aescripts + aeplugins

Philip Ames

Looks interesting. What if I want my grid to combine square, 16:9 and 9:16 assets and precomps. Will it handle that, keep the close spacing, dynamically adjust to the different aspect ratios? Thanks

Zohaib Malik

Philip Ames said:

Looks interesting. What if I want my grid to combine square, 16:9 and 9:16 assets and precomps. Will it handle that, keep the close spacing, dynamically adjust to the different aspect ratios? Thanks

Hey Philip,

Yes, you can combine anything you like including shape layers, text layers, images, footage, compositions, etc., and even with different sizes and ratios.

They will be distributed inside their equal-sized invisible frames, then you can choose how these items should fit inside its frame using the different fitting options available on the controller layer.

You can also add the mask frame feature as well if you want to fill the frame completely, so outside bounds will get clipped for each item.

I hope it answers your question. Kindly feel free to contact us with any further queries.

You can also check "Creating Grids Tutorial" for more details.

Thanks & regards,

Zohaib

Philip Ames

ah, i see, but content would always have to be in a 16:9 container? what i meant was having it size something akin to this- https://imgur.com/a/yggDSsr

thanks though. from watching the tutorials, it looks like a throughly excellent plug in

Zohaib Malik

Philip Ames said:

ah, i see, but content would always have to be in a 16:9 container? what i meant was having it size something akin to this- https://imgur.com/a/yggDSsr

thanks though. from watching the tutorials, it looks like a throughly excellent plug in

I have watched the screenshot and got your point. It doesn't work like that.

All the frames will be the same size. It could be any size but items can have different sizes. So, either the items will have gaps around those within its frame or you can fit all items to the frames using the fitting options. I hope you may get a better idea now.

Sean Jenkinson

Hi,

This looks like a really great script.

I noticed that when you stretch the images to fit their own space within the grid that it does actually stretch the images. Is it possible to make them fit their own grid space without stretching or distorting them?

Similarly, can you scale or reposition an individual image within it's own grid space?

Many thanks.

SJ

Zohaib Malik

Sean Jenkinson said:

Hi,

This looks like a really great script.

I noticed that when you stretch the images to fit their own space within the grid that it does actually stretch the images. Is it possible to make them fit their own grid space without stretching or distorting them?

Similarly, can you scale or reposition an individual image within it's own grid space?

Many thanks.

SJ

Thank you, Sean. We are happy that you liked it.

You can use "Fill the Frame" fitting option to fill the item frame by scaling the item proportionally. And you can add the "Mask" frame feature to clip those exceeding pixels from the frame's boundaries.

Also, you can easily adjust your frame size from the "Frame Size & Fitting" properties.

If you don't want to animate the grid using controller presets and want to animate these manually then you can freeze the grid from the "Additional Utilities" dialog and use the "Also Removes Keyframes" function in the "Freeze Grid" button to remove existing keyframes.

Or if you want to use both the controller and manual overrides then use the Transform effect. (Effects > Distort > Transform)

You can also zoom a single item from the controller properties and it will position the item to the center and will fill the composition automatically.

I hope this will help you with your issues. Feel free to contact us for any further queries or help.

Thanks & regards,

Zohaib

vinux II

Its not working for me. As soon as i pressed create grid AE crashed.

Zohaib Malik

Azim Jamaludin said:

Its not working for me. As soon as i pressed create grid AE crashed.

Hi Azim,

It seems you are using the "Legacy ExtendScript" expression engine, kindly change it to the latest "JavaScript".

Kindly follow these steps to switch expressions engine:

• Go to project settings (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K) for Windows and (Command + Option + Shift + K) for Mac.
• Go to "Expressions" tab in project settings dialog box.
• Under "Expression Engine" menu choose "JavaScript".

I hope it will fix your problem. Feel free to contact for any further queries.

Thanks & regards,

Zohaib

vinux II

Zohaib Malik said:

Azim Jamaludin said:

Its not working for me. As soon as i pressed create grid AE crashed.

Hi Azim,

It seems you are using the "Legacy ExtendScript" expression engine, kindly change it to the latest "JavaScript".

