[Declan Smith]

I think this needs bumping. Same problem in CS6. This is a royal pain in the ****, particularly when you have a project that has the same named files, i.e I have hit the situation where multiple cameras have been used and have returned the same file names (as the internal counters have overlapped) but very different clips. Obviously the clips are stored in separate folders, but when PPro prompts for “Where is MVI_1234.MOV” there is simply not sufficient information to answer this question. Which one of the two clips was it?

It would be really helpful to at least be able to see the previous stored file name. When the clip goes offline the file path attribute gets blanked. This is a serious issue as far as I’m concerned and slows down the whole edit process.

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS6/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

This gets worse. I exported my entire project using the project manager, however, any assets that don’t appear in project browser but are in the project, don’t get copied. I don’t have much confidence in the asset management / consolidation so will work around by tracking stuff manually and working to a strict folder setup / workflow.

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS6/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

I had a similar type of project that I did based on https://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/building-a-grid-like-layout-using-basic-expressions/?search_index=4

I ended working entirely in after effects, however, with dynamic linking in CS6 you could import your AE project back into premiere

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

Hi,

I did try this, and whilst it is true that the project manager will copy these assets to a flat directory, the project manager doesn’t copy all the assets. For example, if you have any dynamic linked content, such as After Effects comps, these don’t get copied.

But that aside, the issue is one of knowing how to relink certain assets if they become unlinked, and particularly the titler does not seem to provide the basic information, i.e. where was the file and what was it called. If it becomes unlinked, for whatever reason, perhaps your media drive has changed etc, then clicking on the Logo Bitmap just yields a new dialog prompting you to choose a texture, with no clue as to what the asset was called. These assets also dont’ appear in the project browser.

The issue here is that you have no information to go on. Even when using the project manager, and I absolutely have the assets available, there is no way to show me which one is where. This is different than the normal case, because all other assets appear in the project browser which you can clearly get this kind of information. i.e. right click properties

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

You are almost there. Your file looks like it is loading, but the lookup you are performing is failing, hence the ‘not found’ message.

Assuming that your comp is called: comp1

Then your expression should read as below, and the text file (compdata.txt) should look something like this:

comp1=[“Here is my Text”]
comp2=[“And some more text”]

Note that my setup is a MAC so I can’t test the loading of the windows file.

$.evalFile("c:/compdata.txt");
try {
eval(thisComp.name)[0];
} catch (err) {
"not found";
}

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

Yep.
s=””+Math.floor(t);
while (s.length < 2) s=’0’+s;

Math.floor(t) will produce the lowest whole integer,
Math.ceil(t) will produce the highest whole integer.

Hope this helps

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

Add this to your script; (i’m assuming this is on a text source property)

s=””+t;
while (s.length < 2) s=’0’+s;

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

This is a very crude script, but would possibly achieve what you want (or at least a starter for 10). The script as it stands assumes that the layer you want to work on is at the top (layer 1). This should probably be changed to loop through all selected layers, I’ll leave that to you. The key part is the script looping through the length of your comp and dropping a keyframe every 3 keyframes. Note that the script as it stands will take account of any running expression when determining the value.

Hope this helps

// Set Keyframe Spacing here
var keyFrameSpacing=3;

app.beginUndoGroup("Bake Every Third Frame");

// Looks at activeComp
var comp=app.project.activeItem;
// Must be Layer 1 (at the top) - Change this to suit or loop through select layers.
var layer=comp.layer(1);

for (i=0;i<comp.duration;i=i+(keyFrameSpacing/comp.frameRate)) {
// Grab Current Value POST Expression (set to true if you want the value before any expressions)
bakeValue=layer.position.valueAtTime(i,false);
// Set New Value
layer.position.setValueAtTime(i,bakeValue);
}

app.endUndoGroup();


Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

You can use ExifTool. This is available for windows and mac. It’s command line only, but should provide what you are looking for:

https://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

E.G. on a 60D file you get loads of info (I have cut almost all of it out:
exiftool MVI_4952.MOV
ExifTool Version Number : 9.08
File Name : MVI_4952.MOV
Directory : .
File Size : 156 MB
File Modification Date/Time : 2012:10:13 15:14:58+01:00
File Access Date/Time : 2012:12:10 21:36:26+00:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2012:10:14 00:09:12+01:00
File Permissions : rwxrwxrwx
File Type : MOV
MIME Type : video/quicktime
Major Brand : Apple QuickTime (.MOV/QT)
Minor Version : 2007.9.0
Compatible Brands : qt , CAEP
Compressor Version : CanonAVC0005
Make : Canon
Camera Model Name : Canon EOS 60D
Orientation : Horizontal (normal)
Exposure Time : 1/50
F Number : 5.0
Exposure Program : Manual
Date/Time Original : 2012:10:13 15:14:28
Metering Mode : Center-weighted average
Focal Length : 105.0 mm
Focus Mode : Manual Focus (3)
Record Mode : Video
Canon Image Size : 1920×1080 Movie
Lens Type : Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Max Focal Length : 300 mm
Min Focal Length : 70 mm
Measured EV : 6.62
Canon Image Type : MVI:Canon EOS 60D
Canon Firmware Version : Firmware Version 1.1.0
Canon Model ID : EOS 60D
Frame Count : 722
Frame Rate : 25
Audio Bitrate : 1.54 Mbps
Video Codec : avc1

For a 7D you would run the same against the .THM file.

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”

[Declan Smith]

I’ve solved it. Not sure what I was doing wrong by after walking away and having a large strong coffee, the world righted itself. One of the other issues I was facing was not supply radians to Math.sin which gave me a bit of a headache as well.

The multiplier for time is 40 as I have two movements per second each of 20 degrees.

pangle=effect("PendulumSwing")("Angle");
mtime=time * 40;
if ( pangle >=-1 & pangle <=1 ) {
mtime;
} else {
Math.round((mtime)/20)*20;
}

Declan Smith
https://www.madpanic.tv
After Effects CS5.5/ FCS3 / Canon 7D / Canon XL2 / Reason / Cubase

“it’s either binary or it’s not”