Custom panel with C++ API

[Cadu Pennachin]

Hi there!

I would like to create a panel with the C++ API. It is possible? I've seen something like this only in the HTML5 API. There are any example to explain me?

Best regards

[Nathan Lovell_52]

It sounds like what you are looking to make is a hybrid extension, but I could be wrong. The language always used to make panels is HTML (along with CSS, JS, and XML). The part that requires C/C++ is building plugins that can be used independently, or in tandem with an extension to do more memory intensive pixel processing!

[valderramos]

If I wanted to create a new rendering process to read the .glsl shader and show in a custom html panel. Probably not slow down? I've never done anything like that, but my HTML impression was not made to make low-level processes, I don't know if I'm wrong if that, what do you think?

[Nathan Lovell_52]

Plugins and Extensions are quite separate processes. All of the visuals/code inside of a Panel is HTML, CSS, and Javascript. All of the code for a plugin is C/C++.

However, you can use a panel to call a custom made plugin (which is built with C/C++) to be applied. For a practical example, Element 3D or Optical Flares are not in Panels, they have their own GUI which is not related to Adobe. 

The only detailed source for information on Extensions and Hyrbid Extensions I could find is in Davide Barranca's Book

[valderramos]

Thank you for the book, I will look that!

What would be the best way to get information from an opened After Effects scene to an external application? Maybe through an http get/post service?

[Nathan Lovell_52]

It depends on what kind of information you need. The majority of the time a script or extension will work to get the data you need, and can be written to files in common formats like XML, JSON, etc.

[valderramos]

Ok, I will do something like that!

Thank you Nathan for your replies!

Best regards.

[Justin Taylor-Hyper Brew]

You're probably going to want 2 parts to your tool, an Effect written in C++ and a CEP extension, written in CSS/JS/HTML. From there, you can send messages from your panel to change parameters in your effect if you want to, or adjust the effect with its own controls. You can create panels in C++ (see the Panelator example in the SDK), but this is usually more work than it's worth.

[RichardL7 · Accepted solution]

You can use the c++ API to create a panel!

Start with the SDK panelator like I did.

I would stay away from the CEP Panel until Adobe unifies their JS interpreters. There are 2 now and it's a PITA.

[shachar carmi]

Richard is correct.

you can use the "Panelator" sample project from the SDK. however, know that a C++ panel is much harder to develop compared to a CEP, so define your needs well and choose the right technology.