AFTER EFFECTS WISHLIST

[Andrew Yoole]

What features would you like to see implemented in After Effects? New ideas for plugins? Interface changes? Post 'em here!

Let's keep bug identification to individual posts, as these will probably be addressed more readily. Let's use this thread for specific ideas about ways that AE can be improved and expanded.

These Forums are for users, not Adobe employees, so don't forget to also fill in an Adobe feature request form.

To view the Wish List posts prior to September 2009, look here.

[Todd_Kopriva]

(just going through the wish list, seeing what things were dealt with in After Effects CS5)

> BANISH THE IMAGE BUFFER ERROR... Please please please Adobe - get rid of this plague of an error.

Done. Now that After Effects CS5 is a 64-bit application, the limits on sizes of image buffers and various other internal structures are greatly improved. See "Memory (RAM) usage in 64-bit After Effects".

> Improvement of how AE deals with .exr files.

This should be much faster in After Effects CS5.

> it would be nice to have a magic wand/quick selection kind of tool that would automatically create mask shapes on layers based on mouse clicks

Roto Brush does this, though it creates mattes, not masks. If you need a mask, you can use Auto-trace after using Roto Brush.

[Jeff S GP2]

-Rename multiple comps.

-Replace PSD layered files (can’t believe this isn’t integrated).

-Ability to select multiple comp Markers.

-An Expression spreadsheet (list of  expressions and their corresponding layers/comps properties).

-Composition/ layer spreadsheet:   Considering how complicated projects can get, It would make sense to have a spreadsheet whereby functions can be preformed across multiple comps/layers.

-Flowchart that shows the entire chain of selected comp/nested comps, images, layers, FX,  etc.

-Expression Reset functionality.

-Lights to effect 3D objects.

[Nojahele]

I would like to see the new content aware that will be in Photoshop CS

5 incorporated into AE.  Ideally you could create a selection around items in your video footage that you don't want and AE could extrapolate this data for each frame in the video clip.  If the object moves use a combination of motion tracking to track the objects movement and once the selection and movement data has been collected then use content aware to remove the object and fill in the hole for each frame.  I think this would be alot faster than using mask and duplicated footage at different positions on the time line.

You might also include options for the replaced object background and rest of the background, like blurs, feathering and texturing depending on how well the content aware worked.

[DC_B__09]

Yeah, I brought this up in a separate thread already but evidently it's not yet possible to implement this technology for the video. But it would be nice to have it in the next versions of AE.

On the side note, what about an "eye" option for layer masks?

[Arivl]

Just a quick note about the parent list:

When you drop down the menu to select a layer to parent, the current behavior is for the list to default "none".  This is great if the layer already has a parent, but if it doesn't I would much prefer that the list center itself on the current layer.  This could be very helpful in comps with a large number of layers.

[Navarro_Parker]

How about adding support for Photoshop .ABR brushes for Vector Paint, the Paint layer, and Write-On!

[Navarro_Parker]

Speaking of brushes -- how about some Photoshop-ish Brush Dynamics?

[John Stanowski]

I have a large collection of textures and such as PS brushes. I'd love to be able to bring them into AE.

[Guest]

Navarro: I share with you the urge for custom brushes and brush dynamics. It would be a great feature. But AE's own paint, Vector Paint and Write-On are totally different engines and separate code-bases. On top of that, AE's paint is vector-based, not pixel based (which is why you get actual paths for brush strokes, which you don't get in PS). Still, these all are implementation details. You could have a vector-based brush engine with custom bitmap-based brushes, I imagine.  Some brush dynamics, like variable width, are available when using pen pressure. But of course having it parametrically and with all the other stuff like scatter would be terrific. Please file a feature request for custom brushes and brush dynamics. I assure you I also filed for that and, as always, the more people request it formally, the more "votes" it gets

[mograph_bc]

Grids (scalable) in 3D space rather than a workaround using Solids with the grid effect...

Should be scalable and have increment options (100 pixels, 500 pixels, etc)

[DC_B__09]

What about a checkbox-type setting for each layer that will allow them to be omitted in the final render?

Example: I need to render two versions of the same project: first, rated G or for everyone, and second one - rated R.

[John Stanowski]

Isn't that what the visibility switch is for?

[DC_B__09]

John Stanowski wrote:

Isn't that what the visibility switch is for?

