AE to PR Converted. Part 02.

[MotionThunder]

Hello!

I'm sorry if this question is inappropriate here or you can't give an answer to it, but since there is very little information about this, I still decided to clarify at least some data in the original source.

I have already raised the question here about writing a plugin for exporting masks from After Effects to Premiere Pro, and thanks to a specialist from Adobe, I learned that it is impossible to do this through the API and there is no documentation and open information on this issue, but you can convert masks using a script in After Effects to numeric values and then convert them to the format needed for Premiere Pro, but further information is closed.

I turned to programmers for help, as these are my main tools for working and it is important for me to implement this task, and we, as the Adobe specialist said, were able to export masks from After Effects to numeric values, and then find out what format to convert the data to so that Premiere Pro can perceive it (without using the API), it can use XML, which Mocha Pro does when converting masks from After Effects to Premiere Pro, adding them to the hidden part of the clipboard for transmission to Premiere Pro as a mask, however, of course, it is not possible to simply convert the format and paste the copied text, whatever it is, into the program, it will not be able to transform into a mask or any other object, because for such purposes, more access and deep data injection directly into the program in the form of bytecode is required.

My question is this: Is there any data or tools available to be able to use the converted data in the format used by Premiere Pro, in Premiere Pro itself? It is not enough just to be able to convert data, it is important to know how to import it into Premiere Pro in a language that is understandable to it. This can't be done using data from the SDK, there is no API for this, but I can export data from After Effects and it's not a problem to convert it to a format that Premiere Pro understands, more precisely, I can't do it, programmers can do it, but how do I continue to work with the resulting format using it for use in Premiere Pro? I could, of course, ask Boris FX how they implemented this in Mocha Pro, but I think that this is a trade secret of their product, and in Adobe it is hardly a trade secret, because such tools allow users to better interact with their products, in particular, with Premiere Pro. I hope to get some information, if possible.

Thanks.

Regards,
Sergey!

[Bruce Bullis · Accepted solution]

> Is there any data or tools available...in Premiere Pro itself?

No.

[MotionThunder]

Oh, thanks...
Concise. 🙂

The information that helps me as a user to work with Adobe software is closed and there is no way to find out and therefore implement it? 

Earlier in my post you told me that it's impossible to implement through API, but it's possible to access After Effects digital mask values at script level and find out how to convert it to a format that Premiere Pro understands. I found a programmer who was able to find this out, but converting it and passing it to Premiere Pro are very different things.

[Bruce Bullis]

>The information that helps me as a user to work with Adobe software is closed and there is no way to find out and therefore implement it? 

Not quite; while there is no documentation around the clipboard format required for data to be paste-able onto PPro masks, a programmer could test what data formats are and are not successfully paste-able, and proceed based on those findings.

>Earlier in my post you told me that it's impossible to implement through API, but it's possible to access After Effects digital mask values at script level and find out how to convert it to a format that Premiere Pro understands.

To restate: Yes, AE mask data is available via AE's ExtendScript API. And yes, it is also possible for a developer to determine (through testing) how clipboard data would need to be formatted, in order to be paste-able onto PPro masks. 

> I found a programmer who was able to find this out, but converting it and passing it to Premiere Pro are very different things.

Agreed! Feel free to have your programmer contact me directly: bbb@adobe.com

Please know that, by providing the (admittedly) accurate-if-not-terribly-helpful information [above], we're not trying to diminish your enthusiasm for creating such a plug-in. 🙂

[MotionThunder]

I sent you an email about it.

[MotionThunder]

Hello, Bruce.

I sent your email today to the programmer who is handling this task and he informed me that he wrote you a letter about it.

Please pay attention to it when you have free time.

[Harchenko]

Hi Bruce.

I am one of the authors that creates templates for Premiere Pro, PP Preset, Mogrt and Rush.

Having the ability to transfer mask paths to PP, this would raise the level of quality and capabilities of templates to an unprecedented level. I'm saying this in all seriousness and I know what I'm talking about.

Now for this, we use "workarounds", in the form of scripts, a mock plugin, which cut the functionality very much. There is no way to transfer the transparency of masks, feather and expansion.

And also we can't transfer shapes to PP. And if we had such an opportunity, Premiere Rush templates would become incredible.

Even at the current level, through additional and limited tools, we create something that was not possible before in PP.

Perhaps we can conclude a similar non-disclosure agreement with you?

Or you will create such a tool for the authors so that we can transfer masks with their properties from AE to PP, as well as Shapes.

I am ready to commit myself and sign a one-year contract to create templates with these tools

[bbb_999]

Hello Harchenko,

As stated above, with or without an NDA, there is no documentation around the clipboard format required for data to be paste-able onto PPro masks; a programmer could test what data formats are and are not successfully paste-able, and proceed based on those findings.

We aren't looking to contract any template development, at this time.