okay make fun of me all you like…

[John Dickinson]

http:www.motionscript.com

JD

John Dickinson
Motionworks
http://www.motionworks.com.au

[Deadittex]

I don’t necisarally feel bad… but I do … cause I need to know… because I do… it’s like an enigma, I cannot sleep without knowing … al night all I hear are chanting cvoices from the shaodws of my room saying … “Use an expression, dummy…”

[Justin Productions]

Okay now I’m laughing 😛

Justin Productions
Tangerin01@hotmail.com
Adobe After Effects 6.0 Professional

[Mike Clasby]

From out of the Shadows to a computer near you…

Here’s a basic expression tut from Abobe:

“Using music to animate layers”

https://studio.adobe.com/us/tips/tip.jsp?p=1&id=396&xml=aft6audio

If the link is no good for you go here and Search:

https://www.adobe.com/studio/main.html

Click tutorials and troubleshooting info, and use these search terms:

After effects music text

The voices from the shadows will undoubtedly move onto a new subject, it’s not easy to lose Dummy-status, but at least you’ll know some basic expression stuff and maybe you can get some sleep.

[Michael Munkittrick]

No need to poke fun at all. Expressions are pretty serious business and the complete grasp of the concept, while mastered by few is still very much in its infancy with respect to After Effects.

The first thing that needs to be understood is that AE scripting isn’t actually specialized code and in fact can be pretty well explained by anyone who has some in depth knowledge of Java. The most complete resource by far is the web as there are far too many still incomprehendable uses for expressions and they will always make modifications…so unlike women, Java is complex (Just kidding ladies).

The first and most advisable option wouldbe to review the tutorials here at the COW as the authors are all very well versed in communicating ideas to the masses in a pretty easy to understand way. As a matter of further comprehension of the scripting capabilities of AE, you really need to look at each idea as it presents itself. The best, or at least the most efficient means of grasping AE scripting is real-world useage that you can directly place into a project that you construct yourself. Above all, understand that there is no “bible” for Java as it relates to AE as of yet, and while there are books titled “Java bibles” out there, they are all more numbers and confusion than my poor old mind can handle.

Keep plugging away.

PS – Forgive the mistypes as I’m on a broken keyboard tonight.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Steve Roberts]

Sorry, just checking:

Expressions are based on Javascript, yes?
… while AE’s scripting is based on Java?

Steve
(having Fortran flashbacks)

[Colin Braley]

Both scripting and expressions are based on javascript. Java is a whole separate language used for much different tasks than javascript.
~colin

[Michael Munkittrick]

I’m sorry guy, I didn’t mean to be confusing. “Javascript” is the specific code used to communicate with AE whereas “Java” is a programming environment. I sometimes forget that the two terms aren’t interchangable.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Mike Clasby]

Java maybe the answer. Too much java, too much caffeine = sleepless nights and voices from the shadows.

Lay off the java.

[Dex Craig]

Hey, I’ve been using AfterEffects since it was made by Cosa and I still can’t quite wrap my brain around expressions. (Though they’re fairly new in the grand scheme of the program.) That said, my answer was to marry a professional programmer who can handle all my scripting needs.

Now, I can just sit here and say, “honey, I need a script to do a subtle edge blur in a chroma key. Can you whip one out for me?” Soon enough, there it is.

– Dex