• Adobe After Effects Expressions

  replaceSource and Effects

  Posted by Joe Chiro on October 2, 2020 at 9:18 pm

  I have a layer with a static image (png) and an effect (Bulge) applied to the layer. What I’m trying to do is replace the static image with another image, but I still want the effect to apply to the new image. My script is pretty simple and looks like this:

  // Load the replacement image

  var importOptions = new ImportOptions(File(“D:/Dev/AfterEffects/Scripts/Assets/Test.png”));

  var newImage = app.project.importFile(importOptions);

  // Replace the layer content

  testAVLayer.replaceSource(newImage, true);

  When I execute the script, the image is replaced and I still see the effect attached to the layer in the AE UI, but the new image is no longer modified by the effect. As a sanity check, I added some code to examine the layer after the replaceSource call:

  var fxLength = testAVLayer.effect.numProperties;

  for(var i=1;i<=fxLength;i++){

  var curFx = testAVLayer.effect(i);

  alert(curFx.name);

  }

  This code indicates that the Bulge effect is still attached to the layer.

  I’m a programmer by trade but very much a beginner with AE, so hopefully I’m missing something obvious. Thanks in advance for any help!

  Joe Chiro replied 5 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Dan Ebberts

  October 2, 2020 at 10:38 pm

  I just tried your code and it works for me (the replacement image is still modified by the effect). I’m not sure what could be happening. Maybe a cache or video driver issue–not sure…
• 

  Joe Chiro

  October 3, 2020 at 4:05 pm

  Thank you for taking a look. I’m guessing it’s something interesting on the project side. If I figure out I will update my post. Thanks again!
• 

  Joe Chiro

  October 5, 2020 at 7:11 pm

  And…I was missing something obvious: the new png was a different size than the one it was replacing, so it landed outside of the area where the effect was applied. Once I moved it into the correct area, the effect was of course visible.

  Thanks again for taking a look at this…I likely would have spent a lot of time staring at the code instead of looking at the project and learning some more about AE!

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