Appreciate you response Lloyd, one more question, does it work at all with scripts? Say I wanted to have a script run with every job that was automated without me having to sit there and hit the button to run it myself.
For example, the comp in question is Ray Dynamic color 2 and I would like it to pull a hex number in and change all the layers in the comp. (There are over 800 solid layers to change from one color to another.)
No, the scripts would need to work in an unattended manner. In your example you could instead add expressions to your project and replace the color value with Templater. Or write a script that does it. Most scripts on our site are created to be used by a user not in an automated fashion but you could also feature request this functionality from the script authors.
So a little bit confused. Should I be using templater rig to set up my comp? I'm trying to use the activated version of bot and I'm running into some issues with it not previwing or rendering the file. Your assistance is much appreciated, very excited to get this working and saving time.
So a little bit confused. Should I be using templater rig to set up my comp? I'm trying to use the activated version of bot and I'm running into some issues with it not previwing or rendering the file. Your assistance is much appreciated, very excited to get this working and saving time.
Yes, you use Rig to setup or "rig" your comps then use Bot to automate the versioning and rendering. To help you with your issues, please open a support ticket and include screenshots so we are best able to help you. https://aescripts.com/contact/?direct=1&sku=DCTS-SUL
Hello! I'm using Templater to swap in various bits of audio. When Templater imports the referenced audio files, it doesn't include the XMP metadata for markers like After Effects does when manually importing the media. Is there a way to include this metadata when Templater imports the referenced media?
Thank you for your interest in Templater. We have not had the opportunity to test this, so it may be a good time to do so. Can you please open up a support ticket on aescripts and attach a few audio clips that have this marker meta data. We would like to understand what's going on.
I will say that when Templater imports footage automatically all dialogs get suppressed. So, if when you import manually, you get a dialog box, that won't be available when Templater imports. This is just so that Templater can get through a batch without any interruption.
Let us know how we can help you via a ticket created here. Thanks!
So absolutely loving the software so far. One limitation I've found though is that if I have multiple videos that have forms like the Jotform example you have, I have to have all that information on one spreadsheet. Have you found a workaround for my problem or do I just need to have one master spreadsheet like I'm doing right now.
Ex: I have 2 videos right now fully automated and 2 corresponding jot forms. Those jot forms feed into 2 separate google docs and I want templater to look at both of them.
Good to hear you're enjoying the software, thanks! For the kind of flexibility you want with your data sources, you might consider pushing the data instead of pulling the data. The reason is because, as you have noticed, spreadsheets can become unwieldy. You might consider using JSON object arrays or remote url feeds that return JSON object arrays. However, if you need multiple forms writing data to the same google sheet, you'd likely need to get a developer to help you achieve that as I'm not sure that a feature available from plug-n-play applications like jotform, typeform, etc.
Hi, I'm using the trial version of templater rig and Can't get it to link with my google account. It always hangs on "Retrieving all Google Sheets from Google Drive. Please wait..."
I am using the trial to test the abilities of syncing with google sheets, so this is pretty imperative to get working before I purchase templater.
This is fixed in our new released schedule out for this week. For now, the culprit is probably the Welcome screen in AE. Go into your AE prefs and disable the Welcome screen options.
Templater version 2.5 is released! Many thanks to all everybody's patience, and to the customers who worked with us to bring this out of beta. Time Sculpting is a fresh new way to setup your layers so that timeline durations can be dynamic. Written documentation is coming very soon, but for now watch the screencasts under the "Timeline" within the Videos tab of this page.
Really interested in the time remapping abilities. Question though, can it only bring in completed footage into the template or can it include comps within the master after effects comp?
What I'm trying to do is have custom sections of my video, and those custom sections be dynamic in the master comp to render.
ex: Say I wanted to include a offer section in one video and that offer section have custom elements in it, but don't want to include it in another video run from the same template.
The only way I can see it working right now is the custom sections would need to be rendered out then pulled back into the main comp. Maybe you can shed some light on this though.