Yes and no. That's what I'm using now, but I may have up to 10 layers scattered all over the project and at times it's difficult to locate them all if I need to re-render. Ideally if they had an option to somehow mark those layers and then set them to be rendered or not from the final render screen in one place. That would save me a lot of time.

[John Stanowski]

I see. Well you could color code them for now I suppose.

[Todd_Kopriva]

> What about a checkbox-type setting for each layer that will allow them to be omitted in the final render?

My first thought is to use Zorro to tag and select the layers. Then I could operate on the layers selectively, to turn their visibility on or off or whatever else I chose to do.

[Andrew Yoole]

Set the layers as Guide Layers.  Guide Layers can be enabled and disabled for render in Render Settings of each item in the Render Queue.

[DC_B__09]

Andrew Yoole wrote:

Set the layers as Guide Layers.  Guide Layers can be enabled and disabled for render in Render Settings of each item in the Render Queue.

Yes, thanks. Guide Layers could be it for now.

It would be nice though to have something specific for that purpose in the future version of AE.

[Guest]

RAM Preview DO-OVER. Like completely gut the sucker. We need to see an accurate representation and we would like to see them a lot quicker than we currently do. For starters, make OpenGL a 1st class citizen instead of its current bolt-on after thought status. Second, the world has been using interlaced images since the 1920's, yet RAM Preview can't do interlace almost 100 years later. Did you know that interlace is not going away anytime soon?

Even with 64-bit support, there will never be enough RAM in a box. So, how about taking a page from the genius of Bob Courier and implement many of those Echo Fire nuggets that should have been in AE in the first place. My favorite feature was the ability to use a hard disk instead of RAM. I guess it is a little too late because that feature was needed in After Effects 3-9.

Then, how about some accuracy when using the QuickTime Output Component. And while we are at it, make the sucker have reliable real-time frame rates. And just for kicks, spew out YUV to the QuickTime Output Component. Again, make sure the color space conversion is accurate. Fix the darn gamma issues too.

To sum up... Accuracy, Speed, Guaranteed Real-time Frame Rates. Any questions?

[Guest]

BUILT-IN RENDER FARM MANAGER: Yup, I said it. The goal should be to make it as reliable and as intuitive as Cinema 4D's net render code. But then take it a step further and ensure that the correct Plug-ins and Fonts are rolled out to each render node. Allow for unlimited render nodes.

[Guest]

Colorspaces: I don't understand why Adobe has locked itself to 8 and 16bit linear and 32-bit float, all in RGB. We would like to see either YUV processing and/or more efficient bit depths like 16-bit float, perhaps even 12-bit support like the good ol' SGIs. In the process of getting beyond 8-bit linear, let's make sure things don't slow down.

It would also be nice if you had a chat with ATI and Nvidia to see how you can get >8bit support to the monitor now that interfaces like HDMI and Displayport are prevalent.

[TimeRemapper]

A sampling utility for the pen tool that, prior to drawing the first mask point, samples the RGB values of the region (mean) and automatically chooses a mask color that will provide the most contrast (stand out the best) against whatever you're masking. I use color cycling, color defining (prefs), and I frequently choose a new mask color manually. I think that I must have the worst luck. Every time I click, the mask color generated seems so close to the content! It's a personal battle between AE and I that dates back a decade.

[Todd_Kopriva]

> A sampling utility for the pen tool that, prior to drawing the first mask point, samples the RGB values of the region (mean) and automatically chooses a mask color that will provide the most contrast (stand out the best) against whatever you're masking.

That's a great feature idea. Be sure to file it here, too:

http://www.adobe.com/go/wish

[TimeRemapper]

Done.

Thanks Todd!

[Navarro_Parker]

How about something like After Effects Server?

I'm working on a project where different designers could be working on different comps of the same project. How about the ability for a user to check out specific comps on a project and when saved, will integrated back into the master project file

The standard Import Project way of doing it doesn't have any live linkage to the other project aep. If that aep gets changed, it does not update my imported one. So I have to import the whole thing again.

And if anyone mentions Premiere and Dynamic Link, I don't think I'll be able to stop laughing. Maybe it's magical on Windows. But DL on the Mac has been el stinkbombo since CS4.

[Huntrex]

How about making an effect that would "precompose" all of the effects above it. I would think this would be a big time saver for certain situations, considering all the time spent creating and navigating through precomps.