• Adobe After Effects Expressions

  “Clicking” a button in the Effects panel with ExtendScript? ( The Apply button in Sound Keys )

  Posted by Martin Bollerup on February 13, 2013 at 10:43 pm

  Hello there,

  I’ve run my head against a clearly invisible wall trying to automate a process 100% with ExtendScript.

  The setup is CS6 + Sound Keys plugin.

  The automated workflow should be like:

  • Open AE-project
  • Import audio and copy to composition
  • In the composition there is an Adjustment layer with the effect Sound Keys. Assign the Sound Keys property “Audio Layer” to the imported audio
  • Click Apply in the Effects Panel
  • Do some more stuff
  • Render

  Everything is possible but clicking that button (or rather simulating it)!

  When probing the Sound Keys properties of the Adjustment Layer I get the following log:

  Probing properties of ”Sound Keys"
1: Audio Layer = 8
2: Channel = 3
3: Spectrum Adjustment[object Property]
4: Scale = 1
5: Q (smoothness) = 0.10000610351562
6: Sub Base = 1
7: Base = 1
8: Mid = 1
9: Treble = 1
10: [object Property]
11: Range 1[object Property]
12: Active = 1
13: Type = 1
14: Range 1 Corner 1[object Property]
15: Range 1 Corner 2[object Property]
16: Falloff = 1
17: Falloff Time [sec] = 0.5
18: Output Min/Max = 6
19: Min = 70
20: Max = 120
21: Output 1 = 86.7382811341111
22: [object Property]
23: Range 2[object Property]
24: Active = 0
25: Type = 1
26: Range 2 Corner 1[object Property]
27: Range 2 Corner 2[object Property]
28: Falloff = 1
29: Falloff Time [sec] = 0.5
30: Output Min/Max = 1
31: Min = 0
32: Max = 100
33: Output 2 = 0
34: [object Property]
35: Range 3[object Property]
36: Active = 0
37: Type = 1
38: Range 3 Corner 1[object Property]
39: Range 3 Corner 2[object Property]
40: Falloff = 1
41: Falloff Time [sec] = 0.5
42: Output Min/Max = 1
43: Min = 0
44: Max = 100
45: Output 3 = 0
46: [object Property]
47: Use Comp fps = 1
48: Keyframes per Second = 10
49: Commands[object Property]


  The properties of the layer seems to be the same as the content in the Effects Panel – just without the “Apply” button – the missing soundKeysLayer.effect(“Sound Keys”).property(50);

  When trying to probe the Commands Property I get this log:

  EXCP: After Effects error:
Can not get or set a value from this
property (matchname is “tc Sound Keys-0049”).
This property’s propertyValueType is
PropertyValueType.NO_VALUE.
Probing properties of ”Commands"

  Is the any way to press this button using ExtendScript? Or using ExtendScript to start another script in any language that could press that button? Or the property “tc Sound Keys-0050”

  A way to toggle around different app panels clicking stuff would actually be quite handy 🙂

  Thanks,
  Martin

  

  Martin Bollerup replied 13 years, 3 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Dan Ebberts

  February 14, 2013 at 1:45 am

  I doubt that there’s any way to set the state of the button or trigger a click event for it from a script. I also can’t think of any other (non-script) way to do it.

  Dan
• 

  Martin Bollerup

  February 14, 2013 at 8:54 am

  I thought so…

  Is there any other way of getting the Audio Amplitude as a value through scripting?

  Martin

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