CreatorTool field of project metadata isn't accurate in After Effects 2022 and 2023

[klandes]

(recategorizing a discussion post as a bug)

Overview

We would like to be able to identify which version of After Effects was responsible for the creation of a project (.aep) file programatically in order to make informed judgements about what version of After Effects should be used to render those projects on our renderfarm. We are encouraged by the presence of the CreatorTool field in the embedded metadata that is visible by running the unix 'strings' command on the file, but have observed some disconcerting behavior in this area.

Observed Behavior

We were surprised to find that regardless of if the project file was created in After Effects 2022 (22.6) or After Effects 2023 (23.1), the value of the CreatorTool field is always 'Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a) (Macintosh)'. Note that not only is the version incorrect, but the product itself is incorrect as well. If we save a copy of the project as an XML export (.aepx) the 'CreatorTool' and 'softwareAgent' fields of the ProjectXMPMetadata still contain incorrect information, and furthermore, examining the project metadata via the Metadata window in After Effects shows the same incorrect data as well.

Expected Behavior

We would expect that the value of the CreatorTool field in the ProjectXMPMetadata would accurately represent the Adobe product that was used to create the project file. For example, for After Effects 2023 (23.1) we would expect a value of 'Adobe After Effects 23.1 (<YYYYMMDD.orig.build_number> <...>) (Macintosh)'.

Replication

It is trivial to replicate this issue by creating a new After Effects project, saving it to a location on disk, and then examining the "CreatorTool" field in the project metadata via the Metadata window in After Effects, or by examining the data contained in the .aep file directly.

Testing System Specs

After Effects 2022 (22.6) & After Effects 2023 (23.1)

2021 16" MacBook Pro

macOS: Monterey (12.6.2)

Chip: Apple M1 Pro

Memory: 16GB

Deeper Dive

Some additional digging has revealed that the values that are assembled to create 'Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a) (Macintosh)' are hardcoded in the pie.framework installed at `Adobe After Effects YYYY.app/Contents/Frameworks/pie.framework/Versions/A/pie`.

Specifically:

• GetXMPCreatorStringv() returns "Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a) (Macintosh)"
• GetPSBuildVersionStr() returns the subcomponent "20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a"

Pseudocode for GetXMPCreatorStringv() obtained by running pie.framework through a dissassembler  shows the creation of the string:

    *0x433fc20 = *"Adobe Photoshop";
    *0x433fc27 = *("Adobe Photoshop" + 0x7);
    *(int8_t *)0x433fc2f = 0x0;
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, " ");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, "23.2");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, " (");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, GetPSBuildVersionStr());
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, ") ");
    std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::append(0x433fc20, " (Macintosh)");

This error message was also found at an address referenced by this procedure:

"$$$/private/LibPs/XMP/NoCreatorSet=XMP Creator Tool value has not been set. This should be fixed before ship."

Taking a look at this same framework in Adobe Illustrator 2023, which does embed the proper CreatorTool value in the XMP metadata, it is apparent that this Photoshop version string is a default that is relied upon when the framework cannot source information about the creating application.

We can speculate from this information that After Effects did not adopt the CreatorTool feature when it was implemented in the pie framework, and did not get "fixed before ship". It would be very helpful for us, and likely others, if this could be addressed in an upcoming version of After Effects.

Thank you in advance for considering this report!

Kris Landes

Sr. Software Engineer | Pixar Animation Studios

[JohnColombo]

Hi @klandes,

Thank you very much for reporting this issue, and thank you for your patience in our response. Thank you as well for all the detail you've provided, I've attached all of it to our internal tracking ticket for this issue. We are now investigating the root cause and a fix should be forthcoming. Any fix will first be available in the Beta version of After Effects and we will update this thread when that occurs.

Thank you again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[klandes]

Thanks very much for looking into this! We really appreciate it and look forward to seeing your updates.

[JohnColombo]

Hi @klandes,

You should find that this issue has been fixed in the 24.1 version of After Effects. Please give that version a try and let us know if the bug appears fixed for you as well.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[Adam37390392f0qe]

Hi @JohnColombo I'm having a similar issue with Mp4s from Premiere, with Application listed as "Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (20220128.orig.527 28d5e1a) (Macintosh)" when I open them in Bridge to check file properties. I am in Pr 23.6.5 and for reasons I can't switch to 24 yet (upgrading work computer, migrating Dropbox). I have project stakeholders telling me the videos won't upload to their LMS platform because the media uploader encountered an "Error extracting physical metadata for the file". This application tag can't possibly be causing that issue, could it? Stakeholders think it is—they have no video/technical background but when we look at specs, this is the only difference between my files and previous videos from another project that have worked. I'm guessing it's an error introduced in their workflow but can't be sure.

[JohnColombo]

@Adam37390392f0qe Thank you for your patience while waiting for my reply.

This does look like it might be the same root issue (the incorrect version was coming from a shared component that has now been fixed in 24.1+), though I am unsure if it is the cause of failure with the media uploader. I definitely understand remaining on the same version while in the midst of a project. Unfortunately, we are not able to port this fix back to the 23.6.5 version—it is only available in 24.1 and later.

If this continues to be a major issue, please report it as a bug in the Premiere Pro Bugs forum here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro/ct-p/ct-premiere-pro?page=1&sort=latest_replies&filter=a... 

Thanks again for your patience,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team