aescripts + aeplugins

Jeroen Krielaars

This looks great! When I use this, will I be able to share my files with other who don't have mask avenger?

best, 

Jeroen

leroy francois

Hi Jeroen!

Sure! Just use the "Bake" mode and your mask will be keyframed. See User's guide for details.

Note that "Bake" mode is only available for Licensed product... (as Ram Preview and Render)

Best regards,
François

shane barrell

HI,
is there a number of points limit ?
cheers
shane

leroy francois

Hi Shane!

Yes, the limit is 100 Points (+ 100 InTangents + 100 OutTangents).

If you think it's not enough, let me know for future updates...

Cheers,
François

Eric Kreidler

This is awesome...first thing I tried was moving points with motion sketch, then tossing the path generated by this over to a shape layer. So cool to have individual bezier point control at last! Can't wait to incorporate it into an IK rig, or combine with motion tracking, or 3d stroke from Trapcode. (maybe a future version could directly control the points of a shape layer path, but it's easy enough to do indirectly.)

leroy francois

Thanx Eric!

About shape layers, I hope I can do it too, but it's a bit tricky...
So for the moment, as you said, doing it indirectly is the best option.

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Thanks Francois, 100 should cover most things i would think,
shane

leroy francois

Great!

Ian Davies

Really useful plugin, thanks!

One thing that I'd love added is a way to move or scale all of the points in one go, and record the resulting keyframes. Even just being able to select more than one vertex at a time and dragging them together would be a big step forward. Better still, something like Command-T that you can do with masks to make the free distort handles appear and then just drag all the points around at once, or drag the handles to scale the points.

Possible?

leroy francois

Hi Ian!

This is more than possible, in fact the next update (coming soon!) includes the Ctrl + t command...
And other cool stuff :-)

I'll let you know as soon as update is released.

Cheers,
François

Ian Davies

Excellent news, François. I look forward to that!

Christoph Heimer

is it possible to offset a point that's pickwipped to an "attach point" somehow?

leroy francois

Hi Christoph,

when you pickwipp a point to another, you automatically get an expression like:
"thisComp.layer("other_layer").transform.position"
or
"effect("Effect_with_pt_param")("offset")"

if you want to offset this point, you can type " + value" right after the expression.

You get "thisComp.layer("other_layer").transform.position + value"
or
"effect("Effect_with_pt_param")("offset") + value"

Now your point follows the pickwhipped "attach point", and you can add some offset as you want.

Cheers,
François

leroy francois

Hi everyone!

The new Mask Avenger is here, with more super powers!

Control over shape layers, smart interpolation mode, Ctrl + T integration, and more...

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Hi Francois,
ive oinly just got the mask avenger and mask brush, but im having problems with some of the avenger set,

Mask Reader (when i try to apply it)  gives me an error and doesnt run, on windows 7 AEcc, After Effects error:invalid filter (25::3)

Mask AEGP does not even show up in my effects list ?

Shape Avenger AEGP does nothing when clicked on layer>shape av   when  on a shape layer

leroy francois

Hi Shane!

Mask AEGP is not showing, that's normal.
It just controls the Ctrl + T integration, but never shows up.

For Mask Reader and Shape Avenger, I try to fix it right away...

Cheers,
François

leroy francois

Hi Shane,

I've just tried again, and everything works fine on my side. I'm on Windows 7 and AE CC too...
You can try re-installing the plugins.

Just to be sure:

_did you apply Mask Reader on a layer using Mask Avenger? Cos' it doesn't work alone.
_Shape Avenger works with custom shape layers, not with predefined shapes (like stars, rectangles...)
Predefined shapes mimic maskPaths, but they don't really have vertices.

Hope it helps. If you still encounter problems, please let me know.
You can send me a project, so I can see the issues.

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Hi Francois,
thanks for the speedy reply,

yes Ive been trying to apply MaskReader after Avenger, and also tried after Renderer, but it still doesnt work sadly.
I re downloaded and reapplied the plugins in case it downloaded badly but still the same error.

Ah- re: shape Avenger, that works now, i didnt realise it was only custom shapes.
and thank you for clarifying Mask AEGP !

( there is no project, ive just been adding a various random mask to layers to try to get my head around how it all works at the moment )

cheers
shane

leroy francois

Hi Shane,

here's a simple project with Mask_Avenger and Mask_Reader.
Can you tell me if it works on your side?

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Hi Francois,
the project does not open properly, i get   After Effects error:plug-in "Mask_Reader.aex" could not be loaded (126).(48::46)
(i will send you my skype and email so we dont communicate through this part of the forum)
cheers
shane

leroy francois

Hi everyone!

Mask_Reader's issue (windows) has been fixed.
You can download the last update.

François

David Jolosky

In regards to the points limit is this why i am getting the following error?

