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rd: Script Launcher
Version: 2.5 Sign up to be notified by email when a new version is posted
This script displays a palette of the installed scripts in the selected Scripts folder (and subfolders). Only scripts with .js, .jsx, and .jsxbin extensions are displayed. Double-click a script to launch it. Scripts located in subfolders whose names are enclosed in parentheses are ignored. You can change the Scripts folder at any time, and refresh the scripts list if the contents of the folder have changed. The selected scripts folder is stored as a setting, so you don’t have to reselect it every time you reopen this palette.
Note: The palette cannot detect any errors in the scripts that you run from it. It’s just a quick way of launching scripts without restarting AE or using ExtendScript Toolkit (i.e., switching away from AE).
If a PNG file of a similar name and same folder as the script file (but with a .png file name extension) exists, it will appear next to the script name in the list.
Enhancements requested by Russ Maehl.
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- rd_ScriptLauncher UI
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- Nathan Clark Icons
Nathan Clark has created some awesome icons you can use with rd: Script Launcher that he has graciously shared with the community: Download Icons
Version History
- v2.5 Fixed listbox text color in AE CS5. Filtered out script itself from appearing in the list (Aug 2010)
- v2.4 Initial release on aescripts.com (Aug 2009)
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Hi jeff Almasol
I agree with Marcuzzz The search is the most important feature in this great script
I have a a lot of scripts inside the lunsher and it takes me long time to find my script
Thank you a lot
hi marcuzzz… possible.
i’ll add it to the wish list. thanks for the suggestion.
It would be the best script ever if it could have a search like the Effects & Presets panel.
Is this even possible?
Thanks.
hi navarro… ah, there is a way to control it, but i think what’s happening is that in CS5 (because of the new Flex-based UI), the script should no longer have to force the text to be black all the time. that was really only needed in the previous versions. as of CS5, the list background and text color should more closely match standard AE behavior of switching colors. note, however, that the text color only has two colors (white or black) as the ability to closely match the text color was not something the AE team had time to control in CS5. here’s that fixed version:
http://www.redefinery.com/ae/scripts/rd_ScriptLauncher_v2.5.zip
as for skipping the ScriptUI Panels folder, i sometimes like have it scan that folder so i can access scripts that work as dockable and not. what i think might be better is for Ian to tweak his script so that the subfolder of .js files are in a non-scannable folder — that is, the folder name is enclosed in parentheses. my script already skips those, but more importantly, AE skips scanning of subfolders named in this way, which makes AE start up faster in general.
i’ll ping Ian to see if he can change it.
thanks.
Hi Jeff CS5 here. And it seems the text is always black. Any way to control the palette darkness separate from the AE UI brightness pref?
Also, could you have an option not to scan the ScriptUI Panel folder? Ease & Wizz uses a folder containing 150 different .js Easing Expressions, and they all get listed in your window. It’s a lot of visual clutter.
here’s a screen shot
[IMG]http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/navstar/Screenshot2010-08-19at102938AM.png[/IMG]
hi julian… try this version which filters out the script itself:
http://www.redefinery.com/ae/scripts/rd_ScriptLauncher_v2.5.zip
i didn’t remove the extension in this version because i allow scripts with .jsx and .jsxbin, so a script might have the same name but different extension. maybe unlikely, but might be confusing if i stripped the extension. i might add it as an option in a future version.
thanks.
Is there a way for the script launcher to not show up in its own list? TrackerViz can’t launch with its own icons, not a huge deal. I like having the name to the right of the icon as I find myself getting lost in launchpad sometimes. That said it would be nice if the extension was hidden. again not huge. thanks.
hi navarro… what version of AE, what OS, and are you running it as a floating palette or dockable panel?
I have my AE UI set to very dark. The black text in the list is very hard to read. Any way it could have a white text option?
hi martin… if you’re using the script as a dockable panel (i.e., you placed it in the ScriptUI Panels subfolder, and launched the script from the Window menu), the background color for the script window is the same as for other panels, and you can adjust that in AE’s preferences. if you launch the script from the File > Scripts menu, it’ll take on the OS-level (in CS4 or earlier) or a light gray (CS5) background that cannot be adjusted.
BG color is kind of dark on CS5
Thanks for helping so much
Thanks for the kind words, Nathan!
Cheers Jeff,
You guys really are the true heroes of the AE community. I wish people wouldn’t be so frightened of scripts… seems like AE is so wasted without a good collection of scripts in the tool-belt! I have projects which would have been (nearly) IMPOSSIBLE without scripts that you guys wrote.
Once again, massive thanks!
Nathan
Hi Nathan,
I think the Chameleon script is assuming a specific location for its logo file and other PNG files (i.e., in same folder as the script). This is fine if running the script directly, but when launched from another script (which might be in a different folder), the “current folder” is the launcher script, not the script that contains the associated PNG files. Should be easy for Mathias to fix. I’ll e-mail him.
Thanks for letting me know.
Noticed a new bug… maybe
with the new Chameleon script
- I get an error “Logo file is missing” in chameleon when launching with launchpad.
If I launch the same script (exact same location) through AE’s “Run script file…” I do not encounter this problem.
Is this a problem with Chameleon or with Launcher?
Thanks Jeff
PS. Your Launcher script has saved me probably a couple of hours during production already!
IT IS FANTASTIC!
hey nathan,
not sure why it happens, but i have a test version that uses a different way of launching scripts. i’ll e-mail you with a copy. let me know if this fixes the problem for you.
thanks,
:jeff
This is a nice alternative to LaunchPad. I would love to use it, however i find that with some scripts it does not run. They run fine from LaunchPad but with your Launcher, they just fail to run…
For example, Launcher fails to run the following scripts:
PT Shift Layers 2.0
PT Auto Express 1.0
makePanorama 1.0
In fact, looking at these it would seem that it is the Paul Tuersley scripts which seem to be failing.
Any Idea why?
Many thanks for all you efforts,
Nath