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creating a preset
hey all,
I’m trying to save an after effects preset but I can’t beacause creating the effect included several precomposes and adjustment layers (its a “star wars” force lightning effect) and I want to save the whole effect as an .ffx so I dont have to spend 15 or 20 min to create it every time i need it but it doesnt work beacuse I am supposed to select the effect from the effects project window but with the effects are all in adjustment layers or precomps what do I do to save it as an .ffx?
Thanks -
2 Replies
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i believe that you can only create an effect preset from effects and keyframes/settings from a single layer. that preset can then be applied to a single layer (well, you can apply it to multiple layers, but each layer will have the same effects/settings that were contained in the preset).
if you need to have a ‘preset’ that created new layers and applies various effects to those layers and generates precomps and such, you will want to learn about scripting in ae. scripting is essentially writting a java script that executes the creation of layers, comps, precomps and with most of the settings and effects that are available in ae.
once created, you can access the script from file>scripts>run script (or, if you place the script in ae’s script folder, choose it from the list).
if you don’t already know some java, writing and debugging a complicated script may not save you much time, but you can get help in the ae expressions forum.
it may be easier to save presets for varous steps and apply them as needed. so if your ‘effect’ needed a dozen different effects, with numerous effect settings and keyframes on 5 different layers/precomps, you would need 5 different effect/animation presets to apply as you created the 5 layers/precomps that need those effects and settings.
it’s not the easy one step method you weere hoping for, but it should save you some time… (also, if you do get into scripting, your script can apply the presets, saving you a lot of coding for all the effects, settings and keyframes that would need to be written)
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
thanks. I was afraid of ghat. O well, I’ll just do what I have to do I’m not gonna touch scripting. Thanks for your help!
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