[Tutorial] After Effects ExtendScript Script Writing

[David Torno]

Hi all, just wanted to share a new tutorial series I have launched today that I think a lot of you may find helpful.

We've all posted here in this forum looking for help with scripting. There are many reasons why too. One of which that keeps making the rounds is the lack of documentation for ExtendScript. When I first started scripting for After Effects five years ago, the CS3 guide is all there was and it did contain the proper information, but as a newbie I was unable to understand the guide to get any real help from it. I didn't know Javascript then and I was super frustrated. Asking questions and searching forums like this was my only option really. No real training existed, that I'm aware of, that truly covered how to use ExtendScript. That is, until now. I have spent the better part of my weekends over the past year recording this training series to give the After Effects community a decent collection of information in one place to help get people started in scripting. This series comes in at over ten hours in length and is being released in segments on a weekly basis as of today. There is a lot to cover in ExtendScript and I do cover much of it. I'm unable to hit 100% of it as I too am still learning some of the more advanced aspects of it. I do cover however the basics of Javascript, looping through project items, creating folders, creating comps, creating layers, reading various project information, building GUI's, creating/reading txt documents, etc...

If you are a newbie looking to learn ExtendScript, a frustrated artist who's confused by programming, a script developer looking for more info, then at one point or another I believe this series will help you.

The first three episodes begin here:

http://provideocoalition.com/news/video/after-effects-extendscript-training-ep-1-2-3

Keep an eye out for more posts each week. thanks, and I hope you find this resource useful.

-David Torno

[emdiar]

Just coming in to add another voice of gratitude for your tutorial series! Thank you!

Watching your series has helped me write scripts to do the following (so far):

• Add a camera rig, parented to a series of nulls for each axis with slider controls
• A dockable gui with buttons to quickly add various solids with effects applied (Element, Trapcode effects etc)
• A project builder that builds a project, creates a folder structure on disk and a matching folder structure in the project, imports background footage and adds a text layer with the project title, pulling setup defaults from an xml file (I beat my head against this one for days, but eventually got it all working)
• Utility scripts to get font and effect match names

I'm pretty good a piecing together a path to figure out what I need to know with regard to tech issues, but without your tutorial series I'd be nowhere near as far along with ExtendScript as I am. So thanks again.

I recommend your tutorials to anyone who will listen. They usually have no idea what I'm even talking about.

[David Torno]

Thank you emdiar, it makes me happy when people find this work helpful. Thank you also for sharing the concepts that you've created too. It's rare for me to see any direct results of what people are making after/during their learning though the series. I appreciate everything you said, and thank you for spreading the word. Happy coding.

[Wul_Voraz]

Really cool guide my friend, actually i have like a month learning scripting with you, and now, i can understand javascript and write my own codes. So thank you very much.

[Tomas B. aka Tom10]

Hello David,

just came here to thank you a lot for the series. It was a great introduction and I already seeking for new ways to improve the workflow through the scripting. Thanks to your tutorials, it opened my eyes through a different perspective and I felt a need to send you props for this. Thanks!

[David Torno]

Thank you Tom10, I appreciate the kind words, and I am happy you've discovered new ways to improve your workflow. The less time spent on the repetitive tasks, the more time you are given to focus on the more important creative and design aspects of a project. I like to think this help can only improve the work being created. At the very least, give you a fighting chance in an industry that keeps shrinking deadlines, and lowering budgets.

[P.M.B]

Hey.  Sorry to revive this old thread but are your tutorials still a good way to get started with extendscript in AE this many iterations on.  If not can you suggest a good resource for me to get started with the current versions.  You can be honest becasue I just bought the package from Gumroad yesterday for $15.   I know nothing about Java or extendscript so I don't know how much things may have changed.   I do have scripting experience in MEL (Maya) but that's sort of it's own thing/  I have zero experience with Java

Thanks

[Tomas B. aka Tom10]

Hey man, yes - they are indeed still handy and useful. Not much has changed, and actually - from the basic level, everything remains the same. Thus go ahead and explore David's tutorials and you will get full coverage of the topic. From that point - the sky is the limit!