AcccCK! I logged in and posted while on another Adobe Account.    Apparently, logging in with the correct user account is also a challenge for some of us.  😄 Now, to complete the post -  Text Layers are complex. Your set up with 2 Text Layers and a Shape Layer is a little over intermediate level but even then as you can see, it's beyond a lot of AE users. So, don't feel bad.  🙂 There are courses outs there and there are specialists out there who can wrap this up in minutes if they don't have a bad hair day, or two.  Best Wishes ... View more

Hi Amir, I hope it's OK to contribute to this thread; specifically on Expression Error Messages. 1 - wrongly targetted line for the error  2 - Error Message points to a Code Line but more often than not, on longer expressions, this line either doesn't exist or it's pointing to the wrong Code Line. 3 - when multiple Expression Errors are found, the last error is shown first. This is not ideal because it messes with my head and also - occasionally, after fixing the first error, subsequent errors may self-correct. By first, I mean going by layer Index. There may of course be other options that will be optimal for other/special setups.  4 - it's also very often, almost all the time, in the Expression Editor, the Error Message Box blocks other lines of code. I'd like if the Error Message Box can be moved by the user; subject to being constrained within the Expression Editor area will be ideal. 5 - There's also an Expression Bug with Effect Controls and the Text Expression Selector's Amount prop - If you change the name of an Effect Control, the Expression Errors - it should update, like other Expressions do. The trick/fix is to click in the Expression Edtior and exit it and the error goes away - seems like the click-in does a wake up call of sorts. Also, thinking if the Expression Editor can be hooked up to an LLM or a "Made for AE Expression Engine Co-Pilot" that can help correct the Error or suggest options and also carry out the suggested options in a guided manner until the error is fixed or the user bails out. And might as well include an option to mail the AE Team if a solution isn't found. ... View more

Here's the clean Table     And a teaser for the, maybe, video tutorial. This rig uses Responsive MoGraph Features so that it works with different text inputs. The original rig I worked on was done about 12 years ago - before sourceRectAtTime(). I spent a bit of time making it responsive - so it's quite cool now.  It of course replicates the Range Selector's every parameter so that it provides a pretty good visualizer for how it works. ... View more

Thank you for th ekind words, Nishu.  The next one will be interesting. It's something I've had  this AEP for about 12-13 years and I've used it to teach the Tect Tool in my AE classes - it's about Demystifying Range Selectors. There are lots of tutorials on the Text Layer's Range Selector but AFAIK, they all skip a few parameters or fail to cover critical parameters in a sufficient manner. So, when mine comes on board, it will (hopefully) help demystify A LOT - maybe not everything BUT a lot, and it should open more creative opportunities for AE users when working with the Text Tool and the Range Selector.  Have a great weekend. ... View more

This issue continues. It's been 7 years IIRC.  It's a bug that forces the user to FORCE EXIT AE - work is lost. It takes a lot of time recovering.  It's really easy to repro - drop a drop menu into the EGP. Edit the Drop Menu in the Timeline and BAM!!!  If the Drop Menu is first removed from the EGP, there is no issue AFAICR. But when the Drop Menu is in the EGP - it's a huge disaster.  ... View more

The code you shared is part of ExtendScript and not for use as an Expression. When you prompt the LLM, you should let it know what you want - ExtendScript or Expression.  On Text Style Expressions, Text Style and Source Text are two different Expression Methods. If you want both, you need to declare both, separately.  So, something like this -  // get the source text const sourceText = thisComp.layer("donot text").text.sourceText; // get style from the source text const sourceTextStyle = sourceText.style; // declare source text style and the source text // text style declarations begin with a style declaration followed by text style attributes including the source text setText() Expression Method. sourceTextStyle.setText(sourceText) // if you don't want the text from the source text but the text from the 'follower layer', you leave out the source text and declare just the style from the 'main/donor text'. sourceTextStyle HTH ... View more

Thank You & TeamAE ... View more

Thanks for the kind words, Nishu.  There's definitely lots more to come. I have enough content to last until the end of the year and they're scratching the surface stuff. I wish I could do these a lot more quickly and with fewer errors too - it takes a while to correct typos and there are still issues with synching my brain and my fingers - as I type on para 1, I'm thinking of paras 2-4.  😄 ... View more

Thanks for taking a look at the blog and for the kind words, Nishu.  Lots more to come - here's a sampling: ... View more

Take a look at the Expression that selects a single alphanumeric - it supports multiple-line input strings, has a case-sensitive checkbox, multiple searches, and an instancing delimeter. https://www.broadcastgems.com/post/the-text-selector-expression-is-arguably-the-most-elusive-adobe-after-effects-feature-and-yet-it-s-t ... View more

@Rick Gerard anti-aliasing for Rect-shaped Parametric Shape Layers, works differently from Solids and Raster Imagery.  I did a screen recording showing this. The short-story is to use even-numbered integers for your Shape Layers to get crisp edges.     ... View more

Can someone from the AE Team have a look at this thread - sounds like a reproducible issue with this feature -  https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-discussions/after-effects-cc-2018-bug-corrupted-the-aep-project-and-all-the-auto-saves-after-i-used-quot-create/td-p/9455776 ... View more

This is a HUGE BUG if indeed you can reproduce this and the issue is indeed caused by the feature which it does to me. Please file a Bug Report ASAP. Thanks.  ... View more

Looks like Dan's got you covered on this assignment. If you want to dig into this sort of stuff, here's a URL with lots of examples and AEPs - https://www.motionboutique.com/blog/summer-of-code ... View more

Hi Kevin, two of my posts earlier today are missing. I've actually been noticing strangeness the past few months and can finally confirm this. Are you able to look into this? TIA PS - I see them now - very strange.  ... View more

Lottie Labs is another option - https://www.lottielab.com/animation-features ... View more

Until a fix arrives, I've been hitting the Enter key, to add extra lines cos the missing-cursor problem occurs when you only have 1-2 lines.  On the EGP showing the Primary Comp instead of the Active Comp, for me, the current design is how it should be - it allows a user to populate the EGP with properties from other comps which is how we create an Essential Property. If you haven't done so, get used to using the Open in EGP Shortcut/Command. This is where/how you select a timeline property and hit the Shortcut and it opens the EGP ... AND ... sets the EGP's Primary Comp to the Active Comp. There are two other Commands/Shortcuts related to the EGP -  Essential Graphics Panel - this selects/opens the EGP with the Primary Comp set the the last Primary Comp selection. Add to EGP - This allows you to add selected+supported properties to the EGP So, if you're going to use the EGP a fair bit, you'll want to have these Shortcuts set up for these Commands. And here's a PDF I wrote to help users set up a strategy for creating shortcuts that work for them -  https://www.broadcastgems.com/post/how-to-work-faster-in-adobe-after-effects-any-app HTH ... View more

You'll want to use toLocaleString() to solve such issues related to international numbering systems.  I've started writing a series of short tutorials on using Modern Javascript in After Effects Expressions. These are part of my Advanced Course on Developing Advanced Intelligent Design Assets - these are start of the moment AE Templates/MoGRTs.  https://www.broadcastgems.com/post/modern-javascript-adobe-after-effects-expressions-tolocalestring I'll add more topics in the days and weeks ahead. Quite a few will also make it into my upcoming AE Script, AeXpressions NotePad - I hope it's OK to share this teaser/snippet.    ... View more