as you paid for v1.0. To request this discount code please go here.

Version History:

• 1.11 Fixed bug where listbox didn’t update when editing text. (Feb 2011)
• 1.1 (Feb 2011)
  • CS5 compatibility.
  • Apply and fetch text values directly to comp layers.
  • Search options moved to main panel.
  • Fixed issues with saving presets on Windows.
• 1.0 Initial Release (Feb 2010)

HOW TO USE:

Version History

• 1.01 – Removed warning if max search setting is unlimited. (Feb 2011)
• 1.0 – Initial Release (Feb 2011)

This is an all new version rewritten from the ground up.

Search for effects used in your After Effects project. Find where specific effects have been used, turn them on or off, delete them, or link them together to create cloned effect instances.

HOW TO USE:

SEARCH: Click Search to show all effects in your project, or use the search options to find specific ones. The results can be sorted by effect name or layer order.

ACTION MENU: Select one or more effects from the list, then use the Action menu to turn them on or off, or delete them. You can also save the search results to a text file.

LINK EFFECTS: Use this to link effects together, so one effect can be set to control multiple copies throughout a project.

• Select an effect in the list that you want other effects linked to and choose ‘Set Control Effect’ from the link menu.
• Link other copies of the same effect by selecting them in the list and choosing ‘Link Selected Effects’. Or add linked effects directly to selected layers in your comp by choosing ‘Add to Selected Layers’.

If you get any errors when linking effects, make sure the control effect layers and compositions have unique names.

The ‘Expression Links’ column shows the expressions used to make the links. It also shows if any other expressions are applied to the effects, which would be overwritten if the effect was linked. To remove links, select effects in the list and choose ‘Remove Links’. This causes effects to revert to their pre-linked values.

Note: Some ‘custom data’ effect properties (e.g. Levels Histogram) can’t be linked, but there may be alternate effects you can use. For example, use Levels (Individual Controls) instead of the regular Levels effect.

Upgrade notice: If you previously bought pt_EffectSearch v1 (before February 2011) you can receive a discount code equal to the same amount as you paid for it. To request this discount code please go here.

Version History:

• v2.01 – Fixed small bug where UI stops responding. (Feb 2011)
• v2.0 – (Feb 2011)
  • Rewritten for CS4+
  • Link effects to create cloned effect instances.
  • Bug fixes and stability improvements.

pt_EffectSearch:

Search for effects used in your After Effects project. Find where specific effects have been used, turn them on or off, delete then, or link them together to create cloned effect instances.

pt_ExpressEdit:

Use this script to search, apply and edit expressions throughout your project. Expressions can be saved, or instantly applied to one or more properties. It can also check for broken expressions, re-enabling them automatically where possible.

pt_TextEdit:

Use pt_TextEdit to search for and edit text layers in your AE project. You can create your own text style presets and apply them to multiple layers at the click of a button.

Get all the three scripts for only $49.99

• pt_EffectSearch  $24.99
• pt_ExpressEdit  $24.99
• pt_TextEdit  $24.99

Total  $75 Limited Offer $49.99

Written on request for screen graphics designer Mark Coleran, whose work can be seen on the computer screens in movies such as The Bourne Identity and Tomb Raider. Mark designs complex user interfaces in Photoshop made up of many layers nested into groups, before importing them into After Effects to animate.

HOW TO USE:

• Import a Photoshop file as a Composition using the ‘Cropped Layers’ (CS3/4) or ‘Retain Layer Sizes’ (CS5) option.
• Open the main composition for the file you imported and click the Crop Precomps button.

RETAIN BORDER: The Retain Border option lets you expand the area that would otherwise be cropped, so you can keep some extra space for animation or effects.

NOTES:
The script is intended for use on newly imported or created layers and will not work correctly if they have been scaled, rotated or have position keyframes in AE. It should work with any 2D layers, including text and shape layers.

Adjustment layers, and layers that are completely outside the comp boundaries are ignored when calculating the crop sizes, but layers that are turned off are included.

Illustrator files won’t import as nested comps, but you can import as layers using the ‘Composition – Layer Size’ option, use Layer -> Pre-compose to group them into nested comps, then use the script to crop those precomps.

Version History

• 2.0 – Initial release on Aescripts – Dec 2010

HOW TO USE:

1. ADD MARKERS AT CUTS:
Adds layer markers at the in/out points of any layers in a composition. This can help with timeline navigation as you can jump between edit points using the J and K keys. It can also make frame selections suitable for pt_ContactSheet.

- Choose from the following options, then click Apply to add layer markers.

• Based On: Choose whether layer markers are based on in and/or out points.
• Add To: Choose whether markers are added to a new solid layer, any selected layers or to nested comp layers. Markers are only added if within a layer’s in/out points.

