can AE instance effects?

[Walter Soyka]

[christian kim] “basically, if i have few layers where i want to have same effects applied to. can i [instance] an effect? so when i change that effect, the change gets applied to other [instanced] effects?”

When I need to do something like this, I just pick whip the dependent parameters to a single master set.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
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[David Johnson]

One of the best things about AE is there’s a bunch of ways to do most things so you can choose the approach that’s best for different situations … there’s Walter’s way (just wanted to say “Walter’s way”), as well as a few other options…

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/202/887131
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/202/887132

[Christian Kim]

Thanks Walter, David.

I have thought of both methods, pickwhipping and adjustment layers.

however, i found there are times when i really wish i could just copy an effect to other layers while maintaining its instanced relationship. so i could modify one effect and others will be modified as well.

like in 3ds max (for anyone who uses it), you can copy modifiers from one object to others as either a copy or an instance. when instanced, modification made to one instance gets applied to all others.

which gives users ability to mix and match for example.

but it seems there is no “built in” way of doing so in AE.

again thanks for your replies : )

[David Johnson]

I figured you might be looking for a more literal way of “instancing’, but unless something like that has been implemented in CS5 and I haven’t heard about it, AE doesn’t have that capability. Perhaps it would be a good feature request for Adobe … might be a little difficult to manage in the typical AE workflow, but worth a shot.

[Michael Szalapski]

A node-based compositor vs. a layers based compositor. A difference emerges!
I think it would be possible in a future version of AE though… I just think you’d have to do without keyframes on any parameter. Well, you could have keyframes, but they would be at the same time for all layers effected.

I dunno, I just pickwhip.

Here’s the feature request page.

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

[Christian Kim]

thank you David, Michael for your input.

its good to hear from other experts that its not possible as of yet, then i can focus on coming up with workaround or requesting : )

i totally understand that it is difference between node based vs layer based.

regarding keyframes, you guys are right, as keyframes directly control the parameters… hmm i guess i will have to think this through.

well anyway, for a quick fix + workaround, i was hoping [presets] could bridge the gap.

like forexample, i apply a curve effect, change parameters, save to preset. then on other curve effects, i apply the [preset], then the second curve effect remembers what preset its “linked” to, then when the preset is modified, it updates it self to the preset.

however, currecntly presets are one off thing which just overrides the parameters, but do not retain the relationship.

maybye really easy way around this is to implement some kind of [sticky preset], where when preset is modified, the effects update them selves. easy fix really (for simplicity, keyframe has to be instanced as well)

anyway, thank you all for your input, as i said, just learning that AE does not have built in instancing alone was very beneficial!

[Andrew Jehan]

There are certain situations in which none of the options suggested here will help.

The pick-whip method sounds promising for my situation (I want many instances of an effect that employs a random seed so an adjustment layer won’t work). Aside from the fact that there are about 50 properties (when I twirl down all the sub-categories of properties) that I have to pick-whip one-by-one, there are certain properties of the effect that can’t be pick-whipped at all.

Here’s a screen shot. I can’t pick-whip properties such as “trigger mode”, “enable block damage/shift/shake/flicker” (oddly since other checkbox properties CAN be pick-whipped).

There seems to be no solution here.

[Henk van der Velden]

Hey Christian,

this feature does exist (maybe it’s been added in the years) but it’s called: ‘Copy with Property Links’ or ‘Copy with Relative Property Links’.

Select an effect and go to Edit > Copy with Property Links or Copy with Relative Property Links

 

From: https://blog.yarsalabs.com/copy-options-in-after-effects/#:~:text=The%20major%20difference%20between%20Copy,to%20link%20the%20original%20layer.

The major difference between Copy with Property Links and Copy with Relative Property Links is the dynamic ability to link the original layer. When we use Copy with Property Links to copy the drop-shadow effect (or any other property) of Layer 1 of Composition 1 and paste it onto Layer 2 of Composition 2, it will act as an absolute link to Layer 1 of Composition 1. But, when we use Copy with Relative Property Links to copy the drop-shadow effect of Layer 1 of Composition 1 and paste it onto Layer 2 of Composition 2, it will direct or link to Layer 1 of Composition 2.

In short,

The Copy option duplicates layers or assets for individual purposes. The Copy with Property Links option links directly to the original property. And the Copy with Relative Property Links option maintains a link to the original property with a relative offset. All features are useful in different situations, depending on your specific needs.

blog.yarsalabs.com

What are the Copy Options in After Effects? - Yarsa DevBlog

After Effects allows us to copy and duplicate layers, and comps and use them statically or dynamically. The regular copy allows us to copy statically, while the other two: Copy with Property Links and Copy with Relative Property Links, allow … Continue reading