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ericmlevy
Inspiring
September 4, 2025
Answered

AE SDK: “Layers” inside of a plugin

  • September 4, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 154 views

This is definitely a noob question, and I am STUCK with my plugin development. Here's the very basic idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

 

- Layer 1: Keyed/Roto'ed footage

- Apply plugin

- It's as if Layer 1 is duplicated, and the 'back' layer has a Gaussian blur on it.

 

How do you do that in an AE plugin? I think glow plugins are like this. You're not really affecting the input footage-- that stays as is, but you are affecting a copy of that footage and then comping it over/under it. 😬 Thanks!

Correct answer ericmlevy

The answer from my AI Overlord:


Perfect! The plugin now uses PF_Xfer_IN_FRONT which is the correct transfer mode for normal "over" compositing in After
Effects.

Key changes made:

Changed from PF_Xfer_COPY (which just replaces) to PF_Xfer_IN_FRONT (normal layer composite)
Using the SDK's transfer_rect function with proper parameters
Applied to all bit depths (8/16/32-bit)"

 

1 reply

E
ericmlevyAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
September 5, 2025

The answer from my AI Overlord:


Perfect! The plugin now uses PF_Xfer_IN_FRONT which is the correct transfer mode for normal "over" compositing in After
Effects.

Key changes made:

Changed from PF_Xfer_COPY (which just replaces) to PF_Xfer_IN_FRONT (normal layer composite)
Using the SDK's transfer_rect function with proper parameters
Applied to all bit depths (8/16/32-bit)"

 

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