Currently playing around with the script, which works very well. apart from one thing. I'm creating an animation with 60 layers, I've moved and offset them all beautifully. yet the numbers visible does not seem to turn the layers on and off. i want the animation to build. key framing from one to 60 still shows all 60 wherever I am on the timeline. Any ideas? I'm using CC17
Sorry you're having a problem with the script. Which version of the script are you using?
If you are using version 2.3, my first guess would be to check the 'Active' section in the Layer Repeater effect. In there, look for the 'Opacity' checkbox and make sure that it is enabled.
If it is enabled, could you please open a support ticket and attach a copy of your project file to it so I can take a look?
I haven't extensive tested yet to make sure everything is working correctly on CC 2018. However, it should work just fine, are you having problems with the script in 2018?
If you are, can you please open a ticket, and I can help you get it resolved.
Edit: I've just tested with 2018, and everything is working fine on my end. Please let me know if you are having any issues.
I'm sorry you're having an issue with the Frame offset. What is not working about the offset for you?
For reference, this is how it should work:
The Frame offset will offset any animations you make to the Layer Repeater effect properties. So for instance, if you animate the Position -> X -> Base property, and then change the Frame->Offset property to '2', you will see each repeated layer have their X position animated 2 frames apart.
Hopefully this works for you, but let me know if you continue to have issues.
Thanks for the amazing plugin/Script. I was wondering, if I want to animate the scale, I have to adjust two properties everytime, the X and Y. Is it possible to Set one slider for both scales, so the aspect ratio stays the same. Or do you know a quick fix to combine the two sliders? Linking them with the parent tool does not work.
Sorry you were having difficulty with this. The solution is to hold down the Alt key when you are using the parent/pick whip tool to link the layers.
You can check if this works depending on what you see in the expression field. If the expression becomes something like "effect("Layer Repeater")("Offset")", then that probably won't work.
However, when holding Alt, it should be like "effect("Layer Repeater")(48)". Then the values should link correctly.
Hi, great script! It doesn't appear to want to go beyond a certain number of duplicates though. The value does but I'm not seeing any copies past 40 odd.
I'd love to see this script work in multiple dimensions at once. For example I can repeat in X, but then I also want to repeat in Y, making a grid of comps. And then repeat in Z, making a cube of comps. Can I use a repeater ON a repeater to accomplish this?
Thanks for the suggestion. A grid layout has been on the planned todo list for the script for a while, although it's been a bit tricky to figure out exactly how to work it in.
You can do this kind of manually by repeating one layer into a row, and then repeating that precomp into a column to make a grid.
Thanks Adam, I'm sure multidimensional array control is complicated and tricky. I figured you could duplicate a repeated row, but you don't have the same kind of control I'd imagine you could have with a fully implemented grid. I'm looking to control a grid in a diagonal manner. Right now I've just got a ton of layers controlled by a gradient map so I'll just have to do it that way for now. I can use your plugin for the repeating/spacing at least.
Yeah, it's difficult to say exactly what should happen across a grid as various properties get offset. Were you thinking along the lines of a specific property being offset along the x axis, and then a different property offset along the y axis?
Hi there, I was wondering, is there a way to duplicate both the main comp and the sub comp and keep the link between the two? The subcomp layers are linked to the control layer in the comp above - is there a way to duplicate the comps and keep the control?
There's no straightforward way to do that at the moment. Are you looking to have one control layer that controls two different compositions?
Or do you want to be able to duplicate the main layer repeater comp along with it's sublayers, so that there is a new control layer that controls this new set of comps?
Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for the clarification. That's been on the backburner of my plans for the tool for a while. I'll try to find some time and see how it could be implemented.
is it possible to do a time offset for the layers themselves? The Frame Offset option only seems to affect animated properties. I have a 3D stack of a videoclip I'm flying through with a camera and I want to offset the start of each instance of the clip by a set amount of frames. Is that possible without manually moving each clip in the composition?
Sorry if this came up before, I didn't find anything on this.
Great plugin so far, I'm already imagining all the things I could do with this!
When I move my repeated layer and associated null along the time line the animation stays where it is in time. Even if i precompose the layer with the null the animation still stays where it was originally keyframed in the time line....is this correct behaviour or am I doing something wrong?
I'm on vacation at the moment, so I can't double check this on my computer. But are you referring to animation you had inside of the layer that you repeated, or animation of the Control Null's properties? If you are referring to the null, then I believe the animation comes from when in time you originally animate the values.
However, this feels like a bug and is obviously not expected behavior. When I return from vacation next year, I can look at updating the tool to account for time offsets.
Feel free to create a help desk ticket to keep track of this issue.
Hi Tobias, sorry for the delayed response to your question. Unfortunately, there's no way within Layer Repeater to offset the layers themselves. However, you should be able to accomplish this using this tool: https://aescripts.com/pt_shiftlayers/
Hi Jonathan,
Do you have an After Effects file that I could look at? The answer to your question depends on where the animation exists. If these are properties of the null that you're animating, you should only need to move the null layer.
Hi Running this on AE CC2018 and get this error message : "this file was created with a newer version of after effects..." Any suggestion? Thanks in advance
I've updated Layer Repeater to v2.6.3. This should, in theory, let things work on AE CC 2018. However, there are a couple caveats with that.
