Skip to main content
Participant
April 27, 2023

Custom extension won't open in AfterEffects on Mac with Apple M2 Max chip

  • April 27, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 761 views

Hi all! Looking for some CEP developer support.

I have a team of designers that uses a custom-built extension for AfterEffects. Previously they all used it on Macs with Intel chips. However, one designer got a new computer with the Apple M2 Max chip, and the extension shows up under Window > Extensions, but won't open anything when it is selected.

What we've tried:

  • Running in Rosetta mode: this did not change anything, the extension still won't open
  • Changing the defaults: using this command in Terminal, this has previously worked on the Macs with Intel chips that ran into the same issue, however, this changes nothing on the M2 chip Mac.
defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.13.plist PlayerDebugMode 1 && killall -u `whoami` cfprefsd
  • Running a different extension: AtomX (https://atomx.aniom.net/) is built similarly. I had the designer install this extension the same way we install our custom one, and AtomX opened up and showed correctly in AfterEffects. So it seems like the M2 chip can handle opening up CEP extensions.

 

The manifest.xml is set up to run on all AE versions past 13:

<Host Name="AEFT" Version="[13.0,99.9]" />

 

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! I'm wondering if perhaps the default terminal command needs to be different for the M2 chip?

2 replies

Participant
May 11, 2023

Replying with the solution that we ended up finding:

I had to make a brand-new certificate and create a new signed ZXP for the designer to install. Once they had that, they were able to view, open, and use the extension.

However, the customization for this extension is stored in a JSON object within a file that is re-written by the script anytime the designer customizes the extension panel. So when the designer went to customize their panel, it stopped loading the extension altogether. To fix this, I put the JSON object file outside of the extension panel. But just for future reference - the contents of the signed ZXP appear to need to stay the same for the extension to work.

Participant
April 27, 2023

Forgot to add - the designer is using AfterEffects 23.