Duplicating comps without affecting the original?

[Jacob Roth]

Duplicate the pre-comp in the project window, not the timeline.

[Walter Soyka]

Check out Brennan Chapman’s True Comp Duplicator script [link].

You can do this manually, but it’s several steps. First, Save As… and choose a different name for your AEP. Next, select the comp you want to duplicate and reduce the project (File > Reduce project or File > Dependencies > Reduce project, depending on your version of Ae). Save the reduced project. Re-open your original project and import the reduced project once for every duplicate you want.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

[Jasford Muldoon]

I tried that and it still didnt work even though I also heard that was a fix for this, hmm not sure but thanks man

[Jasford Muldoon]

This is the best method thank you! We really need Adobe to give us a easier built-in method of doing this, I’m surprised they have not sorted it out. Thank you Walter.

[Jasford Muldoon]

For some reason there is no duplicate selected button?

I watched as tutorial on how to use this script but its not there for m any solutions?

[Walter Soyka]

Have you tried resizing the script’s window? It might be cutting off the button you need.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

[Jasford Muldoon]

I didnt know that changing the name of the comp would affect anything, I tried duping it in the project panel and that didnt work however I did not rename it, Ill have to try that out thanks for the advice

[Walter Soyka]

[Jasford Muldoon] ” didnt know that changing the name of the comp would affect anything, I tried duping it in the project panel and that didnt work however I did not rename it, Ill have to try that out thanks for the advice
“

Renaming it won’t affect anything directly, but it will make it easier to distinguish between the two comps.

But let me back up for a moment and go over a few things.

When you duplicate a precomposed layer in the timeline panel, you’re just making another copy of the layer. It still refers to the same source as the original (the composition in the timeline).

When you duplicate a composition in the project panel, you’re making a new source that you can use in your other comps. However, if your comp contains other precomps within in, duplicating the comp will not duplicate the entire tree. A quick example: let’s say we have a comp named COMP 1, and that comp contains two additional precomps within it called PRECOMP A and PRECOMP B. If you duplicate COMP 1, you’ll end up with COMP 1 and COMP 2, but both of those precomps will refer to the same copies of PRECOMP A and PRECOMP B. If you make a change in PRECOMP A, that change will roll forward into COMP 1 and COMP 2. To work around this, you’d have to ALSO duplicate PRECOMP A (giving you PRECOMP A2), then update COMP 2 to use PRECOMP A2 instead of PRECOMP A.

This maze of dependencies is what the True Comp Duplicator script (or the project reduction technique) I shared above handles for you. It makes independent duplicates of every level of the dependency tree, so you can change anything referred to by PRECOMP 2 without affecting PRECOMP 1.

This sounds great, but sometimes you actually want to reuse precomps; for example, for a common element across multiple comps where you want one change to ripple across your entire project.

So, the question of “duplicating comps without affecting the original” is maybe a little more complex than it seems at first glance, and the method you’d need to use really depends on the construction of the comp itself as well as your specific goals for the duplication.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

[John Cuevas]

And that long explanation from Walter is why True Comp Duplicator rules!

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
ThinkCK

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[Jasford Muldoon]

Very well said and yes its true, the pre comps within my main comp that I am wanting to duplicate are altered on both comps and you have just explained why. Its great to now understand how this all works, Im still struggling with this though and I will explain why
So as you see in this image I have a picture that is animated onto the screen with a watercolour effectw hich consists of many pre comps..

all i am trying to do is add an other image but on the left hand side and have it come onto the screen in the same animation, but to appear later on, when I try to duplicate the comp I cant have both pictures on the same screen as they are separate comps. I then tried to duplicate the specific pre comps but the issue is, is that the effect is over on part of the screen and to then duplicate the pre comps doesn’t work in this instance as I need the watercolour effect to happen twice at different times however it cannot, it happens once and then doesn’t work when you put the duplicated effect over the original if you understand? There is so many layers to trying to explain this its a headache to try and word it hahaha Im sorry for my awful explaining man