aescripts + aeplugins

Jason Hearne

Fantastic Script.  Here's a thought for V2:

Now that I have set up all my variables with individual labels, there are a few things I tend to forget when setting up my projects for particular renders.  I would love a "notes" section for each Label.  I would use this to jot down the intricacies of properly setting up the project window for proper Queue Prep.

Dave Jacobson

Jason, I think that's a really great idea and I'm adding it to the list of potential new features. I can think of a lot of reasons why attaching notes to each of the labels would be really helpful.  Thank you for the suggestion!

Jason Hearne

Thanks for considering it Dave.  

On a side note - Would there be a way that the "Quick Label" buttons could also nest comps in folders (based on Bin Parent folders  - individually or grouped) AND Possibly rename the folders with a given variable ([fromCompName] with Prefix or suffix, [Date], [numericalSequence], alphabetically, etc...)?

This might be a big leap.  thought I'd throw it in there.  all the best.

Dave Jacobson

That's another solid idea.  It would definitely take some time to implement that but I think it could prove very useful.  I had considered adding variables into the mix when I wrote the first version of QueueMaster but ultimately decided to save it for a later version because there were so many other things that needed to go in the initial release.  Thanks again and don't hesitate to send more ideas!

Keith Tromer

I have been looking for a script like this for a while now.  The reason I keep looking for it, is because I often have 6-10 output modules to add to multiple renders.  So... as soon as you increase the 3 output module limit - you have a sale!  Looking forward to it!

Dave Jacobson

Hi Keith, that's a whole lot of output modules!  I knew it was only a matter of time until someone needed more OMs.  My goal is to provide automation inside QueueMaster for After Effect's maximum limit of 32 output modules per render queue item.  This is among the top items on my list for future features.  Thanks!

Jordan Steele

Hi Dave, I was hoping you'd be able to help me. I'm trying to be able to add a suffix to the filename in an output module via Javascript. I feel like you have it figured out because that's one feature available in your script. Would you be able to help? Thanks!

Dave Jacobson

Hi Jordan, I'm happy to take a look.  I'll send you my email address in a private message.

Dave Jacobson

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to say THANKS for all the wonderful feedback you've provided.  I have just released the QueueMaster v1.1 update and many of the new features came from your feedback.  I hope everyone finds the new features helpful.  Thanks!

Dave Jacobson

Luke Allen

How do you version images? No matter what setting i choose, having more than one single image output causes the following error:
The Name of the selected output module is already in use. Please Choose another name.
This is caused because the output name for the images are all the same. Versioning does not work, as the images all get the same version number. When you grab an image form within AE, it uses the actual frame number to version. But there is no option here to use that, only the beginning an end frame, which is the same if im grabbing images from the same video.

AM i missing something?

Dave Jacobson

Hey Luke, you're not missing anything.  Unfortunately versioning individual frames is not currently supported however I can see why this would be a really useful feature so I'll try to implement it in the coming weeks.  Thank you.

Dave Jacobson

Luke Allen

Cool, that would be great. Thumbs up!

Miika Turunen

What to do when Queu Master is asking for Update Settings File? It's asking this on everytime I'm launching AE, regardless of my choice of YES or NO. If this cant be removed anyway or the other I have to remove QueuMaster from my AE

Dave Jacobson

Hey Miika, You should definitely only see that dialog one time after upgrading the script.  That could be happening if 1) your file lives in a place that has permissions preventing QueueMaster from writing over it, or 2)  the settings file itself is set to locked / read-only by your OS, or 3)  the original version of QueueMaster is still installed and running concurrently with the new version.  If none of these conditions seem to be the case, I would recommend moving the settings file to another location.  If moving the file doesn't fix it, please open a help ticket and attach your settings file so I can take a look.  Thank you.

Dave

Francis Gelinas

Hi, thanks for that useful tool.

A suggestion, I would put to good use:  predefined time Span options...  Thanks!

Dave Jacobson

Hi Francis, thanks for the feedback!  Just to make sure I understand, do you mean the ability to pick between 'Entire Timeline' and 'Work Area'?  Or do you mean actually being able to set specific start and end times?  Thank you!

Dave

Nikolaus Logothetis

Hi Dave,

I just downloaded the trial, everything works fine except of the custom file path. Even with an item in the render queue there is no dialog popping up to customize the path. I tried in CC2014 and CC2015. Is this a trial limitation?

