Skip to main content
DDecker
Participating Frequently
November 4, 2022
Open for Voting

Filename Access to Media Placeholders

  • November 4, 2022
  • 9 replies
  • 638 views

Having access to the filename of a placeholder in a MOGRT would be incredible! I have about 300 images that I'm using in a project and it's easy enough to drag and drop the image in the MOGRT but having to enter the filename of the asset that corresponds with each image is a pain. Another department is handling the images and I receive them with the title as the filename. If I could access the filename and use it as the sourcetext of another layer minus the extension it would save so much time! Please add this!

 

Thanks,

Dex

9 replies

DDecker
DDeckerAuthor
Participating Frequently
November 7, 2022

Thanks @JohnColombo17100380!

 

Just an update to this, in case anyone stumbles across this in future. I found a work around, not pretty, but it works. I've imported all the images into a comp and set their opacity to either 0 or 100 based on their index, tied to a slider value. 100 if equal to the slider value, 0 if not. I used the same slider to control the index value of the layer name from the image comp to pump into the sourcetext of a text layer, chopped off the extension and, boom, done. Exported it as a MOGRT and now I can select the image/name using a slider value. I included a text override layer as well, in case of typos in the filename. Not the prettiest way of going about it but it works and saved having to type out over 300 names and cut down on the chances of typos.

JohnColombo17100380
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 4, 2022

@RobShultz The Ideas section here on the forums is now the new home of feature requests, just as the Bugs section is the new home for bug reports. While Discussions is still primarily a user forum, the new sections are intended for us on the After Effects team to engage, offer assistance, and collaborate about what After Effects could look like in the future. Please do not direct anyone to UserVoice for requests any longer.

 

Cheers,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

JohnColombo17100380
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 4, 2022

Thanks for making this request, @DDecker! That's definitely something I could see as useful. @DaciaSaenz is on our team that oversees and improves the MoGrT workflow and might be aware of existing requests we've had for similar functionality.

 

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team

DDecker
DDeckerAuthor
Participating Frequently
November 4, 2022

Cool, cheers!

 

Dex

Mylenium
Legend
November 4, 2022

Nobody is trying to shoot down your ideas. It just seemed there would be a simpler, better way with already existing features.

 

Mylenium

DDecker
DDeckerAuthor
Participating Frequently
November 4, 2022

This section literally says 'Ideas' and has an option to upvote.

Also, in case you aren't aware.

https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911311-after-effects/filters/top

DDecker
DDeckerAuthor
Participating Frequently
November 4, 2022

It's a part of a 60 minute show that requires editing in line with video on screen, images display on screen with varying times. The images are a part of a lower third that transitions one to another. What you're suggested would be far more time consuming as AE is not designed for editing, AE and PP have no marker intergration for timing, and MORGTs are designed to bridge the gap between motion graphics and video editing. I'm simply suggesting a feature that would solve an issue I'm currently having in my workflow. Shooting it down before understanding my project isn't productive or helpful but thanks anyway.

 

Dex

Community Expert
November 4, 2022

This is a Users Group forum. If you'd like to ask Adobe to add something to their app you can submit it here: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/

Mylenium
Legend
November 4, 2022

Wouldn't it make more sense to replace them in the actual AE project by toggling proxies? I think you're making this unnecessarily complicated and using a less then ideal workflow. I'd simply create 1:1 proxies in a folder, then turn off proxy usage so AE loads the actual files once they have been replaced/ moved to the folder. That media replacement stuff is indeed way too clunky and certainly wasn't meant for this kind of use.

 

Mylenium