app.project.item(index).parentFolder

Description

The FolderItem object for the folder that contains this item. If this item is at the top level of the project, this is the project’s root folder (app.project.rootFolder).You can use the ItemCollection’s addFolder method to add a new folder, and set this value to put items in the new folder. See ItemCollection addFolder() method”.

Type

FolderItem object; read/write.

Example

This script creates a new FolderItem in the Project panel and moves compositions into it.
// create a new FolderItem in project, with name "comps"
var compFolder = app.project.items.addFolder("comps");
// move all compositions into new folder by setting
// compItem’s parentFolder to "comps" folder
for(var i = 1; i <= app.project.numItems; i++) { if(app.project.item(i) instanceof CompItem) app.project.item(i).parentFolder = compFolder; }

app.project.itemindex.layerindex

Description

The AVLayer object provides an interface to those layers that contain AVItem objects composition layers,
footage layers, solid layers, text layers, and sound layers.

• AVLayer is a subclass of Layer. All methods and attributes of Layer, in addition to those listed below, are
available when working with AVLayer.
• AVLayer is a base class for TextLayer, so AVLayer attributes and methods are available when working with
TextLayer objects.

AE Properties

Different types of layers have different AE properties. AVLayer has the following properties and property
groups:

Marker
Time Remap
Motion Trackers
Masks
Effects
Transform

Anchor Point
Position
Scale
Orientation
X Rotation
Y Rotation
Rotation
Opacity

Layer Styles
Geometry Options // Ray -traced 3D
Material Options

Casts Shadows
Light Transmission
Accepts Shadows
Accepts Lights
Appears in Reflections // Ray-traced 3D
Ambient
Diffuse
Specular Intensity
Specular Shininess
Metal
Reflection Intensity // Ray-traced 3D
Reflection Sharpness // Ray-traced 3D
Reflection Rolloff // Ray-traced 3D
Transparency // Ray -traced 3D
Transparency Rolloff // Ray-traced 3D
Index of Refraction // Ray-traced 3D

Audio
Audio Levels

Example

If the first item in the project is a CompItem, andthe first layer of that CompItem is an AVLayer,the following
sets the layerquality, startTime, and inPoint.
var firstLayer = app.project.item1.layer1;
firstLayer.quality = LayerQuality.BEST;
firstLayer.startTime = 1;
firstLayer.inPoint = 2;


Attributes

Attribute Reference Description
source AVLayer source attribute” The source item for this layer.
isNameFromSource “AVLayer isNameFromSource attribute” When true, the layer has no expressly set name,
but contains a named source.
height “AVLayer height attribute” The height of the layer.
width “AVLayer width attribute” The width of the layer.
audioEnabled “AVLayer audioEnabled attribute” When true, the layer’s audio is enabled.
motionBlur “AVLayer motionBlur attribute” When true, the layer’s motion blur is enabled.
effectsActive “AVLayer effectsActive attribute” When true, the layer’s effects are active.
adjustmentLayer “AVLayer adjustmentLayer attribute” When true, this is an adjustment layer.
guideLayer “AVLayer guideLayer attribute” When true, this is a guide layer.
threeDLayer “AVLayer threeDLayer attribute” When true, this is a 3D layer.
threeDPerChar “AVLayer threeDPerChar attribute” When true, 3D is set on a per-character basis in this text layer.
environmentLayer “AVLayer environmentLayer attribute” When true, this is an environment layer.
canSetCollapseTransformation “AVLayer canSetCollapseTransformation attribute” When true, it is legal to change the value of collapseTransformation.
collapseTransformation “AVLayer collapseTransformation attribute” When true, collapse transformation is on.
frameBlending “AVLayer frameBlending attribute” When true, frame blending is enabled.
frameBlendingType “AVLayer frameBlendingType attribute” The type of frame blending for the layer.
canSetTimeRemapEnabled “AVLayer canSetTimeRemapEnabled attribute” When true, it is legal to change the value of timeRemapEnabled.
timeRemapEnabled “AVLayer timeRemapEnabled attribute” When true, time remapping is enabled on this layer.
hasAudio “AVLayer hasAudio attribute” When true, the layer contains an audio component.
Attribute Reference Description
audioActive “AVLayer audioActive attribute” When true, the layer’s audio is active at the current time.
blendingMode “AVLayer blendingMode attribute” The blending mode of the layer.
preserveTransparency “AVLayer preserveTransparency attribute” When true, preserve transparency is enabled.
trackMatteType “AVLayer trackMatteType attribute” if layer has a track matte, specifies the way it is applied.
isTrackMatte “AVLayer isTrackMatte attribute” When true, this layer is being used as a track matte for the layer below it.
hasTrackMatte “AVLayer hasTrackMatte attribute” When true, the layer above is being used as a track matte on this layer.
quality “AVLayer quality attribute” The layer quality setting.
autoOrient “AVLayer autoOrient attribute” The type of automatic orientation for the layer.