Nick

Dave Jacobson

Hey Nikolaus, there are no limitations in the trial.  Once you have selected the custom path option from the dropdown, you will need to configure the path by clicking on the ">" button on the left side of the file path field.  The custom file path builder will popup and you can proceed from there.  There's a demo of this in the Getting Started video at 10:40.  Hope this is helpful, thanks!

Dave

Nikolaus Logothetis

Hi Dave,

thanks for answering. The problem is, that the custom file builder does not popup, just pressing the '>' Button and nothing happens, not even an error message. Any ideas? Everything is setup correctly, any other functions work but only the custom file builder. I checked in CC2014 and CC2015.

Dave Jacobson

Understood.  Please open a help ticket and I'll be glad to help you troubleshoot this issue.  Thanks!

Brad Pickford

I am having the same problem when trying to create a custom file builder....

Hi Dave,

thanks for answering. The problem is, that the custom file builder does not popup, just pressing the '>' Button and nothing happens, not even an error message. Any ideas? Everything is setup correctly, any other functions work but only the custom file builder. I checked in CC2014 and CC2015.

Dave Jacobson

Hey Brad, please open a help ticket and I'll be more than happy to assist, thanks!

Nick Ritter

I'm not sure how to create a ticket on here, but I've had issues getting Queue Master to work since I did the last AE upgrade. Not sure how many others have this issue, but can you make a fix?

Dave Jacobson

Just click here.  Thanks!

Caleb Popper

Is there a way to keep the original file name after it is in the render queue and then add a suffix? 

Dave Jacobson

Hey John,

Unfortunately if you change the name of a file in the render queue, and then run the QueueMaster prep command, it will wipe that and use the comp name plus any parameters you set.

Jonathan Biggins

Hi Dave

Is the limit to 'AEP Relative Path' set to 3 an After Effects limitation, or would it be possible to increase this? (We have a drive for images and another for projects files, so would need to jump up 8 folders...)

Thanks!

Dave Jacobson

Hey Jonathan, I'm going to look into this.  I believe it should be pretty easy to implement, thanks!

Jonathan Biggins

Dave Jacobson said:

Hey Jonathan, I'm going to look into this.  I believe it should be pretty easy to implement, thanks!

Great. Thanks!

Dave Jacobson

Hey Jonathan, I sent you a private message containing a link to the new QueueMaster build so you can give it a try.  Thanks!

Matt Kanios

Hello Dave,

Does your script allow adjustment of "resize" or "crop" settings within each module? Those are the only settings I could not verify via the demo videos.

Dave Jacobson

Hey Matt, you would need to setup the resize/crop settings inside your Output Module template settings (Edit > Templates > Output Module...).  You would then have QueueMaster apply the template(s) to your render queue items.  At this point, the resize/crop settings would be applied.  If you'd like to try it out, you can download QueueMaster and use it for 15 days in trial mode.  Thanks!

christian kim

Hi Dave, just purchased the script, but finding it running very slow on my computer.

i am on windows 10 AFX 2017.1 (lastest updated version).  script seems to be working, but everytime i launch it, or try to change TABS on the panel, my AFX will be frozen for about 5-10 seconds with viewport going weird.

it seems the script runs very smoothly on your tutorial videos, so i am assuming this is not a intended behaviour.

would greatly appreciate your help! 

Dave Jacobson

Hey Christian,

Apologies for the delay, I had limited access to internet over the last week.  I haven't yet gotten a chance to test QueueMaster with AE 2017, but I plan to do so very soon once work calms down a bit.  You're correct in assuming this is not the intended behavior.

One thing I would like to suggest for the time being would be to try saving your QM settings file in a different location.  The settings file is read/written when you load QM or change tabs which is why I think it may be related to that.  I think it's possible you may be running into a permissions issue.

Thanks!

Adam Young

Hi Dave. Would there be any way to add a "master output location" option... so you can set all renders to go to a single folder. We send renders each day to dated folders... and at the moment we are having to go through and change the render path for 30+ outputs each day... when if there was a master output location we would only have to change one setting each day.

Thanks

Adam

Dave Jacobson

Hi Adam,

Yes, you could setup an absolute file path so that the renders all go to the same place, regardless of where the project lives.  QueueMaster could also automate the creation of the date folders.  You could do this using the Custom File Path Builder.  This is covered in the v1.1 update video at 1:54:

Please let me know if this is helpful!

joris cool

Hi Dave, sorry to post this here but the comments-page for RenderHogs does not work (keeps telling me to log in first).

Anyway, is it possible for RenderHogs to change the Trackmatte for a layer (from alpha/luma to none and back)?

Again, sorry for posting here.