Does the trial version of Templater version 2.5 works cos I have been struggling to a point where I've ran out of options. Youtube tutorials also seem to be not assisting as the available or posted videos are old. If I click the "Load from project" button, it clears batch assets info and thereafter nothing happens even when "preview" button is clicked. The "enable bot" button is always disabled and doesn't show any hopes of changing its state to enabled. With regards to your licenses, I see there's a 1 month, 2,3,6, 12 months subscriptions, does that mean if I buy the 1 month, I will only be able to use the plugin for a month? I do not want to think that is the case hence I'm holding my thumbs until you say "No"
Does the trial version of Templater version 2.5 works cos I have been struggling to a point where I've ran out of options. Youtube tutorials also seem to be not assisting as the available or posted videos are old. If I click the "Load from project" button, it clears batch assets info and thereafter nothing happens even when "preview" button is clicked. The "enable bot" button is always disabled and doesn't show any hopes of changing its state to enabled. With regards to your licenses, I see there's a 1 month, 2,3,6, 12 months subscriptions, does that mean if I buy the 1 month, I will only be able to use the plugin for a month? I do not want to think that is the case hence I'm holding my thumbs until you say "No"
Many thanks for your question and for trying Templater—we know there is a learning curve. The "Load from project" button populates the data source, footage, and output fields if you have clicked "Save" in the Templater main panel first. It's there so you don't need to re-enter all the batch information each time you start Templater for a particular AEP project.
The trial of Templater 2.5 does work, and lets you preview, and render in batch mode (a Pro feature). To answer your question about the subscription: if you buy a 1 month license, the software will be active for 1 month. If you purchase an annual license, the software will be active for 12 months. If you need to try out the Bot, please open up a support ticket and you will be able to try out Bot edition for a month. We do offer discounts for educational institutions and students.
We have a Pro subscription on one workstation in our office. Just bought 2 rig licenses and 2 subscriptions for 2 other machines. When I purchased I was given 1 license for 2 people? I've installed on two separate machines and activated 2 Pro licenses. When I try to replicate on each machine I'm getting a TypeError: null is not an object message. Does this relate to my new rig / subscription installs, or something else. Thanks for your help!
We have a Pro subscription on one workstation in our office. Just bought 2 rig licenses and 2 subscriptions for 2 other machines. When I purchased I was given 1 license for 2 people? I've installed on two separate machines and activated 2 Pro licenses. When I try to replicate on each machine I'm getting a TypeError: null is not an object message. Does this relate to my new rig / subscription installs, or something else. Thanks for your help!
Quick question, I'm having a problem getting the text to wrap say if I had a paragraph. My short term workaround is just to have multiple lines but that's not automated and doesn't work all that great.
When you create the text layer, use a click + drag action to create a text box to limit where the text should wrap. If you single click you will get a text layer but without any boundary. This may be why the text is not wrapping. Please let us know if this helps.
I'm Just having some issues with applying the Template Settings effect to solid layers in that it doesn't include the 'color' option when I do so. It shows up when I apply it to a shape layer but doens't actually seem to want to work (i.e. when I hit preview nothing changes). At the moment I'm just trying to replicate what you're doing in your 'Dynamic Color' video, so nothing complicated. I've got the most up-to-date versions of the plugin and After Effects (PC version). Any pointers would be much appreciated.
I'm Just having some issues with applying the Template Settings effect to solid layers in that it doesn't include the 'color' option when I do so. It shows up when I apply it to a shape layer but doens't actually seem to want to work (i.e. when I hit preview nothing changes). At the moment I'm just trying to replicate what you're doing in your 'Dynamic Color' video, so nothing complicated. I've got the most up-to-date versions of the plugin and After Effects (PC version). Any pointers would be much appreciated.
Graham Nix said:
Really interested in the time remapping abilities. Question though, can it only bring in completed footage into the template or can it include comps within the master after effects comp? What I'm trying to do is have custom sections of my video, and those custom sections be dynamic in the master comp to render. ex: Say I wanted to include a offer section in one video and that offer section have custom elements in it, but don't want to include it in another video run from the same template. The only way I can see it working right now is the custom sections would need to be rendered out then pulled back into the main comp. Maybe you can shed some light on this though.
Same question over here, we're considering licensing Templater Bot to enable our customer to create customized promo-clips for his individual clients and part of that is that he should be able to select wich parts of the movie are included. Each segmet of the clip has personalized shots in them with custom images or text (pulled from the google sheet). Am I able to point to different comps to be replaced instead of mediafiles?
Hi, is it possible to create something like this with Templater:
have a lot of interview videos (1000+) and need to add intro and outro for each one, also simple lower third with the name of the person speaking there. Each video is different duration, so is it possible to automate this creation?
