is there way to read comps and layers without opening after effects using extended script something

[Krishna Kumar22556352ieq8]

I want to build a renderfarm where i can replace text and images without opening after effects. Now i am doing this using extendedscript and cep panel,socket.io.  Is there way for automation without opening after effects or adobe api for that or advanced usage of aerender.exe something? How to build effienct template changing after effects render farm. 

[Krishna Kumar22556352ieq8]

is there  Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit or other Adobe APIs offer a way to run scripts headlessly or perform certain operations without fully launching the After Effects UI?

[Arie Stavchansky]

If you want to alter internal AE project elements, you have to run After Effects' main executable.  You can use the -noui flag on the command afterfx.exe to prevent the app from launching its GUI, but that is the closest you'll get to headless when it comes time to change the project's contents.  There are other methods to alter layer and param data, but ultimately do not give you the flexibility for manipulating certain things you want done.

Dataclay offers open source code you can look at that launches headless AE on Windows and macOS — it is used to work with Templater for AE, but you could extract part of the code on your own project to launch AE headlessly.  

Checkout https://github.com/dataclay/cli-tools

Hope this helps!

[Airweb_AE]

Try this: 

Run after effects script without opening after effects? 

[Ivan Senic]

Have a look at this article: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/automated-rendering-network-rendering.html

It provides guidelines on how you can run scripts using the aerender executable on Mac or Windows. The executable provides a -r flag where you can point to the script file. The page is not documenting it, but you can use aerender -help to see all options.

Alternatevlly, you can look at https://plainlyvideos.com. Plainly provides a full-blown render API. You can easily upload your AfterEffects projects in the web-app, select what text and images you want to change with each render and then provide new values simply when calling the API. Rendering can also be done using UI form, CSV or simply by connecting any supporting integration tool which allows you to make the process fully automated.