Separate 'Post expression graph' and 'Include this property in the graph editor set'

[Mike Choo]

Currently when the post-expression graph is turned on  'Include this property in the graph editor set' is automatically activated for that property.

It's very easy to end up with a graph showing properties you don't need to see, and it can be time consuming to go through and track them down.

What would be great is to either decouple this behaviour so the 'Include this property...' is not automatically checked, or to add a preference setting so that it can be turned on for those that find it useful.

In my personal workflow, I find that I will often want to check a post expression graph, and then toggle back to the pre-expression view. It's much rarer that I need to keep a property visible in the graph set, and if I do it won't always be related to expressions, it's more likely to be for timing reference against another property.

I understand that everyone has a different workflow, but I think separating these two buttons (or having the option to separate them) would be a great quality of life enhancement.

[nthArt]

I agree that this is an issue. It was plaguing me today. My thought was to have a command that would disable "Post expression graph" for all properties in the active comp. Often, I go to look at something in the graph editor and there's another property or two dsiaplyed that I left "Post expression graph" turned on for, but I no longer remember which property it was. In a large comp, it's just too tedious to try to find it to turn it off. I can disable viewing the graph editor set, but these other properties will just show up again later (and through off the auto zoom of the graph. Being able to disable the option for all properties, saves having to hunt down the properties that are enabled. Unfortunately, "Post expression graph" does not appear to be scriptable.

[JohnColombo]

Hi @Mike Choo,

Thank you for making this post! This is a good request—I frequently encounter this behavior in my own usage of AE.

In bringing this up with the team, it was pointed out that the intent of this behavior (adding the property to the graph editor set when enabling the post-expression graph) is to ensure the property is shown in the graph editor when enabling the post-expression graph (since you obviously would want to see the post-expression graph you'd just enabled). An alternative might be to add the layer/property to your selection if you enable the post-expression graph, which would serve the same purpose without you needing to disable it afterward. Would something like this fulfill the need or do you have something else in mind?

In the current version, I will usually clean up the displayed properties either by disabling the Graph Editor set (from the menu at the bottom of the Graph Editor) or using the Graph Editor Set in combination with the SS hotkey to show only properties in the Graph Editor set so I can disable the "Include in graph editor set" switch.

Thanks again,
- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[Mike Choo]

Hey John,

Thanks for the reply!

In terms of the ideal behaviour, for me it would simply be that showing the post-expression graph did not automatically trigger the graph set. Day to day, I find that I most often use the post-expression graph when looping keys, or checking to see what a modifier like a wiggle has done.

I'll admit that I have never really used graph sets as a feature, that's something I need to look into more as I can see how they would be powerful.

Incidentally, I've just noticed that if you enable the post-expression graph on a property that has no keys set, it appears to activate the graph set button for that layer, but the button itself is hidden until a key is added. When a key is added in this state, the Graph set button appears but then deactivates. If you toggle the post-expression graph off and on again with a keyframe enabled, then the Graph Set button will activate and be visible.

So to summarise, I think for my workflow the ideal situation would be to decouple the post-expression graph button and the inclusion in the graph set, so that they are independent buttons.

Hope that helps!