Methods

Method Reference Description
audioActiveAtTime “AVLayer audioActiveAtTime method” Reports whether this layer’s audio is
active at a given time.
calculateTransformFromPoints “AVLayer calculateTransform-FromPoints method” Calculates a transformation from a set of
points in this layer.
replaceSource “AVLayer replaceSource method” Changes the source item for this layer.
sourceRectAtTime “AVLayer sourceRectAtTime method” Retrieves the source rectangle of a layer.
openInViewer “AVLayer openInViewer method” Opens the layer in a Layer panel.

app.project.item(index)

Description

The AVItem object provides access to attributes and methods of audio/visual files imported into After Effects.

• AVItem is a subclass of Item. All methods and attributes of Item, in addition to those listed below, are available when working with AVItem.
• AVItem is the base class for both CompItem and FootageItem, so AVItem attributes and methods are also available when working with CompItem and FootageItem objects. See CompItem object” and “FootageItem object”.

Attributes

Attribute Reference Description
name “AVItem name attribute” The name of the object as shown in the Project panel.
width “AVItem width attribute” The width of the item.
height “AVItem height attribute” The height of the item.
pixelAspect “AVItem pixelAspect attribute” The pixel aspect ratio of the item.
frameRate “AVItem frameRate attribute” The frame rate of the item.
frameDuration “AVItem frameDuration attribute” The frame duration for the item.
duration “AVItem duration attribute” The total duration of the item.
useProxy “AVItem useProxy attribute” When true, a proxy source is used for this item.
proxySource “AVItem proxySource attribute” The FootageItem object used as proxy for the item.
time “AVItem time attribute” Current time of the item.
usedIn “AVItem usedIn attribute” The CompItem objects that use this item.
hasVideo “AVItem hasVideo attribute” When true, the item has a video component.
hasAudio “AVItem hasAudio attribute” When true, the item has an audio component.
footageMissing “AVItem footageMissing attribute” When true, the item cannot be found or is a placeholder.

Methods

Method Reference Description
setProxy () “AVItem setProxy() method” Sets a proxy for the item.
setProxyWithSequence () “AVItem setProxyWithSequence() method” Sets a sequence as a proxy for the item.
setProxyWithSolid() “AVItem setProxyWithSolid() method” Sets a solid as a proxy for the item.
setProxyWithPlaceholder( ) “AVItem setProxyWithPlaceholder() method” Sets a placeholder as a proxy for the item.
setProxyToNone() “AVItem setProxyToNone() method” Removes the proxy for the item.

app.project.item(index)
app.project.items[index]

Description

The Item object represents an item that can appear in the Project panel.
The first item is at index 1.

• Item is the base class for AVItem and for FolderItem, which are in turn the base classes for various other item types, so Item attributes and methods are available when working with all of these item types. See AVItem object” and “FolderItem object”.

Attributes

Attributes Reference Description
name “Item name attribute” The name of the object as shown in the Project panel.
comment “Item comment attribute” A descriptive string.
id “Item id attribute” A unique identifier for this item.
parentFolder “Item parentFolder attribute” The parent folder of this item.
selected “Item selected attribute” When true, this item is currently selected.
typeName “Item typeName attribute” The type of item.
label “Item label attribute” The label color for the item.

Methods

Method Reference Description
remove() “Item remove() method” Deletes the item from the project.

Example

This example gets the second item from the project and checks that it is a folder. It then removes from the folder any top-level item that is not currently selected. It also checks to make sure that, for each item in the folder, the parent is properly set to the correct folder.
var myFolder = app.project.item(2);
if (myFolder.typeName != "Folder") {
alert("error: second item is not a folder");
}
else {
var numInFolder = myFolder.numItems;
// Always run loops backwards when deleting things:
for(i = numInFolder; i >= 1; i--) {
var curItem = myFolder.item(i);
if ( curItem.parentFolder != myFolder) {
alert("error within AE: the parentFolder is not set correctly");
}
else {
if ( !curItem.selected && curItem.typeName == "Footage") {
//found an unselected solid.
curItem.remove();
}
}
}
}

app.project.FolderItem

Description

The FolderItem object corresponds to a folder in your Project panel. It can contain various types of items (footage, compositions, solids) as well as other folders.