Kindly follow these steps to switch expressions engine:

• Go to project settings (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K) for Windows and (Command + Option + Shift + K) for Mac.
• Go to "Expressions" tab in project settings dialog box.
• Under "Expression Engine" menu choose "JavaScript".

I hope it will fix your problem. Feel free to contact for any further queries.

Thanks & regards,

Zohaib

Ohhh!!! my bad!! thank youuuuuuu!!!!

Zohaib Malik

Azim Jamaludin said:

Zohaib Malik said:

Azim Jamaludin said:

Its not working for me. As soon as i pressed create grid AE crashed.

Hi Azim,

It seems you are using the "Legacy ExtendScript" expression engine, kindly change it to the latest "JavaScript".

Kindly follow these steps to switch expressions engine:

• Go to project settings (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K) for Windows and (Command + Option + Shift + K) for Mac.
• Go to "Expressions" tab in project settings dialog box.
• Under "Expression Engine" menu choose "JavaScript".

I hope it will fix your problem. Feel free to contact for any further queries.

Thanks & regards,

Zohaib

Ohhh!!! my bad!! thank youuuuuuu!!!!

You are welcome! Happy to hear it's been fixed.

Jon Draper

Great plugin, massive time save thankyou.

Other than doing it manually (by removing code in opacity on the layers) is there a way to randomise the opacity to animate a large grid of laters fading up other than using sequential or distance.  It looks great as is, but a client has asked for the layers to fade up in a random ortder, whihc I think means I'm back to manually animating each layer. (but keeping some position animation applied by your plugin).

Zohaib Malik

Jon Draper said:

Great plugin, massive time save thankyou.

Other than doing it manually (by removing code in opacity on the layers) is there a way to randomise the opacity to animate a large grid of laters fading up other than using sequential or distance.  It looks great as is, but a client has asked for the layers to fade up in a random ortder, whihc I think means I'm back to manually animating each layer. (but keeping some position animation applied by your plugin).

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the appreciation. It means a lot.

To implement the randomise order for opacity, we've added it to the feature request and may implement it at any time in the future. For now, we will recommend a workaround that you may know already.

1. Reveal opacity properties of all grid layers (use shotkey "T"). (Enable the shy switch in case you've added any feature layer to hide those first.)
2. Select all opacity properties by dragging a selection by mouse.
3. Remove expressions by clicking the opacity stopwatch on any layer while holding the Alt/Opt key.
4. Now the same way, click on the stopwatch on any layer to add an opacity keyframe on all selected layers at once. Set its value to 0 if you want a fade in animation.
5. Then add a second keyframe with the value of 100.
6. Then what you can do is use any free script like Layer Random Shifter (by Lloyd-aescritps) or deLayer (by Ukramedia) and select the number of frames in which you'd like to see the radomised animation.
   So, this is it to make it work and all other properties of the grid controls will still work perfectly as well.

I hope it was helpful. You can let us know if you have any further queries or need any assistance.

Thanks & Regards,

Zohaib

Jon Draper

Hey, thanks for the last reply... yes I did a similar apporach to randomly control the opacity.

Another request, it would be great to be able to adjust the z position, once converted to 3D, again with the options for sequenctial, distance and random.

Zohaib Malik

Jon Draper said:

Hey, thanks for the last reply... yes I did a similar apporach to randomly control the opacity.

Another request, it would be great to be able to adjust the z position, once converted to 3D, again with the options for sequenctial, distance and random.

Nice to hear that.

Also, for the z-position for 3D you can let me know how you'd like to use or animate.

You can open a support ticket to discuss this further.

Thanks & Regards,

Zohaib

Rick Moore

Just purchased...what would cause AE 2023 to crash the moment I hit the 'create grid' button?

I'm trying to grid 40 prores videos which are on separate layers.

Zohaib Malik

Hi Rick,

Thanks for your purchase.

This issue usually occurs due to the "Legacy ExtendScript" expression engine, kindly change it to the latest "JavaScript".

