aerender does not render if a charater animator file is in the project files

[SiLi]

I was trying to render my composition using aerender earlier, but encountered some errors. In the actual project I am trying to render it's "aerender Error: After Effects error: layer does not have a source."

So I did some testing, and it seems even just with a very simple project, that only contains one composition, as soon as there's an adobe character animator file (.chproj) in the project files - even if it's not being actively used in the composition - the render will not work:
07:05:17 ~:fire: aerender -project /Users/user/Desktop/test.aep
aerender version 25.1x68
PROGRESS: Launching After Effects...
07:05:37 ~:fire:
(Fails without error)

After deleting the .chproj (not actively being used in the comp) from the project files:
07:05:37 ~:fire: aerender -project /Users/user/Desktop/test.aep
aerender version 25.1x68
PROGRESS: Launching After Effects...
PROGRESS: 13.02.2025 19:05:47 CET: Starting composition “test”.
....
PROGRESS: 13.02.2025 19:05:47 CET: Finished composition “test”.

Replacing the character animator dynamic link with a pre-rendered video file works of course, but you still have to remove the actual character animator project file from your AE project.

AE Version: Version 25.1.0 (Build 68)
Plattform and OS version: Macbook Apple M4 Max, 15.3 (24D60)
Steps to repro:
1. Create a new AE project
2. Create a new composition
3. Add a simple square shape layer and animate the position using keyframes
4. Add any kind of .chproj file to the AE project files (even without adding the file to the comp)
5. Add the comp to the render queue
6. Save project
7. Use aerender in the commandline to render the project

Expected: At least the project should render when having .chproj files in the project files when they're not being used in the comp that's being rendered, but even better would be if aerender could render compositions actually using character animator files.
Actual: Aerender will not render the project and fail without any errors.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @SiLi,

Thanks for the note and the question. While we are awaiting an expert response from the team, I hope the community can help you troubleshoot. Has this workflow worked in the past with Character Animator files? Let us know.

Thanks,
Kevin

[SiLi]

Hi @Kevin-Monahan 

Thanks! I have mostly rendered projects that include Character Animator files straight from AE itself. In the past, I have used Aerender, but that was before Character Animator was a thing. But now that we have some bigger projects involving multiple characters to work on, I'd love to be able to use Aerender to save some resources.

Best,

SiLi

[MakiAoki]

Hi SiLi, 
Thank you very much for reporting this issue, I will be investigating my side.

[MakiAoki]

I could reproduce this issue with AE 2025, and reported a bug.   Thank you,

[SiLi]

Thank you @MakiAoki 

This would greatly improve my workflow!