Templater
  • christian kimchristian kim
    Hi guys! love this product and was very keen on testing it out before making a purchase.
    however, after trying to set it up for 3 min, the script started giving me (trial expired).

    though i only tried using it for 3 min, and didn't even yet succeed in getting it working.

    is this a bug? really wanted to understand the plugin+script before purchasing.

    Let me know ; )

    thanks guys! really excited about templater!
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hi Christian,

    Thank you for your kind words about Templater, and for giving it a shot.  We really appreciate it.

    The trial limits you to a maximum of three previews and renders.  Also, the "Make Comps" feature is disabled in trial mode.  When you hit the trial limitation dialog, and you want to keep working with it, simply close Templater, then open it once more.  Doing this will "reset" the trial limit back to "no attempts".  You can hit the "Save" button on Templater's main panel to save all your panel configurations so you do not have to touch any of the controls when you open it back up.  Although you will always have to choose which comp you want to render from the prefs dialog if you did not specify one under a `target` header in your spreadsheet.

    If you have not done so already, check out our documentation, particularly the concepts and how-to instructional pages.  For quick testing, you'll want to make sure your data is mapped correctly by assigning the Templater Settings effect to your named dynamic layers.

    Hope this helps you, and we hope that Templater meets your needs.
  • christian kimchristian kim
    Hi guys, thanks for the prompt response! i was not aware i could just restart after effects to continue on testing things out.
    Question, does templater settings don't get saved with the project file? it seems every time i open the project, i have to re-link the goolge docs.
    was wondering if this is a trial behaviour, or usual behaviour

    Yep, i have found those beginners help pages bit later.  To be honest, i was kinda lost watching the youTube videos on AESCRIPTS.  they were really good, but could not find much "introductory" information showing how the whole thing works.

    will need to read through bit more and see if the app can help us on our workflow ; )

    but its a great plugin, something i have been really waiting for! great work guys! hope to speak to you again soon ; )
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    You can avoid restarting AE altogether, and simply restart the Templater panel by closing it, then opening it back up.  

    Templater does not save its settings within the project file, but if you press the "Save" button on Templater's main panel it will save all its ui settings to a preferences file.  This way, you will not have to "relink" to a new datasource each time you start Templater.

    Thanks for the feedback regarding our tutorials, we are always interested learning about what our customers need and putting what we learn into action.  Hopefully we can get a start-to-finish tutorial posted soon.
  • Takuya HosoganeTakuya Hosogane
    Hi
    I found small bug.

    When 2 text layers with templater named like this,
    [hoge]
    [hoge_2]
    Temlater only update [hoge]. I guess Templater using left-hand matching.

    I changed [hoge_2] to [huga], it works.
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hi Takuya, thank you for using Templater and for the information about layer naming. As noted in our documentation, layers and their corresponding column header names cannot have underscores and some other characters. Please see the note box under the Mapping Data section in the Concepts page to see other characters that are currently unsupported.

    http://templater.dataclay.io/docs/concepts#mapping-data
  • alex lopezalex lopez
    I updated AE to the latest version and now the Templater window is not showing properly image
  • Arie StavchanskyArie Stavchansky
    Hi Alex, thanks for posting your question.  Can you open a support ticket for this so we can help troubleshoot the problem for you.
  • Jadan DuffinJadan Duffin
    When I tell the Batch Editor to use a specific google sheet doc, it always defaults to the 'Click [google] for details' dialog. Ive also tried export the sheet into a tsv format, but Templater seems to give no response when Previewing. To be clear, I have a sheet with two columns and three rows, the top row being the name of the layer in my comp, and the last rows are just one word., when refreshing I do not get the data driven to the comp- only 'Templater Settings' get adjusted, like alignment.

    Any help would be great, I'm really excited to start using this!
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hi Lee, 
    The message in the Data Source field will always default to `Click [google] for details` regardless of what you select as your worksheet.  It's hard to say what the problem is, but are you sure you are clicking the worksheet of your spreadsheet before clicking 'OK' in the 'Google Spreadsheet Setup' dialog?  We see your ticket that you opened up, please feel free to use the ticket to keep track of the issue.
    Thanks!
  • Luke McKoyLuke McKoy
    Hi guys,

    I've been testing this out as I think it could save me a lot of time. The thing I'm having difficulty is that Templater isn't always working for me. I create a project and apply Templater to text, shapes etc, and name everything to match my google spreadsheet. Everything works great, but I find that when I exit out of the project and go back into it, Templater will no longer make adjustments (ie alignment or attachment). I've tried closing the Templater panel and reopening it, deleting layers, previewing both Current State and Next Row, creating a new Composition, nothing seems to have an effect. The only thing that 'works' is if I start over with a new project, and this means I'm never able to finish my project.

    I'm currently using CC2015 on a Windows 8.1 system

    Please help!
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hey Luke,
    Thank you for giving Templater a spin!  Always happy to hear that its saving people time.  When you re-open a file that already has the layers setup, you still need to "re-connect" the project to the Google Sheet.  When you open the file after working with it, are you clicking on the "google" button, finding your spreadsheet then selecting your worksheet?  We realize this is a slight inconvenience and are working to improve that in a future release.  When you write that "Templater will no longer make adjustments" does that mean text doesn't change, or is it just the alignment.  Also, you're on a trial version so you get limited previewing--if you come up against the window that says you've reached the demo limit, you can just shut down the panel and launch it again to reset the limitation.  Feel free to open up a ticket so we can help you further.  If you're unable to get it to work, we can look at your AEP file and data source to help you troubleshoot.  I think you mean to say that you're on CC2014 instead of CC2015 :)  Thanks again for trying it out!
  • Luke McKoyLuke McKoy
    Thanks for the response.