2. SPLIT LAYERS AT MARKERS: Similar to After Effects’ built-in Split Layers feature, this will split selected layers into multiple layers, adding cuts wherever there are layer markers.

• Add layer markers on the frames you want to split.
• Choose if the split layers will be stacked upwards or downwards, and keep their layer markers.
• Select the layers and click Apply.

Version History

• 1.0 – Initial Release – Dec 2010

HOW TO USE:

• Place the footage or precomp into a new composition with the dimensions you want for your layout, and scale the layer down to the correct size.
• Add layer markers on the frames you want to include. Only markers within layer in/out points are included, so you can trim the layer to specify a range of markers.
• With the layer selected, click the Choose Source Layer button and it will calculate how many columns, rows and pages will be needed to display all the frames.
• Adjust the settings if necessary, then click Make Contact Sheet and move to the first frame to see the first page of the layout. If you’re not happy with the results, hit Undo, change the settings and try again.

Options:

• Scale: Set the scale of the frames. Defaults to the layer’s current scale.
• Comp Size: Set the dimensions of the current composition. Defaults to current settings.
• Alignment: The frames can either be evenly distributed inside the comp, or aligned to the top left of the comp.
• Spacing: Add extra spacing between frames. Use a high Y value to make space for storyboard style comments below the frames.

Version History

• 1.0 – Initial release – Dec 2010

• Add layer markers to a footage or precomp layer on any frames you want to restore. Put ‘+’ in a marker comment to restore all frames until the next marker.
• Select the layer and click Apply.

Note: If you only want to restore parts of a frame you could make a duplicate of the layer first, then use the restored layer as a clone source.

REDUCE TO LAYER MARKERS: This option keeps only the frames with markers, creating new in betweens for all other frames. Useful for dealing with noisy keys, creating clean plates or cool morphing effects.

• Add layer markers to the frames you want to keep, select the layer and click Apply.

FIND / RESTORE MISSING FRAMES: Find or restore missing frames in a file sequence by checking for color bars.

• Choose the Find or Restore option. Find Missing Frames will add layer markers on any missing frames, while Restore will both find and restore the frames.
• Select the footage layer in a composition and click Apply.

Version History

• 1.0 – Initial release – Dec 2010

pt_Panorama was used in this Lexus Toyota Hybrid Drive Commercial:

Link to the 3-part tutorial that shows how this commercial was made including how it used pt_Panorama

How to use:

1. Drop a panoramic image into your main comp and select it. A test image maximus.jpg is included with the script if you want to try it out.

2. Run pt_Panorama and you’ll see you have some options:

Panorama Angle: If you have a full panorama leave this at 360. Maximus.jpg is only a 180 degree panorama, so in that case you’d set it to 180 to generate a half cyclinder.

Number Of Sides: A value between 10-20 should be fine for this. More sides means longer render times.

Side Overlap: The sides overlap outside the cylinder to prevent gaps when Motion Blur is on and the camera is moving fast. You can leave this at its default value unless you intend to see the cylinder from the outside, in which case set the value to 10. Or set the value to 500 and view the outside of the cylinder for a cool effect!

3. Click Apply and the 3D panorama will be generated and placed in a precomp. The layer is scaled to 10000% in order to simulate a distant background.

If you switch to a Custom View you may not see the cylinder as it is so big. Select the layer and choose View > Look At Selected Layers to reveal it. In Top View you’ll see a wireframe line that represents the cylinder’s center and diameter.

Video Copilot used pt_Panorama in this Oval Office Demo

Version History:

• 2.4 – Added controls for accepting lights/shadows. Default is off. – 12/2010
• 2.3 – Added CS5 compatibility – 05/2010
• 2.2 – 08/2009
  • Uses new technique that avoids possible AE 3D render engine glitches when using large image files in previous versions. (An alternate mode is provided too… just in case).
  • Now works correctly with non square pixel aspect ratios.
  • The seam where the two sides of the 360 panorama meet now aligns correctly.
  • Creates a new camera if there isn’t one already.
• 2.1 Initial release on aescripts.com 08/2009

Version History

• 1.1 – Bug fixes, built in help, CS5 compatibility. – Dec 2010
• 1.0 – Initial Release – Aug 2009

This script is used as part of the Cinematic Opening Title Redux tutorial hosted on Aetuts+

Shift Selected Layers:

• Shifts all selected layers in time by the same amount. You can shift by a fixed amount of time, or have the first in-point/last-out point of the selected layers jump to the current time marker.

Stagger Selected Layers:

• Staggers selected layers in time, offsetting each layer by a fixed amount of frames or seconds. Layers can be staggered starting from the current time marker, or the offset can be added to each layer’s current time. Layers are sequenced in the order that you select them, so be aware of this when you’re shift-selecting groups of layers.

Version History:

• 2.2 Added CS5 compatibility – May 2010
• 2.1 Initial release on aescripts.com – Aug 2009