Accessing PSD layer on import through AE scripting
by Patrick Macdonald
on
Jul 30, 2009 at 11:09:13 am
I'm trying to write a script that automatically replaces a source file with a new source PSD file and chooses a specific layer. I can't see any reference to accessing the layer list in the AE scripting documentation. Is this something that is unsupported?
Re: Accessing PSD layer on import through AE scripting by Patrick Macdonald on Jul 30, 2009 at 2:40:29 pm
Thanks for your reply, but the problem is that the compositions have already been created using the PS files but with the layers merged. SO updating the file has no effect. What I need is to automatically run through all the frames, and reload the file, but select a specific layer to load.
On a related note, how do traditional animators usually work with AE. If you animate on twos, do you save each frame with the actual frame number (ie 1, 3, 5, etc) and then adjust the duration to 2 frames (resulting in a nun-sequenced import in AE). Or do you import a numerically sequential sequence of frames(imported as a sequence) with a duration of 2 and then manually copy as required for still sections that require boil? Are there any resources online that cover suitable workflows for working with AE and traditional animation workflows?
Re: Accessing PSD layer on import through AE scripting by Dave LaRonde on Jul 30, 2009 at 2:48:03 pm
[Patrick Macdonald]"If you animate on twos, do you save each frame with the actual frame number (ie 1, 3, 5, etc) and then adjust the duration to 2 frames (resulting in a nun-sequenced import in AE)."
An easy way to animate on 2's is to work at half the frame rate.
Considering that 23.976/2=11.988 and 29.97/2=14.985 and 25/2=12.5, the arithmetic gets sticky... but AE can handle it.
You can always nest the comp containing your completed on-2 work into a comp of the proper frame rate when render time comes. Then if you render image sequences, you'll get a proper number of frames at the traditional frame rate, but the on-2 look will remain.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: Accessing PSD layer on import through AE scripting by Patrick Macdonald on Jul 30, 2009 at 2:51:22 pm
Hah, I should have given a bit more detail... the sequences aren't STRICTLY on two's... where there's more action it jumps to 24 fps, so you would still have to do the manual work of choosing which frames are 1 and 2 frames long, and also copy-pasting groups of frames for static periods of boil...
I'm not from a traditional background, so I am curious to hear how the pros setup their pipeline (although I assume they use dedicated software rather than AE!)
Re: Accessing PSD layer on import through AE scripting by Dave LaRonde on Jul 31, 2009 at 2:52:56 pm
[Patrick Macdonald]"...the sequences aren't STRICTLY on two's... where there's more action it jumps to 24 fps, so you would still have to do the manual work of choosing which frames are 1 and 2 frames long..."
Aha. There's nothing like making the job tougher on yourself than it has to be, I suppose.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: Accessing PSD layer on import through AE scripting by Dalton McPhee on Sep 10, 2009 at 1:44:15 pm
Hi Patrick, did you ever find a way to reference Photoshop/Illustrator layers from an AE script? I can't find any way to replace footage using a script that selects a specific layer in a file. FootageItem/AVItem etc seem to have no methods or properties relating to this.
As to your comment about traditional animation, I number my files sequentially (1,2,3), make them all 2 frames long in the composition, and then sequence them. If I need to do any interpolation in After Effects, I have an expression that forces the properties to only update every other frame, simulating two's.
