Skip to main content
m1jackson
m1jackson
Inspiring
October 31, 2022
Question

Automation Blocks - Interface

  • October 31, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 719 views

Working in Automation Blocks has been a blast. It's the first time I've actually been able to script anything of value. The tutorial videos are an absolute godsend to getting into it. I do have a couple of notes/requests for versions down the line. They range from the mundane to big requests, so take this as just a rambling.

 

  1. Input Tab - What is this? How can we use this to help build our tools. I don't see any documentation on the website for it.
  2. Multiple Selection - Shift/Control selecting multiple blocks is a big one. Script window management is a lot of work without it.
  3. Saving Script - Every time we "Save" a script it closes the twirled down directories that are opened. Can we save the current state so we don't have to go searching for the root scripts we're stealing bits from?
  4. Tracing Steps - I've been building scripts that are starting to get a bit long and so it might be nice to update the script interface where we are with a highlight so we can see where the script ultimately fails (I'm still terrible at this). It might help if there was a verbose mode in the console so I don't have to add "write to console" blocks to see how my variables are changing.
     
    And depending on things, they can change a lot.
  5. Failure Highlights - I know that there a block is highlighted when it fails, but if it's offscreen and I have to move to it, the highlight is lost. Also, if it's buried in a function, there is NO way to know where it fails.
  6. Expand/Collapse - Enable/Disable - It would be super helpful to have a way to quickly toggle these options. Right click and search for what you're looking for gets to be a lot when popping in and out of functions, or testing whether this block works or that one.
  7. Script Window Artboard - The artboard obviously should expand depending on where things are, but many times the area to the left and top is waaaayy too much. A Nuke style corner map might be helpful.
  8. Script Window Color - Can the color be changeable. White is probably good for some, but I'd also like to change it to something dark, or AE gray.
  9. Auto alignment - When there is a collapsed block with another below it and you open the top block, it would be fantastic to have the one below it move down rather than be covered, and when it's collapsed, it would move back up again kind of like your "pin" blocks.
  10.  Visual Function Connections - It would be great to either have a line that connected a function to it's source, or possibly just allow "Expanding" a function in place.

I'm sure that more will come up, but this is what's come up over the past two weeks or so. Totally digging it all! Also, if any of this is me just being ignorant, please feel free to say so. I'd rather learn something new.

 

Thanks for the great set of tools!

    2 replies

    Mathias Moehl
    Community Expert
    Mathias MoehlCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 23, 2022

    Update for question 1:

    the docs for the inputs panel (input block) are not online.

    Mathias Möhl - Developer of tools like BeatEdit and Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro and After Effects
    Mathias Moehl
    Community Expert
    Mathias MoehlCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 2, 2022

    Thank you for these detailed thoughts! These are some very good feature requests.

    Here my thoughts in detail:

    1. Inputs panel
    yes, it is an upcoming feature, which is not documented yet. It slipped into the last update by accident, but should already be working fine. Tip: In the category "User Interface & Comments" at the very top you find a new block "Input" and a dropdown in that block allows you choose one of many UI element types. As soon as you add this block to your code, in the inputs panel a corresponding input will show up. When you execute the script, the block will be replaced by the value, that the user entered in the inputs panel. This allows you to create scripts with user interfaces which are no popup dialogs, but instead are shown directly in the Automation Blocks UI as soon as you open a script.
    Here is an overview of all supported UI elements and what the blocks and their UI look like:

    2. Multiple Selections
    I see the benefit of this. However, the AB user interface is based on a project by google which is called "Blockly". Blockly does not support multiple selections and hence, it is nearly impossible for me to add this, as long as Blockly itself does not support this.
    3. keep library tree state :This is a very good feature request. I will keep it in mind for future updates.
    4/5 better visualize were the error happened: very good ideas and on my feature request list now. Centering the block where the error happened and maybe even expanding a collapsed function if it happend inside that function would be very helpful. Automation Blocks already highlights each block when it is executed (usually this is so fast that you only notice some flickering), but this can definitely be improved.
    6. maybe I fould add some keyboard shortcuts for that, on my feature request list now

    7. I don't really understand this point. Could you explain in more detail what NUKE's corner map is working.

    8. Interesting idea! Changing the BG color should be not too much work to add. I just wonder if the contrast to the blocks themselves is then still good enough or if this would mean we need to change the entire color theme.
    9. this is again something that should be added to the Blockly system and that would be very hard for me to add on top of it.

    10. I guess lines connecting the blocks to their function declaration blocks would become very messy soon. If you use a function on multiple places, you quickly have lines everywhere. What you can do already now is to right click on the block which executes the function and choose "highlight function definition". That will select and center the block which defines this function.

     

    Again thank you for all the feedback! Great to see that you use Automation Blocks so extensively that all these little improvement ideas show up 🙂

    Mathias Möhl - Developer of tools like BeatEdit and Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro and After Effects
    m1jackson
    m1jacksonAuthor
    Inspiring
    November 2, 2022

    1. This system might be interesting to have "Custom Input Dialog with Close Options" Inputs show up in Inputs so they can be used interchangeably, akin to how Essential Graphics.

     

    4/5. "Automation Blocks already highlights each block when it is executed (usually this is so fast that you only notice some flickering), but this can definitely be improved."

    I guess what I'm looking for is an ability to manually step thru each block as it's working. This might get tedious after a bit, but as a mode that can be turned on/off, this might be helpful.

     

    7. This video shows what I was talking about, but since this is not a function of the Blockly system, it's probably not possible. I'm sure the Foundry spent a lot of time on this.

    https://youtu.be/_PT-AwmgYCk?t=57

     

    10. As an Nuke user will experience from time to time, node based systems turn into rat nests if they're not vigilant with comp management. I do get what you're saying though.

    Mathias Moehl
    Community Expert
    Mathias MoehlCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 3, 2022

    Oh, these corner maps look very handy in deed! Sounds like a great feature request for Blockly 🙂

     

    concerning 4/5 what you effectively are looking for is a debugger, which allows to

    - execute a code step by step or stop at certain blocks
    - alllows to see the values of all variables while stepping though the code

    I think there exists some debugger project for Blockly, so this might be something to consider for future versions. But the would definitely be a big project, so it won't happen soon.

    Mathias Möhl - Developer of tools like BeatEdit and Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro and After Effects
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices