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After Effects
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XML2AE
Conform XML/AAF files inside After Effects
Rebuild an edit from FCP7 XML or AAF inside After Effects
Loads an editing XML/AAF, scans selected footage folders, matches timeline media against real scanned files, lets the user resolve ambiguous or missing media, and builds an After Effects composition that preserves editorial timing as closely as possible. It also tracks generated timelines so a later scan/match can update a duplicated comp without destroying the previous build.
XML2AE is intended for conform and VFX prep workflows where an edit arrives as FCP7 XML and the user needs a working After Effects comp.
Current behavior includes:
- Parse FCP7 xml sequence data and AAF via the bundled helper.
- Scan user-selected footage folders recursively.
- Match media from the scanned catalog by filename/stem, reel, timecode, duration, and strict fallback rules; embedded XML/AAF source paths are not used as match criteria.
- Detect missing media and ambiguous matches.
- Show a conflict picker with candidate thumbnails and metadata.
- Import selected media into After Effects.
- Build a video-only AE comp with layer timing, trims, disabled-state handling, slates, diagnostics, and optional reference video.
- Apply supported transform/effect data:Basic Motion scale, position/center, anchor/centerOffset, rotation.Opacity.Crop where supported.Blend/composite modes where mapped.Keyframes, including source-in-aware timing for trimmed clips.
- Basic Motion scale, position/center, anchor/centerOffset, rotation.
- Opacity.
- Crop where supported.
- Blend/composite modes where mapped.
- Keyframes, including source-in-aware timing for trimmed clips.
- Basic Motion scale, position/center, anchor/centerOffset, rotation.
- Create slates and diagnostic text for missing/unresolved media and unsupported constructs.
- Track generated timelines in the Built Timelines panel.
- Save/load Built Timelines history via sidecar next to the saved AE project.
- Update an older build from the latest scan/match by duplicating the prior comp and modifying only the duplicate.
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:11 Main Interface
- 00:57 Add an XML/AAF
- 01:02 Select Search Folders
- 01:09 Scan and Match
- 01:31 Conflicts Panel (Missing Footage)
- 01:41 Build Composition
- 01:56 Inspect Composition
- 02:35 Missing Footage
- 02:36 Conflicts Panel (Conflicted Footage Resolution)
- 04:05 Inspecting Conflicted Footage
- 04:26 Recreate the Composition
- 04:44 Outro
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Setup Page
After Activation you are greeted by the Setup screen.
This screen is where you add your XML/AAF timeline, add your folders where the search and matching will happen, and build your timeline
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Settings Page
The settings screen is for you to check that FFmpeg, FFprob and mediainfo-cli are properly installed/found.
Those applications are used to find metadata and create thumbnails on compatible files in case of a conflict exist during matching. If a thumbnail is not generated, that probably means the ffmpeg version bundled with the script is not build with the codec the conflicted file was saved with. You can use your own versions of FFmpeg that might have more advanced codec support, and you can add the paths here.
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Add XML/AAF, Video Reference (optional) and Footage Folders
Add XML
You should start by dragging your XML/AAF from your file manager to the Drop area. You can also click the drop area and a file browser will open. The Sequence name, Frame Rate, Duration and Clips included in the timeline will be parsed and displayed bellow the Import are.
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Add reference
You can also drag and drop a reference video, that will appear at the top of your layer stack after building, to help you check the conform.
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Be Aware
Network folders may take more time to get scanned, and if conflicts are found, the thumbnail generation may take even more time.
Add Search Folders
Next drag one or multiple folders to the Footage Drop box. Any folder and it's sub-folders will be recursively scanned, during scan and match.
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Rules and Matching
Check the rules
Next, you can check the rules and enable or disable any of them. The rules are designed to work by default top to bottom so if one rule does not find any matches that extension will try the next down the line.
We recommend you keep the default rules
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Scan and Match
And now the most important part. Press the Scan and Match and let the extension do it's magic.
A scanning progress bar will show you the scanned/total files and as soon as it finished, matching will happen almost instantly.
The Green Ribbon at the bottom of the panel will inform you of found/missing/conflicted footage.
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Conflicts Page
Conflicts
In case of missing footage, the extension will show you the name, time-code, and original path of the missing footage, and will allow you to browse anywhere to hand-pick the file.
If conflicted footage is found, meaning footage with the same name and time-code as the one in the XML/AFF is found in more than one places, you will get a thumbnail of the found footage, and their name, time-code and location in your folders, so you can select which one is correct, or browse if none of it is correct.
We do our best with the matching rule set but different editing software has different exporting options that might trigger errors or false positives, that is why in case of any ambiguity, we let the user decide what to do, instead of force a wrong matching.
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Build and Update
Build the Timeline
After you have done the matching, with or without conflicts and missing footage, you are able to build the timeline in a composition.
Any effect that cannot be recognized and parsed correctly will have a text that has details to help the user reconstruct it. Missing footage will be re[;aced by a solid with detailed text.
Always check, with a reference video, for scaling, time-remapping, and repositioning of the footage, and also check the generated Composition settings, for size and frame rate mismatching, since those will derive from the XML and may not be correct for compositing.
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Update the timeline
If you know that later down the line, missing or conflicted footage will be deliver, or even if you get a new version of a grade, you can access the Timelines tab and save a sidecar file next to your saved project, using the Save History button.This will allow you to add new footage folders to the Setup Tab, re-run Scan and Match, and use the Timeline's Update from latest match button, to create a copy of the latest timeline, and replace missing, conflicted or newer footage.We suggest you remove any previous folders from the Setup tab, and only add the new footage folders. New and replaced footage will be shown in the timeline with a distinct color label, and of course your original timeline will still be available.
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Tech Details:
How it works
XML2AE is split between a CEP panel and an After Effects ExtendScript host bridge.
The CEP/Node side owns pure and filesystem-heavy work:
- XML parsing.
- Folder scanning and metadata indexing.
- Image sequence grouping.
- Matching and conflict detection.
- Thumbnail extraction via ffmpeg.
- Report generation.
- Build queue orchestration.
- Built Timelines session history and sidecar persistence.
The ExtendScript host side owns AE mutation only:
- Validate/import selected footage.
- Create comps, layers, solids, and text.
- Apply timing, transforms, opacity, crop, blend modes, retime data, markers, and diagnostics.
- Place the optional reference video.
- Clean up XML2AE-managed generated comps when requested.
This boundary is intentional: the host should not perform matching decisions or scan the catalog.
Discussions
Want to talk about it?
Head over to r/aescripts to chat with fellow users about this product.
Need Support?
Please open a support ticket to be connected directly with the author of this product
Version History
1.2.1 -
Aug 22, 2026
Compatibility
After Effects
2026, 2025
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