After Effects error: internal verification failure, sorry! {effect param_index out of range ([1..num_streams-1])} ( 5027 :: 150 )

leroy francois

Hi David,

I can't tell you for sure, but if you try to apply Mask_Avenger on a mask with more than 100 vertices, then the error probably comes from that.
Can you send me a project? So I can check "for sure".

Cheers,
François

David Jolosky

Hi Leroy

I dropped the vertex count down on my mask and all good. Thanks much. If I run into other issues, i'll post the file to you.

dj

leroy francois

Ok, I should add an alert, it'll be better than just an error.

But congratulations, you're the first one to reach 100 vertices ;-)

Francois

Devin Thompson

Hi Francois,

I've been messing around with Shape Avenger. In your quick start video at 1:07 you select a vertex in vertex only mode and then manipulate the vertex up and down and the curves deform fluidly. When I try to do this all my curves are turned into straight lines. I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I can send you my AE project file if that would help.

Thanks,

Devin

leroy francois

Hi Devin,

in the demo, I'm using Rotobezier mask.



Rotobezier masks (or shapes) have their tangents computed automatically, that's why you can move them with "Vertices only" mode set. (a real time saver!)

If you're using "Shape Avenger" to apply "Mask Avenger" on a shape layer, it can happen that AE switch from "Rotobezier" to "Bezier"... In this case, just re-transform the shape from "Bezier" to "Rotobezier".

Hope it helps! If it doesn't, just send me a file and I'll try to see what's going wrong.
François

Zack Lovatt

Installed on AE CC w/ Win 7. None of the Mask Avenger-related scripts are applied to any layers in any project, however when clicking on a layer with an (unrelated) effect applied for the first time since AE being launched I get an error through the debugger.

Error reads "undefined is not an object" and provides this line in the editor:

try{

myComp = app.project.activeItem;

myLayer = myComp.selectedLayers[0];

for (f = 1; f <= myLayer.Effects.numProperties; f++) {

myFX = myLayer.Effects.property(f);

if (myFX.matchName == "BAO Mask_Avenger") {

if (myFX.property(307).value == 2) {

myFX.property(307).setValue(1);

}

}

}

} catch(e) {

}

Upon closing out, standard popup arises with "Unable to execute script at line 1. Execution halted"

This is happening on every project, every time AE is launched. Have tried clearing the scripts and installing anew to no avail. Any ideas?

leroy francois

Hi Zack!

First of all, the script is written inside the plugin (even if it runs 'outside'), so, no need to clear other scripts...
For the moment, you can try switching the java debugger off.
(uncheck "Enable Javascript Debugger" in preferences/general)
The plugin should do it by itself, but seems it doesn't...

And can you send me an aep file? Cos' I can't reproduce the issue...

Cheers,
François

EDIT:

I couldn't reproduce the issue, but it seems there's a bug in AE CC, and the plugin can't switch the JavaScript Debugger off as it should.
I've told Adobe and keep you informed as soon as I know.

Tanaponn Kulsedzeranee

I cannot load trial version after finished download.

It said "Operation not permitted"

leroy francois

Hi!

When does the warning appear? And which version of AE, on which platform, are you using?

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Hi Leroy,
could you please add a way to generate all the points already pickwhipped to (auto generated) nulls, with 2 different colours& sizes  for main points and controls to help visually seperate them ?
PLEASE !
cheers
shane

leroy francois

Hi Shane!

First of all, good idea! In fact I'm working on a new interface, but it'll take months before it's ready...
So 'Nulls' could be a good way to wait for it.

But what do you mean by 'already pickwhipped'?
I was thinking of generating Nulls for each point...

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Hi Leroy, well at the moment im pickwhipping every control point to small nulls (positions) as that is where i always take these controls. Its just a very time consuming and fiddly way to get at these mask points.
If you could generate nulls right from the start that would be a great addition !

leroy francois

Ok, I'm working on it...
Do you mind to test it when it's ready? User's feedback's always good!

Cheers,
François

shane barrell

Absolutely love to Francois !
hopefully you still have my email from previously ?
cheers
shane

Austin Nokleby

Hi François, 

I am trying to attach the points of a simple rectangular mask to 4 null objects, which will "pull" the mask to squash and stretch it. The problem is that when I RAM preview, the mask isn't animating (though if I click through the timeline of the animation, it's position will update). 

I'm in AE CC, on a Mac, currently evaluating the trial version to see if it is what I will need on a  project next week. Is the lack of animation maybe a limitation of the trial? Any info appreciated. 

Thanks!

- Austin

leroy francois

Hi Austin!

You're right, this is a limitation of the trial version. You can try your expressions, see if they work, but cannot actually use them.
But you can take a look at the videos to get a better idea of what can be done with the licensed version before purchasing the plugin.

