[Paul Conigliaro]

The syntax for multiple OR conditions would need to be something like:

if(menu==1 || menu==4 || menu==7)

Your idea of using includes() is spot on. But you might have to add .value to your variable if it’s pointing to a control like a menu. So it might looks something like:

let arr = [1,4,7];

arr.includes(menu.value);

[Paul Conigliaro]

Dan,

I’m curious, what would this entail for an experienced coder? I’ve also been looking for a plugin like this for a while. It would be great to have custom controls similar to User Data in Cinema 4D.

[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

Unfortunately, primitive shapes can’t be copied/pasted since they are generated from dimensions, and aren’t really paths. You could get around this by creating your mask first, then pasting that into a shape-layer.

[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

What version of AE & Premiere are you using? The PARs changed in CS4. But since there’s no NTSC DV Widescreen Square Pixel preset, it makes it a little difficult.

After so fiddling, it looks like you’ll actually want 872×480 for a DV widescreen square pixel comp.

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

You may also want to look at the new CameraTracker plugin from The Foundry. It’s $250 for a full seat, or you can rent it for about $2/day.

Just make sure you have good track marks on the green screen!

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

You may want to talk directly with the place mastering the spot to tape to know whether they want a square- or non-square pixel file. My step-by-step workflow would be (assuming they want a non-square PAL file):

1.) Design and animate in PAL D1 Widescreen Square Pixel, keeping everything center-cut safe.
2.) Nest that comp in two separate comps, both PAL D1 (non-square pixel).
2A.) For one, keep the original comp scaled at 100% to create a full-frame 4×3.
2B.) For the other, scale the original comp to roughly 75% to create a letterboxed version.
3.) Render out all three. You now have a full-frame widescreen version, a center-cut 4×3 version, and a letterboxed version.

If the place mastering the spot for some reason wants a square pixel comp, just create that in step 2 instead. You could also render out your original widescreen version and import that instead of nesting comps.

SD broadcast is always 4×3, so the only reason for you full-frame widescreen render would be to create an anamorphic widescreen DVD for the client, or to have for posterity. But by starting with that format, it gives you greater flexibility in renders. And by having both center-cut and letterboxed versions, your client could go with whichever they want.

Sorry, I should have posted this in the first place.

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

Sorry. I meant to include the square pixels part. Yes, you’ll want to work in square pixels.

When you’re ready to render out, I would place your widescreen square-pixel comp inside a PAL 4×3 comp (with proper pixel-aspect-ratio) to make sure there’s no improper stretching of your material.

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

If I ever do anything that might be widescreen—ever—I work in a widescreen comp. Personally, what I would do is work in 720 or 1080 and render out to SD from there. This way it’s already in HD should it ever be needed.

I think you best bet, though, is to work in widescreen if you think it’s needed, but keep everything center-cut safe. Then render out cropped and/or letterboxed to PAL, depending on what they’ll prefer.

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

Have you tried manually editing the velocity curve on the graph editor? That could at least remove the paused motion on your eased 40 min. keyframe.

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]

[Paul Conigliaro]

The best piece of advice I can give you is to render out of AE uncompressed and use a separate compression program to encode your FLV, such as Adobe Media Encoder. This will give you the benefit of being able to do 2-pass encoding.

If you’re compressing with VBR, you’re setting a target average bit-rate. Some frames might spike, but that’s because they need the data to retain as much detail in the image as possible. This is compensated for by lower bit rates on frames with less detail and movement. Overall, the average bit rate over the entire clip will be roughly what you set it to. Stalling shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

But, like I said, use a separate compression program and you’ll have much more control over your encoding and a much better looking image.

–conigs
[Disclaimer: Sometimes I am an idiot and misinterpret people’s posts. I’m sorry.]