    Whoops, CC2015 was a typo I didn't spot. I wish I had that version ;)

    I've done a lot of fiddling around with the projects, and have discovered that the problem actually lies in putting Templater on a Shape Layer. I don't know if it's something I'm doing, or some other reason, but it stops Templater working for me...
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hi Luke, the Templater Settings plugin effect does not currently support Shape Layers.  You can apply it to Text, Footage, and Solids as well as Composition layers.  You should first pre-compose your shape layer into a composition and then apply the Templater Settings effect to that.  You can read more about dynamic layers in our documentation.
  • Sam MattsonSam Mattson
    Suggestion for the next version: Font support. Put a font name in a cell and the text field would change to that font. I know font names can get complicated, so it might be good to just have a "Font1" and corresponding font selector in the Templater settings plugin within after effects so you only have to type "Font1" in your spreadsheet. Then a button labeled "add another font" that would make "Font2" etc.
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hey Sam,

    Many thanks for the suggestion.  Changing a text layer's font can be achieved by creating duplicate text layers and then changing those duplicate layer's font to what you desire.  Then, in your spreadsheet, you can use the {{off}} flag, to hide / show the exact layer that you want.  Take a look at our screencast on layer flags about this.

    AE is a bit picky when it comes to changing fonts via it's API.  We do have this enhancement planned for the future, but the above is the work around customer's are using now.

    Thanks again!
  • Sam MattsonSam Mattson
    What's in store for the next version? When's it being released?
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Take a look at our YouTube channel for videos related to the next version to see some of the new features.  Cannot speak to a specific release date, unfortunately.
  • mariano santinellimariano santinelli
    Hello, there are any way to change the sound (.wav) per line of my google drive??? thanks!!
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Yes, you do it in the same way as you do with any other footage layer.  In your spreadsheet, you just need to reference the wav files with a path relative to the output location you specified in Templater's main panel.  Does this answer your question?  

  • Tim DeMartinTim DeMartin
    Is there a way to have the text of a single text layer change to the next row in the spreadsheet? Example: Every 3 seconds I would like the next row of spreadsheet shown. Please let me know best workflow for this. 
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hi Tim,
    Thanks for choosing Templater to meet your needs. The current version requires a human operator in front of AE to perform any versioning tasks with Templater. You can use the Preview function to invalidate your dynamic layers and bring in the new row values. Make sure to set the Preview Uses drop down menu to "next row". That will always bring in the next row to your layers. Unfortunately this cannot be set on a timer. Please let us know if you have any more questions. Thanks!
  • Griffen DeanGriffen Dean
    Hello.  Does Templater work with precomps nested within the main render comp?  Say I have a main render comp named "FINAL 720p".  In that comp is a precomp named "HEADSHOT".  Within that the "HEADSHOT" precomp is a photo that I'd want Templater to replace based on my Google Sheets doc.  Is that possible?  Thank you!  
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Absolutely.  Templater scours the entire After Effects project for all supported layer types in all comps throughout the project—it does not matter how deeply nested a layer is.
  • Griffen DeanGriffen Dean
    That is great news.  So as long as the layer in my AE project matches the column name in the Google Sheet I'll be good to go with elements nested within precomps?
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Yes, the layer name must match the column header in your spreadsheet.  And, of course, you must apply the Templater Settings effect to that layer as well.  Once you do those two tasks, you'll be good to go.  For footage layers, even though our screencast and documentation explain to create the layer by inserting a Placeholder, you should just import a footage file normally and place that into your composition.  Then, rename the footage layer, and apply the Templater Settings effect and it will be fine.  We are finding that the Placeholder layer type can cause some customers issues, but by using a regularly imported footage item and placing it into a composition, it will work without any issue.
  • Griffen DeanGriffen Dean
    This honestly seems like it's too good to be true!!!  What an incredibly powerful and helpful script you've created.  Thank you very much!
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Thanks for the kind words Griffen, we hope it saves you many laborious hours of tedium for replacing text, images, and colors.  If you ever run into an issue using Templater, feel free to open up a support ticket and we're happy to help!
  • Eldad CaspiEldad Caspi
    Hi there, 
    Templater looks awesome.
    I'm interested in Templater 2.0 (with the cmd feature), is it available (saw your many videos on Youtube and figured it's better to ask you)? if not, will it be offered as a free or discounted upgrade for Templater 1 clients?  (or, in other words, should I buy v 1 now, or should I wait a bit (days/weeks/months) for the 2.0 v)... I', sure that others would love to know this too (couldn't find info on your website). 

    Thanks and keep up the great work
  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    Hi Eldad,
    Thank you for your inquiry about Templater and for your kind words about Templater.

    We have good news!  We're slated to release Templater 2 here very very soon.  So, I think it would be okay to wait.  Shouldn't be too long at all!
  • Eldad CaspiEldad Caspi
    It is great news, save one copy for me before you run out  ;)

    In another issue, do you happen to know if running AE + Templater on a server side mode (gather texts and media from a web form and trigger a render on submission) is legit under AE licensing?  a basic research shows that the issue is unclear or uncertain... 

    Looking forward to your release, best of luck with it

  • Dataclay SupportDataclay Support
    We are definitely looking forward to the release, too!  Thank you for your encouragement.

    You would need to contact Adobe to get a definitive answer on your question.  Our software products are used in a variety of ways and so any licensing issue you encounter with Adobe software should be taken up with Adobe directly.

    Thanks for the good wishes!
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