I've been using RenderHogs for 2 years now and it's still very stable, intelligently build and speeds up my workflow like crazy. (3D renders, particles, motion blur, collor correction, render multimattes and all in 1 comp always with no problem - especially the value subs are killer!

cheerio!

- j

Dave Jacobson

Hey Joris,

That's an interesting issue I've not come across before.  Unfortunately it's not currently possible to adjust the track matte settings with RenderHogs, however I could possibly address this with an update.  Until then, you could potentially duplicate the affected layers and have alternating versions of each that do and don't use the track matte.  RenderHogs could toggle between those.  This obviously isn't ideal if we're talking about doing this with a lot of layers.  Another possible solution would be using the Set Matte effect rather than the track matte, since this is something RenderHogs can toggle on/off.

Hope this helps, thank you!

Dave

Chris Petridis

Hi Dave,

This script looks amazing! Just wondering if its possible to have multiple Render Settings attached to one colour tag?

Example would be rendering one file in Best Settings and Draft Settings.

Thanks,

Chis

Dave Jacobson

Thank you Chris!  QueueMaster only allows you one Render Setting preset per colour tag.  This is because each tag produces one render queue item per comp, and After Effects only allows one Render Setting preset per render queue item.

Dave

Fernando Lechuga

Hi Dave,

Your script is great and I think it's going to make our life much easier. We have a little problem though: our pipeline is quite picky about naming, and it would be great to use QueueMaster to name the render folders based on the project name. In order to do that we would only need to tell AE to split the project name with a simple expression and use the chunk we need. Something like: thisComp.name.split(" - ")[0] Is there a way that we can add simple expressions to the custom file path to create our own variables? That would be amazing.

Thanks a lot,

Fernando 

 

Dave Jacobson

Hey Fernando,

Unfortunately it's not currently possible to use expressions in the custom file path builder, however I'll be looking into what it would take to implement this.  I can definitely see the benefit in adding expressions.  Thanks!

Dave

Philippe Duvin

Hi Dave,

I'm trying to save my "buttons and presets by hitting the save button but I have this message every time : 

Warning: The save operation failed.  Please ensure the settings filepath is valid.

Any ideas ?

Thanks a lot

Philippe

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Helvetica Neue'}

Dave Jacobson

Hey Philippe,

I would check the following:

1. Make sure the "Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network" option is enabled the the preferences

2. Ensure the permissions haven't changed for the save file/location.

3. Make sure the path still exists, and didn't get moved somewhere.

4. If save file lives on your network, ensure the drive letter or path is mounted the same way as before.

5. Try moving the save file to a different location and point QueueMaster to it.

Thanks!

Dave

Philippe Duvin

Thanks Dave

I found what was wrong. The plugin couldn't find the setting file... Had to go to the prefs and set it up again

Thanks again

Hus Yaralioglu

Hi Dave,

This looks like something my company could really benefit from, but I have a couple of questions. 

Does the parent folder value only go up to 3? i need to be able to do 5 or 6.

Also, does this support rendering via a render farm?

Regards,

Hus

Dave Jacobson

Hi Hus,

If you're referring to the parent folder value for the AEP file path, the limit is currently 3.  If however you are referring to the parent folders in the Project Panel where the comps and sources live, the limit is 5 if you are using the Custom file path mode.  If you are using Absolute or Relative mode, the limit is 3.

QueueMaster does not currently have built-in integration with any render farm software, however my team and I regularly use it in conjunction with Thinkbox Deadline.  First we use QueueMaster to setup the output templates and paths.  Next we run the Deadline script for After Effects that submits everything in the render queue to our Deadline render farm.

Thanks!

Dave

Andrew Flatt

I wonder if I'm the only one to spot that you spelt Animation wrong in every comp in the video?

Awesome plug in - will be buying . 

Jiří Fiala

Hi, is there a way to skip the Render Queue altogether? Just press a button and AE renders with last/default settings right off the bat. That would be great to implement.

Warren Butler

Hi David, thanks for creating this amazing tool!

Is there any way to not add any frame number suffix (eg: '000') to an exported file's filename?

I am using QueueMaster to prep and render sets of static images (single images not animations) and so having _000 or even just 000 is mostly problematic.

If it is not currently possible, would you consider updating the script to allow for a '0' to be selectable in the image sequence digit count drop down?

It looks like one can manually circumvent this by selecting 'Save frame as..' in the composition drop down for every comp individually, which then sets the Output Info: in the output module to 'Single Frame'. However the Output Info isn't currently settable either with QueueMaster (or by creating custom output modules through AE) which means the export name without [###] is overwritten when prepping the queue.