Crash when Duplicating Layers v22.5.0

[thebigwick]

I found a reproducible crash in AFX CC 2022 - (no crash with CC 2021 and older.)

This happens with JavaScript expression engine - no crash with legacy ExtendScript engine.

I have a null layer with a shape layer parented to it.
The null layer has an expression in the Position property.
The expression looks at the position of the layer that is "index - 2" above it. (There are two null layers above, so the expression works.)

When I duplicate the null and shape layer together, then drag then to the bottom of the stack, all is normal.

If I repeat the process of duplicating the two layers and dragging them to the bottom of the stack, AFX will eventually crash after 60-100 layers are duplicated.

Tested on two different workstations with CC 2022, and crashes every time (the exact amount of layer duplicates before the crash can vary, but crashes usually before 100 layers.)

Does not crash when using Legacy ExtendScript expression engine, or with either engine in CC 2021 and older.

Link with a simple example of bug - cc 2022 AEP: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QGSAEExgrIxAQc-gxm2sEXg-VEpaq0hH/view?usp=sharing

Thanks.

[thebigwick]

Thank you for the quick response John.

Looking forward to a fix, as I have a project that uses this procedure and would really like to use JavaScript expression engine instead of legacy.

[JohnColombo]

Hi Adam,

Thank you for reporting this issue, and thank you for the detailed steps and example project. We are able to reproduce the crash you have reported and will be investigating potential fixes for a future version of After Effects.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team

[JohnColombo]

Hi all,

This issue has been fixed in After Effects 2023 (version 23.0) which is now available in the Creative Cloud app. You should no longer see a crash when duplicating layers referencing other layers via expressions when using the JavaScript expression engine.

Thanks again for reporting this issue,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team