AFTER EFFECTS WISHLIST

This is more of a change in AE's behavior than a feature request:

When working on a mask layer, with the pen tool selected, you can currently CMD-drag to select multiple points.  This is very useful.

However, I often work on a mask on a separate layer tied to footage via an alpha matte  (Also, I'll often simply disable the roto layer while I'm working on it for the sake of speed.  That way I can see the roto mask and the underlying footage).  As a result I often manipulate mask points with layer visibility turned off but that layer selected in the timeline. 

In this state, the CMD-Drag functionality doesn't work any more.  Instead AE thinks I'm trying to move the underlying layer.  I'd appreciate it if CMD drag with the pen tool selected would select multiple mask points on the selected layer whether or not the layer is visible.

Cheers,

Ari

How about smarter (or user controllable) truncation of long file names in the project window.

Here's an example. Which clip is which?

This is such a small thing I'm almost embarrased to post it here Anyway, I just did a huge grid of images in which I had to replace something like 90 layers on the timeline. I selected the layer on the timeline and alt-dragged a replacement for it from the project windows. But here's the problem, sometimes I forget to select the target layer first on the timeline. I naturally realize this only after I have already dragged my replacement to the timeline and the only option is now to move the mouse back to the project window, return to the timeline, select the layer, go back to the project window and drag again. It's not a big deal but when that happens, it really breaks the nice sense of workflow that I'm having and when it happens in a project with tens or hundreds of steps it my old carpal tunnel syndrome starts reminding of itself.

So the bottom-line is:

Could you please make the drag and replace function work so that you don't have to select a target layer first but when you drag and hold alt AE determines the target layer automatically from the cursor position?

Hi, How about adding a lens de-focus/focus

effect

like the Canon ad at the bottom of this page: http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=871742

Cheers

This is just a small workflow improvement, but it would make my life a bit easier:

When creating a text layer with the text tool, it would be nice to have the option to make the text layer start from the current CTI-position, instead of the beginning of the comp.

It's certainly no big deal, but especially with long and complicated kinetic text animations it would make sure that the text layer doesn't show up earlier than wanted.

This should of course only be a checkbox somewhere, not the default behaviour.

it would be awesome if all warning/error/general confirmation popups came to the primary display when in a dual monitor system. Once I have a panel on the secondary monitor, all the popups land there, which don't always get my attention.

This is something minor, but how many times have you changed, say a photoshop file then flipped back to After Effects and it hasn't updated. Rather than go in the timeline and have to "reveal layer in project" then refresh in project window it would be nice to do in the timeline. Minor I know, but when you find yourself doing this over and over every second saved is appreciated.

The plug-in interface needs major reworking. It was fine when all plug-in were just a few knobs and sliders. But modern plug-ins like Particular 2 and MoType have settings that are pages and pages long. How about an GUI API for plug-in developers?

Plug-ins like Magic Bullet Looks, Invigorator, and the upcoming Video Copilot Optical Flares all use custom interfaces that would be impossible to replicate using AE's long column interface.

It would be great if you gave plug-in developers the ability to write to a common UI.

Improvement of how AE deals with .exr files. EXR is such a great format for bringing in multiple channeled 3D projects into comp programs, but forget actually working with it in AE. Nuke deals with .exr files fast, with no issues, but while it is great that after effects can read them - on a HD project using exr files is like watching cement cure - SSSSLLLLLLOOOOOOOOW.

Almost unworkeable, which is too bad as most companies probably need this feature to work well.

Also it would be great if After Effects ever takes the bold plunge and becomes a true 3D comp program. 2.5D works to a point, but it would be great to be able to have true 3D space to play around with. Better 3D camera controls would be nice too.

After Effects is a wonderful program, but there is definitely room for improvement particularly in relation to 3D.

I have always always wanted to have an output to video from the composition window. The reason for this is to align different matts and also when I distorting images that I'm going to use as projections you need some kind of output to know what is happening. I do understand that it would only play still frames or rendered sequences in ram but this would be fine. Oh the time it would save me as at present I have to make a small distortion the render it out as a movie or still and then project it calculate how far off it is and repeat again and again.