Example

Given that the second item in the project is a FolderItem, the following code puts up an alert for each top-level item in the folder, showing that item’s name.
var secondItem = app.project.item(2);
if ( !(secondItem instanceof FolderItem) ) { alert("problem: second item is not a folder");
} else { for (i = 1; i "<= secondItem.numItems; i++) { alert("item number " + i + " within the folder is named " + secondItem.item(i).name); } }

Attributes

Attribute Reference Description
items "FolderItem items attribute" The contents of this folder.
numItems "FolderItem numItems attribute" The number of items contained in the folder.

Methods

Method Reference Description
item() "FolderItem item() method" Gets an item from the folder.

app.project.item(index).mainSource
app.project.item(index).proxySource

Description

The FileSource object describes footage that comes from a file.

• FileSource is a subclass of FootageSource. All methods and attributes of FootageSource, in addition to those listed below, are available when working with FileSource.

Attributes

Attribute Reference Description
file FileSource file attribute” The file that defines this asset.
missingFootagePath “FileSource missingFootagePath attribute” The file that contains footage missing from this asset.

Methods

Method Reference Description
reload ( ) “FileSource reload() method” Reloads the asset from the file, if it is a mainSource of a FootageItem.

app.project.item(index).mainSource
app.project.item(index).proxySource

Description

The FootageSource object holds information describing the source of some footage. It is used as the
mainSource of a FootageItem, or the proxySource of a CompItem or FootageItem. See FootageItem object” and “CompItem object”.

• FootageSource is the base class for SolidSource, so FootageSource attributes and methods are available when working with SolidSource objects.

Attributes

Attribute Reference Description
hasAlpha “FootageSource hasAlpha attribute” When true, a footage clip or proxy includes an alpha channel.
alpha Mode “FootageSource alphaMode attribute” The mode of an alpha channel.
premulColor “FootageSource premulColor attribute” The color to be premultiplied.
invertAlpha “FootageSource invertAlpha attribute” When true, an alpha channel in a footage clip or proxy should be inverted.
isStill “FootageSource isStill attribute” When true, footage is a still image.
fieldSeparationType “FootageSource fieldSeparationType attribute” The field separation type.
highQualityFieldSeparation “FootageSource highQualityFieldSeparation attribute” How the fields are to be separated in non-still footage.
removePulldown “FootageSource removePulldown attribute” The pulldown type for the footage.
loop “FootageSource loop attribute” How many times an image sequence is set to loop.
nativeFrameRate “FootageSource nativeFrameRate attribute” The native frame rate of the footage.
displayFrameRate “FootageSource displayFrameRate attribute” The effective frame rate as displayed and rendered in compositions by After Effects.
conformFrameRate “FootageSource conformFrameRate attribute” The rate to which footage should conform.

Methods

Method Reference Description
guessAlphaMode () “FootageSource guessAlphaMode() method” Estimates the alph aMo d e setting.
guessPulldown( ) “FootageSource guessPulldown() method” Estimates the pulldownType setting.

myKey= new KeyframeEase(speed, influence);

Description

The KeyframeEase object encapsulates the keyframe ease settings of a layer’s AE property. Keyframe ease is
determined by the speed and influence values that you set using the property’s setTemporalEaseAtKey
method.

The constructor creates a KeyframeEase object. Both parameters are required.

• speed: A floating-point value. Sets the speed attribute.
• influence: A floating-point value in the range [0.1..100.0]. Sets the influence attribute.

Example

This example assumes that the Position, a spatial property, has more than two keyframes.
var easeIn = new KeyframeEase(0.5, 50);
var easeOut = new KeyframeEase(0.75, 85);
var myPositionProperty = app.project.item(1).layer(1).property("Position")
myPositionProperty.setTemporalEaseAtKey(2, [easeIn], [easeOut]);

This example sets the Scale, a temporal property with either two or three dimensions. For 2D and 3D properties you must set an easeIn and easeOut value for each dimension:
var easeIn = new KeyframeEase(0.5, 50);
var easeOut = new KeyframeEase(0.75, 85);
var myScaleProperty = app.project.item(1).layer(1).property("Scale")
myScaleProperty.setTemporalEaseAtKey(2, [easeIn, easeIn, easeIn], [easeOut, easeOut, easeOut]);

Attributes

Attribute Reference Description
speed “KeyframeEase speed attribute” The speed setting for a keyframe.
influence “KeyframeEase influence attribute” The influence setting for a keyframe.