Hi, is it possible to create something like this with Templater:
have a lot of interview videos (1000+) and need to add intro and outro for each one, also simple lower third with the name of the person speaking there. Each video is different duration, so is it possible to automate this creation?
Thanks
Yes, definitely, but you will need Templater Pro or Bot to process it.
I have purchased a license for Templater now. But having attached templater to a text layer, I can see no window to link into google authorisation(BATCH ASSETS). Is it hidden somewhere? I've checked through all the tabs and explored the options in layout, time, reset, register and about.
Can you please advise me how to actually bring up that window so I can start to populate my information across.
I have purchased a license for Templater now. But having attached templater to a text layer, I can see no window to link into google authorisation(BATCH ASSETS). Is it hidden somewhere? I've checked through all the tabs and explored the options in layout, time, reset, register and about.
Can you please advise me how to actually bring up that window so I can start to populate my information across.
I have purchased a license for Templater now. But having attached templater to a text layer, I can see no window to link into google authorisation(BATCH ASSETS). Is it hidden somewhere? I've checked through all the tabs and explored the options in layout, time, reset, register and about.
Can you please advise me how to actually bring up that window so I can start to populate my information across.
I have done, but so far the solution, does not work. I dont have any Templater options in the 'Windows' drop down menu and my preferences>General>Allow script access is enabled.
Not sure what else I can do unless anyone else has encountered this and has a solution?
I have done, but so far the solution, does not work. I dont have any Templater options in the 'Windows' drop down menu and my preferences>General>Allow script access is enabled.
Not sure what else I can do unless anyone else has encountered this and has a solution?
As we stated on the support ticket you need to make sure you are running the latest version of Templater (v2.6)
With templater, you can run the "Replication" feature with the "Send replicates to Adobe Media Encoder" preference checked in the "Templater Preferences" dialog. That will create new project files Templater's output folder. You might be able to run Bodymovin' / Lottie on those via its command line features if it has a command line. Otherwise, you would open each one.
We don't know Bodymovin' / Lotie interface in detail, but if they have anything exposed in the realm of ExtendScript, you can use our new ExtendScript API to hook your own ExtendScript code into other script that might expose some ExtendScript functionality. You can also write shell scripts that are executed during Templater's Events iterative algorithm. If Lottie allows you to interface with it via the command line, you can use Templater Events with shell scripts.
We've had requests for this in the past, and have it in our queue to consider as a feature moving forward. However, we do not have a solution that run out of the box.
Thanks for your question. Templater's model when using spreadsheets does not operate like that. Each row is a new "version" of your project. When Templater re-versions a project, it does so across all compositions within the project, not just a single project. You effectively map data from your columns to specific layers not specific compositions.
So, in your spreadsheet, you can have two columns with titles "my-text-1" and "my-text-2". Then in your project, wherever you have a layer named "my-text-1" will receive the value under the "my-text-1" column, and wherever you have a layer named "my-text-2" will receive the value under the "my-text-2" column. In some cases, spreadsheets become a bit more unwieldy once your data structure becomes too overwhelming, so we recommend using JSON data feed.
Rig will only re-version the project with the mapped data but it will not automate any rendering or output.
Can the Templater Rig do the switching out of 100s of images? Just making sure it doesn't require the Pro version. Never mind. yes it can. finally got it to work. I was using and "_" rather than a "-" which worked perfectly
Yes, it should be supported. Templater can read UTF-8, so when you export from Excel please ensure the character encoding is set to UTF-8. Also, you might need to turn on the "Middle Eastern Language" engine within After Effects' main preferences. However, please note that mixing "right to left" and "left to right" strings may not work as expected.
Thanks for this awesome product. I have a small question I would like to solve before buying the software:
Can we replace comps for comps? I have some precomps made for different files that need different sizes and different positions. I would like to create a placeholder comp and have the rest of premade comps in the project. Is it possible to get them replaced using templater?
Thanks for your inquiry. Unfortunately this feature does not ship out of the box. We are working to include it though in a future release, so please keep your eyes out for that.
If you know some ExtendScript, you might be able to write some custom ExtendScript code that handles the swap on a "After Update" event. You can learn more about the ExtendScript API on our documentation site, too.
I was looking around and couldn't find anything about line breaks.
For example, I have a bunch of banners that have blocks of text, but the automatic line breaking isn't a solution here, I'd need to specify where the line breaks.
