Is it possible to automate this workflow?

[Guy Burns]

I'd like to find out if this workflow can be automated. I'm not asking how to do it, just a Yes or No to parts of the workflow, or all of it.

The outcome of this workflow is a stabilized 16fps scene (from a 35-minute home video), with its frame-rate changed to 24 fps, but with a unique frame-blending script applied. The process starts in Premiere with a "Replace by AE Composition". In the AE project window, two items appear: the linked composition whose runtime is the length of the scene I want to stabilize, and the 16 fps film (35 minutes) from which the scene is taken.

Then I do the following.

1. Add  Warp Stabilizer to the 16fps film.
2. Pre Compose the stabilized film and call it Warp 16
3. Create a 24fps composition with the same pixel dimensions and duration as the scene from the film, and call it Warp 24
4. Drag Warp 16 into Warp 24 and duplicate.
5. Apply the frame-blending script to the top layer.
6. Move the bottom layer by one frame to the left.
7. Save and close AE.

Back in Premiere, I use Adobe Dynamic Link to import Warp 24.

Ques 1: Can Steps 1-7, or some of them, be automated?

Ques 2: I have tried setting up a template of the above, and then altering the in and out points so that a different section of the film is edited, but I don't know enough about AE to do that. I suspect it may not be possible given that a pre comp is involved.

So, could the workflow be "templated"? i.e. I save the AE project under a new name, and then change the in and out points so that it works on another section of film.

Payment for a Script

If this workflow can be automated in AE, and someone is prepared to write the script or whatever it's called, gmail me at gdburns and we'll come to some arrangement about payment. As I mentioned, I may have a hundred scenes to stabilize. Doing it manually would take me a week.

[Mylenium]

Scripts only run in the context of their host apps and DynamicLink stuff is just an opaque container, so this limits your options drastically. You can't have a "master" script that controls both AE and Premiere. Similarly, functions that require user interaction like Warp Stabilizer cannot be scripted, which pretty much renders 60% of your request moot. Sure, some parts like setting up and duplicating the comps can be automated, but it's not like you can just run your script and then four hours later you have a working project with all your frame-blended clips ready to continue working, which I guess is what you are looking for. So no, you can't do this as an unattended process and whatever scripts one could come up with will save you only a tiny fraction of setup time, if any at all. And given the constraints of DL, it would still be notoriously unreliable.

Mylenium

[Mathias Moehl]

There is Bridge Talk which allows to have a script running in one app opening another host app and running a script inside of it.

https://extendscript.docsforadobe.dev/interapplication-communication/index.html

I use this in GridGuide, for example, to launch Ps in and Ae script, create a document in Ps and import it into Ae.

So yes, I think in general these kinds of processes could be automated, but finding somebody who does this for you will be very hard, I guess.

[Rick Gerard]

Warp Stabilizer is slow and requires specific settings for each type of shot. You can automate applying warp stabilizer to each shot in a project but you'll still have to apply Warp Stabilizer to each and every shot that needs it. 

Changing the frame rate is easiest if you just drop your footage in a new comp or sequence that has the new frame rate and apply the most effective frame blending mode. For normal motion, it's almost impossible for any viewer to tell the difference between frame blending in AE or Premiere Pro or the use of Twixtor Pro (as I explained in a previous reply to the same basic question). If you want the highest quality and vector analysis of the movement of pixels between frames you need to invest in Twixtor Pro. 

Warp Stabilizing in Premiere Pro is just as effective as it is in After Effects and compiling a 30-minute movie in Premiere Pro is going to be a lot faster and more efficient than doing the work in After Effects and the render time is going to be considerably less. You can get a version of Twixtor Pro for Premiere Pro. I would edit the footage in Premiere Pro, do the warp stabilizing in Premiere Pro, not AE, and especially not using a big group of shots and Dynamic Link, then just drop your edited sequence in a new 24fps comp, try a couple of frame blending modes, and render. If you need to improve the quality of the frame rate change invest in Twixtor Pro for Premiere Pro. After you Warp Stabilize few shots in Premiere Pro, you'll have a pretty good idea of what settings to use for most of the shots that need stabilization.

 One more thing. No matter what you do, if you Warp Stabilize and frame blend, you will lose a little resolution and detail in the original footage. There is no way around that. Most of the time, that loss is not critical. I've transferred a lot of hours of home movies and even 16 and 35mm footage to video in my life and the workflow I have described in Premiere Pro will give you the best results in the least amount of time. No matter what you do, Warp Stabilizing is going to take a very long time, and if you use Twixtor Pro to change the frame rate, that is also going to take a long time to render. 

[Roland Kahlenberg -]

This may be able to do it. I suggest you ask the developer directly by writing in the Comment section.

https://aescripts.com/automation-toolkit/