To do so, kindly follow these steps:

• Go to project settings (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K) for Windows and (Command + Option + Shift + K) for Mac.
• Go to "Expressions" tab in project settings dialog box.
• Under "Expression Engine" menu choose "JavaScript".

I hope it will fix your issue. Feel free to contact for any further assistance.

Thanks & regards,

Zohaib

TOBIAS BAUCOM

Having an issue. When I have more than 6 videos it starts to pinwheel. Want to make a video grid. I have done your java script change. What is the workaround?

Zohaib Malik

TOBIAS BAUCOM said:

Having an issue. When I have more than 6 videos it starts to pinwheel. Want to make a video grid. I have done your java script change. What is the workaround?

Hi Tobias,

Thank you for contacting us about your issue.

If you have already switched the expression engine to "JavaScript", then the problem should not occur. There may be another issue causing this. Please provide more details along with a screenshot or video clip of the issue so that we can have a better understanding. Additionally, you can open a support ticket for a more convenient discussion.

Best Regards,

Zohaib

Chris Brearley

Hi Zohaib. Looking to create something like this  Your script seems ideal but with the demo I could not figure out how to get an item moving forward as another moves back using the zoom to comp item index as only one item can animate at a time. Is it possible? Thanks

Zohaib Malik

Chris Brearley said:

Hi Zohaib. Looking to create something like this [video]. Your script seems ideal but with the demo I could not figure out how to get an item moving forward as another moves back using the zoom to comp item index as only one item can animate at a time. Is it possible? Thanks

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your question. Using the zoom function of the grid you can only zoom one item at a time.

However, in the upcoming version, you will have the ability to custom animate any of the grid items, with a dedicated preset controller for each grid layer. Achieving the effect which you've shown may require some additional work to animate different items in z, or you can try some workarounds to rig the grid according to your requirements. If you need further assistance, please feel free to open a support ticket or click on the contact button on the script UI so that we can help you through the appropriate channel.

Best regards,

Zohaib

Branson Bowler

I already purchased the Flex plugin and was hoping to grab this one, is there any way possible to get the bundle discount for this purchase? Thank you! 

Zohaib Malik

Brantson Bowler said:

I already purchased the Flex plugin and was hoping to grab this one, is there any way possible to get the bundle discount for this purchase? Thank you! 

Hi Brantson,

Thank you for contacting us with your question.

I checked with the admin about this and unfortunately, there is no discount if you have already purchased one of the products in the bundle separately, as you would receive a second license for that product.

Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

Best regards,

Zohaib

Drew Kirk

I seem to have issues with my grids not fitting properly to the composition and theres a space at the bottom. Is there any way to fix this?

Zohaib Malik

Drew Kirk said:

I seem to have issues with my grids not fitting properly to the composition and theres a space at the bottom. Is there any way to fix this?

Hi Drew,

Thanks for reaching out regarding your issue.

You can adjust the size of your rows and columns to fill the space at the bottom. Divide the number of items in a row by the comp width and the number of items in a column by comp height to get the exact frame x and y sizes so each item fits properly inside. If the issue is that the images are different sizes than the frame, causing empty space, you can use a different fitting option for the items or use the mask frame feature instead.

If the above solutions do not work for your problem, please open a support ticket or click on the contact icon at the bottom of the script panel and provide more details. We will do our best to assist you with the issue.

Thanks & Regards,

Zohaib

Rick Moore

I have 150 layers containing small square logos that are 150px jpg files. The plugin grinds to a total halt. Every keyboard press takes several seconds to recognize along with every mouse click. It is using java script.

Zohaib Malik

Rick Moore said:

I have 150 layers containing small square logos that are 150px jpg files. The plugin grinds to a total halt. Every keyboard press takes several seconds to recognize along with every mouse click. It is using java script.

Hi Rick,

We apologize for the speed issues you are experiencing with your grid. The speed also depends on the number of frame features you have added to the grid. If no frame features are added, the grid will work faster compared to when features are added.

If you require assistance with your workflow, please open a support ticket. Kindly provide details on what you were trying to achieve so we can explore any possible workarounds for your issue.

Best regards,

Zohaib