I saw somewhere an example where they used "\n" to break to the next line, it works on the expression, but it doesn't work when Templater is pulling from a TSV file
It could be that the Text Layer was not created as a TextBox Layer (i.e. clicking and dragging in your composition with the Type tool. We have not tested the new line character with TSV sources, but can you try with a Google Sheet or a JSON file to see if the TSV is the cause of the issue? We know for certain that in JSON data source and in Google Sheets sources the \n will work. Also, I'm not sure what the character encoding of your TSV file, but make sure it's set to UTF-8 if you can. In some cases, you might need to use \r\n if you are on Windows.
...I'm not sure what the character encoding of your TSV file, but make sure it's set to UTF-8 if you can....
Hey! so I've found out that the problem is the TSV encoding, but I've found a solution for it.
I'm using \r to break the texts, but when it gets to after effects, I have to run a line of code for it to parse the \r properly, I just did a .replace() on the text source and it broke the lines perfectly, even on dot text boxes!
Thanks for your plugin! it's saving me hours and hours of work
Hi! I'm trying to group images in templater and I can't get it working. I have 3 image layers all attached and aligned horizontally. I set the left image to Cap, the Right image to Base and the center to Mid.
I run the preview in current state but it doesn't treat the images as a group. Just centers the parent.
To answer your question, yes — group only works vertically for now. Horizontal group alignment is slated in our queue for improved features. You can use chained attachments though that will always justify the elements either left or right. Please know we are working to improve Templater all the time, and this feature is literally in our queue for a release either end of year, or early next. Apologies for the inconvenience.
At the moment sequences are not supported as sources. That feature is in the queue and will come in a future release. Thanks for your patience with us.
At the moment sequences are not supported as sources. That feature is in the queue and will come in a future release. Thanks for your patience with us.
Thank you for your quick response.
That's rather unfortunate! Our whole pipeline is build on image sequences, as we do large bulks of 3D rendering. It seem like a trivial feature, that I would expect from such an expensive script. I guess it's my fault for not doing some tests, before purchasing.
Can you give me an estimate on when this feature might be implemented?
Sorry to hear that. To work-around the issue, you could register a transcode script to Templater's "After Data" event that could make use of an application like ffmpeg to transcode the sequence into a movie format that could then be referenced in a different column / property of your data source. You can think of it as a "just-in-time" processing of the input sources. We are doing a major release in the first quarter of next year, and looking forward to supporting this but we cannot give you an estimate.
Sorry to hear that. To work-around the issue, you could register a transcode script to Templater's "After Data" event that could make use of an application like ffmpeg to transcode the sequence into a movie format that could then be referenced in a different column / property of your data source. You can think of it as a "just-in-time" processing of the input sources. We are doing a major release in the first quarter of next year, and looking forward to supporting this but we cannot give you an estimate.
Sounds like an interresting solution, but I'm afraid it's beyond my capabilities.
I've stumpled upon a minor annoyance. When using Templater Bot with Google Spreadsheets, the bot removes all the expressions and replaces it with the values only.
For instance I have a cell with the expression:
=IF(A4="";"";A4&"/"&A4&".mov")
and when the bot picks it up, and changes status from "ready" to something else, replaces the expression with the value only:
I've tried protecting the range with different permissions, so the bot only has permission to chance the status, but that just results in the bot not updating anything, and processes the same jobs over and over, because the status remains ready.
Is there anything to be done? Or do I just have to live with loosing the expressions, when the bot processes the job? It's nothing major, just a bit annoying
I'm using the trial version of templater rig and Can't get it to link with my google account.
It always hangs on "Retrieving all Google Sheets from Google Drive. Please wait..."
I am using the trial to test the abilities of syncing with google sheets, so this is pretty imperative to get working before I purchase templater.
Thanks!
When you create the text layer, use a click + drag action to create a text box to limit where the text should wrap. If you single click you will get a text layer but without any boundary. This may be why the text is not wrapping. Please let us know if this helps.
Thanks'
What I'm trying to do is have custom sections of my video, and those custom sections be dynamic in the master comp to render. ex: Say I wanted to include a offer section in one video and that offer section have custom elements in it, but don't want to include it in another video run from the same template.
The only way I can see it working right now is the custom sections would need to be rendered out then pulled back into the main comp. Maybe you can shed some light on this though.
https://aescripts.com/contact/?direct=1&sku=DCTS-SUL