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TimSx
TimSx
Inspiring
September 1, 2017
Question

Mysterious PropertyValueType.CUSTOM_VALUE

  • September 1, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 1424 views

I've read a discussion started in 2014, stating that you can't access property values of type PropertyValueType.CUSTOM_VALUE. Also, you can't set it. There is pretty much nothing you can do with them.

Typical path:

comp.layer(1).property("ADBE Effect Parade").property("ADBE CurvesCustom").property("ADBE CurvesCustom-0001").value;

Curves, Levels, Hue and Saturation are the effects (that I know of) that are using this CUSTOM_VALUE. Is extend script still incapable of doing anything with this properties? Is there a way to get a glimps of what they store internally?

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

Tomas Sinkunas
Tomas Sinkunas
Legend
September 1, 2017

As the name CUSTOM_VALUE implies, it's not possible to read/write them. However, you can save such property as Animation Preset and investigate the ffx file to see what's going on in there.

Basically, you cannot access those properties that you cannot edit in the timeline.

TimSx
TimSxAuthor
Inspiring
September 1, 2017

What tool do you use to investigate ffx files? textedit basically just shows a bunch of weird characters along with some property names.

johnt53984649
johnt53984649
Inspiring
May 7, 2019

Export two .ffx files with only a single parameter of interest changed.  Then use a hex editor to compare the two and figure out which bytes changed.  Metadata is included in the .ffx files, so ignore that.

A good tip is that if the custom value involved a gradient of some kind, set that gradient to a weird color, and then search the .ffx file for that color's 8-bit hex value.  That's how I figured out the format of the colorama .ffx file.

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