aescripts + aeplugins

Ryan Summers

On top of adding much needed variety of controller options in AE, this replaces at least three other buttons on one of my FT-Toolbars. Thank you good sir.

Ryan Summers

Very useful script but I'm getting some odd results when I have multiple shape layers (on their own layer) selected and CTRL-clicking to get one control layer at the middle — I'm actually getting three controllers. One for each shape layer and then an additional one located at the correct midpoint labelled anonymous CTRL 1. The anonymous controller is located in the correct place but I wasn't expecting additional controllers.

I also cannot get the auto creation of Puppet expressions to occur when selecting Puppet Pins on a Shape Layer and holding CTRL when clicking a controller shape. I'm on CC2014(13.2) and Mac OSX Yosemite 10.10.5 — thanks!

Moses Journey

Thanks for the feedback! I actually never built the script for separate shape groups on a single shape layer, but I'll update the script for that purpose.

As far as the puppet pin issue, would you send me an .aep? I'm unable to replicate the issue.

EDIT: sorry I totally misread what you said about having multiple shapes on their own individual layers. It seems as if there may be some unforeseen error that's causing these issues. Just for bug-testing purposes, would you send me an .aep within which you can replicate these problems?

Moses Journey

Hey Ryan, this was a total newb developer mistake. It's a Mac compatibility issue, and I'll have a fix out as soon as possible. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

Alexander Lucas

Hi Moses,

Just tried out the script as it is a neat utility but I have found some other issues for Mac compatibility. When I use the ControlMaker on a shape layer (or any layer) it imports the file into the project folder and for the faintest of seconds you can see the controller in the comp but then disappears. Using Shift, Ctrl, or Command does not seem to have any effect on this either. Don't know if anyone else has had this issue on the Mac but I am on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and Adobe CC 2015.Thanks!

Ben Pohl

Hi Moses,

Just tried out the script as it is a neat utility but I have found some other issues for Mac compatibility. When I use the ControlMaker on a shape layer (or any layer) it imports the file into the project folder and for the faintest of seconds you can see the controller in the comp but then disappears. Using Shift, Ctrl, or Command does not seem to have any effect on this either. Don't know if anyone else has had this issue on the Mac but I am on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and Adobe CC 2015.Thanks!

Yup, same here.
OSX 10.9.5 with CC 2014

Moses Journey

Would you believe this is an open beta? Hah. I'll take a look tonight. Thanks for letting me know!

EDIT: Looks like 2015 doesn't like my most recent code. Until I've had a chance to do some additional testing and fixes, I've removed 2015 from the compatibility list. Tonight, I hope I'll have it figured out!

Moses Journey

Hey Ben and Alexander, I'm unable to replicate the issue on my Mac at home. I tried on both CC 2014 (13.2) and CC 2015 (13.5.1) and everything seemed to work fine. Are you up-to-date with your installations? Granted, I am still on Yosemite, but I'd be surprised if that was causing the issue. If you're able, please reply and attach a file in which you can replicate the issue on your machines.

Thanks so much!

Alexander Lucas

Hi Moses,

Doesn't seem to be anything to do with the project files – though I think there is something going on possibly with Preferences. If I enable Javascript Debugger, the controller will appear but then get hung up at this point:

http://adobe.ly/1IauF6V

If I quit out of the Extendscript Toolkit the controller will remain in the comp as desired. It seems like something at that point or later in the script is breaking the insertion of the layer, though it will import the layer no matter what. Don't know if this helps - also if you want to move this offline to email you can get email me at [email protected].

Moses Journey

Hi again, Alexander! Please give 1.02 a shot. Ben and I realized there was an issue whereby if you've set your import preferences to import as composition rather than footage, my script broke. 1.02 specifies that the .ai file must be imported as footage, and in Ben's case, this fixes the issue.

Ben Pohl

Would it be possible to have all the Shape Layers it creates to have locked paths?
Sometimes when I click and drag on a Controller I end up dragging the shape layer icon path by accident.

Moses Journey

Ben Pohl said:

Would it be possible to have all the Shape Layers it creates to have locked paths?
Sometimes when I click and drag on a Controller I end up dragging the shape layer icon path by accident.

Hi Ben! I'm so glad you're still using Control Maker. Unfortunately, Shape Layer paths aren't lockable the way Masks are, but here's a document that will explain the various ways you can interact with shape layer paths: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/animating-shape-paths-masks.html. Also, I believe you can avoid accidentally editing the path by avoiding double-clicking on the Control layer in the Composition Viewport.

Ben Pohl

Moses Journey said:

Ben Pohl said:

Would it be possible to have all the Shape Layers it creates to have locked paths?
Sometimes when I click and drag on a Controller I end up dragging the shape layer icon path by accident.

Hi Ben! I'm so glad you're still using Control Maker. Unfortunately, Shape Layer paths aren't lockable the way Masks are, but here's a document that will explain the various ways you can interact with shape layer paths: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/animating-shape-paths-masks.html. Also, I believe you can avoid accidentally editing the path by avoiding double-clicking on the Control layer in the Composition Viewport.

Hi Moses,

Not intending to sound disagreeable, but I know that if I put "value" as an expression on the Shape Path, I'm unable to modify it accidentally.

Could that be done automatically?
Cheers!

basem alideeb

Hi,

Can you updated in order to automatic link the selected items to the shape maker ?

Moses Journey

basem alideeb said:

Hi,

Can you updated in order to automatic link the selected items to the shape maker ?

Hi Basem! I've left this function out of the script since there are so many ways controllers are used in people's rigs. Soon (hopefully) I will update the script to include some additional functions, and I'll include an auto-parent function as well.

basem alideeb

Moses Journey said:

basem alideeb said:

Hi,

Can you updated in order to automatic link the selected items to the shape maker ?

Hi Basem! I've left this function out of the script since there are so many ways controllers are used in people's rigs. Soon (hopefully) I will update the script to include some additional functions, and I'll include an auto-parent function as well.

I will be waiting for that update , thank you so much 

Beatrice Sims

Can you post the expression used in the video?

Moses Journey

Beatrice Sims said:

Can you post the expression used in the video?

Sure! First let me explain: I'm finding the value of the keyframed property by interpolating from 0-100 (the range of the slider), and remapping that value to a range of time (first keyframe to last keyframe). Note, this expression requires keyframes on the property you're applying the expression to, or you'll have an error.

Here's the expression:
valueAtTime( linear( [ Your controller property/slider here ], 0, 100, key(1).time, key(numKeys).time ) )

You can replace "[ Your controller property/slider here ]" by simply pick-whipping your slider/whatever control property you like. Enjoy!