rd: Pre-compose

This script displays a dialog box for pre-composing one or more layers (like the built-in Pre-compose dialog box), but adds the ability to trim the pre-comp to the selected layer’s duration, with optional trim handles.

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rd: Pre-compose

Version: 0.91 Sign up to be notified by email when a new version of this script is posted

Known issue:

Using the “Leave all attributes” option on a single selected negatively stretched layer doesn’t trim the layer correctly.

: rd_Pre-compose UI

Originally requested by Gary Jaeger.

Last updated February 20th, 2008
1,277 views
Tags: Comp, CS3, CS4, Featured, Pre-compose, Trim

Jeff Almasol

About the author

Jeff Almasol (redefinery) is a quality engineer on the Adobe After Effect team by day and crafter of scripts at his redefinery.com site by night.

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7 Comments

Navarro Parker (Reply to this comment)
August 5, 2009

How does this differ from Precomp-ToLayerDuration.jsx? The ability to add head and tails?
Jeff Almasol (Reply to this comment)
August 5, 2009

Hi Navarro… Doing some quick tests with one of my projects, it seems Chris Zwar’s script doesn’t have head/tails support, doesn’t trim to exact duration (it places the precomped layers at the start of the nested comp), doesn’t have a “Leave all attributes …” option, and doesn’t seem to handle negatively stretched layers correctly. There might be others, but that’s what I’m noticing so far.

I’m also working on an update that allows you to precompose each layer separately (basically, a batch mode), but that’s still farther out.
Syd Garon (Reply to this comment)
November 20, 2009

Awesome script. Thank you. Just curious, why does it disappear every time I use the script? I select it from the window and it appears and works as advertised, but once the script has been activated the pallet goes blank and I have to deselect from the Window menu then reselect to make it reappear. The pallet needs to be reset for each use.
Jeff Almasol (Reply to this comment)
November 20, 2009

Hi Syd… This script’s UI is a modal dialog box, not a dockable panel, so it’s not intended to be installed in the Scripts/ScriptUI Panels folder or to be run from the Window menu. Just run it from the File > Scripts > Run Script File command or, if you’ve installed it in the Scripts folder, from the File > Scripts submenu. Hope that helps.
marco sanasi (Reply to this comment)
January 31, 2010

hello,
a suggestion: modify the script to make it possible to pre-compose multiple layers separately: a trimmed composition for each layer!
thank you for the useful script!!!
Jeff Almasol (Reply to this comment)
January 31, 2010

hi marco… it’s been a popular suggestion for a batch mode. i’ll add your name to the existing request. thanks!

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