• Adobe After Effects Expressions

  Control AV layer Blend Modes from scriptUI

  Posted by Scott Reed on September 17, 2020 at 5:06 am

  I’ve been searching all day for an answer to this but I can’t seem to find one, which leads me to believe my situation is really unique or there just isn’t a way to do this.

  I frequently am rendering out anatomical still shots from Maya, and compositing the .EXR files in AE. The (relatively) new .EXR importer automation is great, gets me all the layers separated easy peasy. The problem is after that. I’m often working with at least 20 separate, non-sequential still shots at once, and going through and setting each render layer blending mode for each .exr is effing tedious. For organizational purposes, putting all the layers in the top comp and selecting all of them there is a no go, as I would end up going through about 120 layers on average, setting them, and then having to figure out which ones go where after that.

   

  I can automate setting the opacity, layer styles, effects, etc based on search terms and layer names (ie: all “diffuse_direct” layers get 70% opacity), but I can’t say, set all those to “screen” or “soft light” etc without doing it manually.

  Best solution I have is to search and select certain layers with a button press in a panel, then manually change all the selected to the desired blending mode, but I would like to just have it do all that for me with a single button press.

  Is that even possible? Is there a setValue type function that can access that?

   

  Thanks.

   

   

  Scott Reed replied 5 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Andrei Popa

  September 17, 2020 at 6:12 am

  app.project.activeItem.selectedLayers[0].blendingMode = BlendingMode.ADD;

  List of available values. You can use either the text OR the number.

  BlendingMode.ADD – 5220

  BlendingMode.ALPHA_ADD – 5244

  BlendingMode.CLASSIC_COLOR_BURN – 5219

  BlendingMode.CLASSIC_COLOR_DODGE – 5225

  BlendingMode.CLASSIC_DIFFERENCE – 5234

  BlendingMode.COLOR – 5238

  BlendingMode.COLOR_BURN – 5218

  BlendingMode.COLOR_DODGE – 5224

  BlendingMode.DANCING_DISSOLVE – 5214

  BlendingMode.DARKEN – 5215

  BlendingMode.DARKER_COLOR – 5247

  BlendingMode.DIFFERENCE – 5233

  BlendingMode.DISSOLVE – 5213

  BlendingMode.DIVIDE – 5249

  BlendingMode.EXCLUSION – 5235

  BlendingMode.HARD_LIGHT – 5228

  BlendingMode.HARD_MIX – 5232

  BlendingMode.HUE – 5236

  BlendingMode.LIGHTEN – 5221

  BlendingMode.LIGHTER_COLOR – 5246

  BlendingMode.LINEAR_BURN – 5217

  BlendingMode.LINEAR_DODGE – 5223

  BlendingMode.LINEAR_LIGHT – 5229

  BlendingMode.LUMINESCENT_PREMUL – 5245

  BlendingMode.LUMINOSITY – 5239

  BlendingMode.MULTIPLY – 5216

  BlendingMode.NORMAL – 5212

  BlendingMode.OVERLAY – 5226

  BlendingMode.PIN_LIGHT – 5231

  BlendingMode.SATURATION – 5237

  BlendingMode.SCREEN – 5222

  BlendingMode.SUBTRACT – 5248

  BlendingMode.SILHOUETE_ALPHA – 5242

  BlendingMode.SILHOUETTE_LUMA – 5243

  BlendingMode.STENCIL_ALPHA – 5240

  BlendingMode.SOFT_LIGHT – 5227

  BlendingMode.STENCIL_LUMA – 5241

  BlendingMode.SUBTRACT – 5248

  BlendingMode.VIVID_LIGHT – 5230

  By now you may think I am a wizard :D. Actually, I use this document a lot. Just go in, search blending mode. I, however, came up with the number values with my own method. So I am half a wizard.

  Take care!
• 

  Scott Reed

  September 17, 2020 at 5:15 pm

  Ah thank you! I’ll give it a try. I just couldn’t find the right syntax or method to set the blending modes. I’ve got access to a bunch of the scripting documents (including the one you shared), I must have been searching the wrong terms haha.

  Thanks again! I’ll let you know if this does what I need!

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