First, you won't be able to use the Time Remapping controls that were added with Layer Repeater v2.6.
Secondly, as Creative Cloud does not let After Effects CC 2018 be installed any more, I have been unable to thoroughly test this as normal. If you try the new version out and you are still getting errors, please open up a ticket, and we can dig into the problem more.
Hi, great stuff! But I have a problem, when duplicating the entire comp Repear will not react to changes in the Layer Repeater Controls null object that's in the new comp. It is still referenced to the original comps Control null.
So basically what I want to be able to do, is make a comp with Repeater in it. And then just duplicate that comp to make alternative animations. But the scripts you made always reference to the Layer Repeater Controls null object in the original comp (where it was created)
When using the script, I get an expression error on the TimeRemap property, as follows :
I changed 'startTime' with 'displayStartTime' and it seems to work, but Im not really sure of what all this expression does so it might be better to use inPoint in this case?
Anyway, that might be an issue to look into, i think it works fine on my end now tho
I tried on both CC2019 and CC2020, both latest updated versions.
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. You're correct in that the expression should be using displayStartTime instead of startTime. I've just updated the script, and it should be available on the website soon.
Out of curiosity, did you have any sort of time reversals on your layers that you were using the Layer Repeater on? It's a bit difficult to reach that section of the code, and I was having difficulty recreating that error you're seeing reliably.
Hey! Loving this script! In a bit of a pinch for a project tomorrow, hope I can reach you hear. I tend to dupe and version my compositions a lot. Ran into an issue where Layer Repeater will only work on the composition version I created it on. And if I change the comp name to the original name and reversion the old one, the script will compensate and it won't work.
Hey! Loving this script! In a bit of a pinch for a project tomorrow, hope I can reach you hear. I tend to dupe and version my compositions a lot. Ran into an issue where Layer Repeater will only work on the composition version I created it on. And if I change the comp name to the original name and reversion the old one, the script will compensate and it won't work.
What should I do? Thank you!
Was able to fix it with a search and replace using "pt_ExpressEdit 2"
Hey! Loving this script! In a bit of a pinch for a project tomorrow, hope I can reach you hear. I tend to dupe and version my compositions a lot. Ran into an issue where Layer Repeater will only work on the composition version I created it on. And if I change the comp name to the original name and reversion the old one, the script will compensate and it won't work.
What should I do? Thank you!
Was able to fix it with a search and replace using "pt_ExpressEdit 2"
Hi Alec,
I'm glad you got this working. Out of curiosity what version of Layer Repeater are you using? Since v2.5 there has been a button in the main interface to help duplicate compositions.
Cant seem to get this to work. Is it compatable with AE 2021? I keep getting a message saying: No Layer Repeater Effect Found/ There should be a folder... The file it is looking for in this error message is 'LayerRepeater_2_6_4.ffx'. There are 3 versions in the _effects folder, but none are named that. Please advise. Thanks.
Nice, I'm looking to repeat into a grid, so would be good to have a Line break option (e.g. value of 10 would create lines of 10 repeats until it runs out of duplicates), or similar MOD type function.
or of course a button to setup x & y repeats at creation.
Doesnt work with 2021 or 2022 on Big Sur. in 2022 it doesnt appear at all. in 2021 it says I'm missing 2_6_4 file. I've renamed one of the 3 files to this but it still gives me the same error.
Doesnt work with 2021 or 2022 on Big Sur. in 2022 it doesnt appear at all. in 2021 it says I'm missing 2_6_4 file. I've renamed one of the 3 files to this but it still gives me the same error.
I moved it out of the UI panel into the main scripts panel - restarted my machene and it works
I'm glad you got it working within the main scripts panel. If you're still having any troubles, please open a ticket and I can help you in more detail.
is it possible to do a time offset for the layers themselves? The Frame Offset option only seems to affect animated properties. I have a 3D stack of a videoclip I'm flying through with a camera and I want to offset the start of each instance of the clip by a set amount of frames. Is that possible without manually moving each clip in the composition?
Sorry if this came up before, I didn't find anything on this.
Great plugin so far, I'm already imagining all the things I could do with this!
Running this on AE CC2018 and get this error message : "this file was created with a newer version of after effects..."
Any suggestion?
Thanks in advance
How are you going about duplicating the composition? Are you using the tool's UI, or doing it through the project window?
Adam
When using the script, I get an expression error on the TimeRemap property, as follows :
Anyway, that might be an issue to look into, i think it works fine on my end now tho
I tried on both CC2019 and CC2020, both latest updated versions.
Cheers
What should I do? Thank you!
Was able to fix it with a search and replace using "pt_ExpressEdit 2"
Hi Alec,
I'm glad you got this working. Out of curiosity what version of Layer Repeater are you using? Since v2.5 there has been a button in the main interface to help duplicate compositions.
Cheers, Adam
C:\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\After Effects\18.0\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels
If you have, and are still having problems, please open a ticket and I can help you figure out what the issue is.
or of course a button to setup x & y repeats at creation.
in 2022 it doesnt appear at all.
in 2021 it says I'm missing 2_6_4 file. I've renamed one of the 3 files to this but it still gives me the same error.