CreatorTool field of embedded project metadata isn't accurate in After Effects 2022 and 2023

I re-filed this issue as a bug instead of a discussion due to the additional evidence we've discovered. Further discussion should happen on the bug: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-bugs/creatortool-field-of-project-metadata-isn-t-accurate-in-after-effects-2022-and-2023/idi-p/13528497

Some additional digging has revealed that the values that are assembled to create 'Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a) (Macintosh)' are hardcoded in the pie.framework installed at `Adobe After Effects YYYY.app/Contents/Frameworks/pie.framework/Versions/A/pie`. Specifically:

• GetXMPCreatorStringv() returns "Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a) (Macintosh)"
• GetPSBuildVersionStr() returns the subcomponent "20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a"

Pseudocode for GetXMPCreatorStringv() obtained by running pie.framework through a dissassembler  shows the creation of the string:

    *0x433fc20 = *"Adobe Photoshop";
    *0x433fc27 = *("Adobe Photoshop" + 0x7);
    *(int8_t *)0x433fc2f = 0x0;
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, " ");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, "23.2");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, " (");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, GetPSBuildVersionStr());
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, ") ");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, " (Macintosh)");

I also found this error message at an address referenced by this procedure:

"$$$/private/LibPs/XMP/NoCreatorSet=XMP Creator Tool value has not been set. This should be fixed before ship."

Taking a look at this same framework in Adobe Illustrator 2023, which does embed the proper CreatorTool value in the XMP metadata, it is apparent that this Photoshop version string is a default that is relied upon when the framework cannot source information about the creating application.

I can speculate from this information that After Effects did not adopt the CreatorTool feature when it was implemented in the pie framework, and did not in fact get "fixed before ship". It would be very helpful for us, and likely others, if this could be addressed in an upcoming version of After Effects.

Cheers!

Kris Landes

Sr. Software Engineer | Pixar Animation Studios

There is no specific version info that is transparently embedded in the file. It's all handled with a bunch of offsets at the beginning of the file. It's been forever this way. The only way to find out how a file was created is to actually open it.

Mylenium