Hope it'll fit your needs!

Cheers,
François

Emmanuel Linderer

Hi François,

We just purchased the latest version of Mask Avenger, and I seem to notice a conflict between the " Create Null controllers " feature, and the previous presence of a Stroke or 3D Stroke effect on the layer my mask is on. As soon as one of those effects are present, the Null controllers do not control the mask points anymore. Is this a problem you've been aware of, or did I just mismanipulated the bouzin ?

Thanks

Emmanuel

Edit.: I just found I had the same problem than Austin. We forgot to enter the license number. My bad !!

leroy francois

No worry! Glad to hear it works now...

Chris Arnold

Trying the trial version out. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work. Is there a bug with AE CC? When ever I apply the Create Null Controllers command, the nulls to not move the points on the mask. Even manually pickwhiping to the position parameters makes the points not update. Hopefully a fix is coming soon?

Dylan Vandenberg

Hey François,

So I was playing around with the trial for the last couple days testing out a rig I was thinking about using in a project.  I used shape avenger on a series of shapes and had the Mask Avenger Points tied to a bunch of nulls for control.  The movements only updated when I selected the layer--a little research revealed that's a demo limitation so today I purchased it.  Unfortunately, even now the Point locations don't update consistently.  Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't (mostly don't).  I have the Points pulling the location from Nulls in a different comp.  Is there any reason that would cause a problem?


Thanks for the great scripts!
Dylan

UPDATE:  I have discovered that everything updates fine until I set a keyframe on any of the nulls.  Thats when things breaks and everything stays where the first keyframe was set.  Any thoughts?

leroy francois

Trying the trial version out. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work. Is there a bug with AE CC? When ever I apply the Create Null Controllers command, the nulls to not move the points on the mask. Even manually pickwhiping to the position parameters makes the points not update. Hopefully a fix is coming soon?

Hi Chris,

if you're using the trial version, the Mask won't update during Ram-preview, but only on UI update (when you move something and release the mouse, for example).

If the bug doesn't come from there, please open a support ticket and send me a .aep so I can check and see what's going wrong.

Cheers,

François

leroy francois

Hey François,

So I was playing around with the trial for the last couple days testing out a rig I was thinking about using in a project.  I used shape avenger on a series of shapes and had the Mask Avenger Points tied to a bunch of nulls for control.  The movements only updated when I selected the layer--a little research revealed that's a demo limitation so today I purchased it.  Unfortunately, even now the Point locations don't update consistently.  Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't (mostly don't).  I have the Points pulling the location from Nulls in a different comp.  Is there any reason that would cause a problem?


Thanks for the great scripts!
Dylan

UPDATE:  I have discovered that everything updates fine until I set a keyframe on any of the nulls.  Thats when things breaks and everything stays where the first keyframe was set.  Any thoughts?

Hi Dylan,

Mask Avenger modifies the mask of the layer it's applied to on 'Render' call.

For example, if you set the opacity to 0, the mask won't update.

So if you use values from another comp, may be the changes don't call your layer's render, and the mask won't update.

Can you open a support ticket and send me a file so I can check?

Cheers,

François

vince sidwell

Leroy,

    I am interested in this plugin, I downloaded it and I am trying to use it but it is not working as I would have expected.  Perhaps I am using it wrong.

    I am attaching an image to illustrate my problem.  I need  to "pin" corner brackets on an animated masks corners.  This is tracked footage, lots of movement and inherited motion.
    The plugin created nulls properly, but they do not match the mask.  Thoughts?

http://vincesidwell.com/MaskAvengerIssue.png

Vince

leroy francois

Hi Vince,

the problem could come from the expressions used to link the points to the corners.

On your image, I see the Solid is parented to a Null. Did you use 'toComp' or 'fromComp(toComp)' expressions to catch corners coordinates?

If it still doesn't work, you can open a support ticket and send me an .aep file, I'll have a look at it.

Cheers,

François

Ryan Paterson

I'm trying to use Mask Avenger to wiggle the points of a mask while using a Plexus Path object on the same layer with the same mask but it won't update at all. Using the licensed, newest version

leroy francois

Hi Ryan,

it's probably a problem of render order. Like the mask being transformed by Mask Avenger AFTER Plexus catches it's coordinates. To avoid this, you can use the "bake" mode.

However, if you need a more dynamic workflow, there can be other solutions...

Can you open a support ticket and send me an .aep file? I'll take a look at it.

Cheers,

François

Alexandre Barrette

I wasn't expecting a performance hit but this plugin makes my projects feel sluggish. I noticed that it gets worse as the comps gets longer, so keep that in mind and trim your comps, guys!

Tyler Frey

Does anyone know if motion blur in AE is supported when Mask Avenger is applied?