@Amanda-A Yes this is possible. You have to use expressions though when it comes to altering the color values in a shape layer. Take a read through this article to learn more about using data in expressions with Templater, and then also take a look at this pre-rigged template on our GitHub repository demonstrating the use of data in expression — also in the context of color manipulation. Hope this helps!

—Arie

A simplified example would be awesome. Thanks. Appreciate!

Hi Rival,

Apologies for the long delay on the forum reply. We’re you able to get this solved? It sounds like a cacheing issue or possibly that either AE or AME need to be restarted. Were you able to get it resolved?

@rivalpro

The way to avoid the issue is to use a # before all hex values in spreadsheet data. This shouldn’t happen with JSON data, as it is a quirk of how spreadsheet software (including Google Sheets) attempts to detect the data type in a cell and set the formatting. Using # will override the Sheet from setting incorrect formatting while the Bot is processing its data. While the Bot is running, the Sheet will think that you are changing data, and will try to automatically format all-numerical hex values as numbers unless they use the #.

Unfortunately, yes text animators can throw off Templater’s layout logic. You will like have to tweak the animator’s params based on how the data looks for various jobs. Does the issue show up each time you preview? To gain a clearer sense, can you post a short screencast or GIF capture?

Thanks,
Arie

@rivalpro Yes, you can pull in the value as a text layer, then use an expression to tie your shape size / percent completion to the SourceText property of the text layer by wrapping it in a parseInt(). If your text layer is “text-1”, and your text layer is in the same comp as whatever numerical value you are using to control your bar, the expression would be:

parseInt(thisComp.layer("text-1").text.sourceText)

That would convert your text value from being just a text string into a number.

@rivalpro I wrote a forum post a while back for this type of “slideshow,” with a variable number of slides. You can find it here.

There is one minor tweak that you can do with this method. We’ve added comp switching via a flag in your data (wrapping the comp name in double curly braces) to the latest version of Templater, so instead of swapping with a video asset, you could swap with an empty 2-frame comp that is double the framerate of the containing comp.

Google Sheets is really the data source type that always has these strange issues with what can and cannot be in the header. Other data source types (JSON and TSV) do not have this issue.

You can see all the “reserved names” that you use in your data source that are NOT related to actual composition layers. You can also checkout the “warning” in the “Mapped Data” page to see the documentation re: Google Sheets problems.

Glad you got it working, and I hope this helps!

Best,
Arie

@cmoyer What kind of layers are the ones that seem to hang up? Audio? Video? Stills? Precomps? Is it always the same layers or footage sources, or does it change? If you remove any precomps (leaving only footage) does it still stall?

If you’re able to do a screen recording, that’d be really helpful, for you to demonstrate your project setup. If you don’t want to share it publicly, you can submit a ticket

@cmoyer

Testing the collapse transformations issue, it looks like any effect (not limited to the Templater Settings effect) that you apply to that precomp will break or change your collapse transformation in unexpected ways. There is something weird happening in the way that AE applies effects to collapsed precomps. I’m not entirely sure of a way around this issue.

From Adobe’s help (with my highlights):

“When a closed mask (with mask mode other than None), a layer style, or an effect is applied to a nested composition with collapsed transformations, the layers in the nested composition are first rendered on their own, then masks and effects are applied, and then the result is composited into the main composition. This rendering order means that the blending modes of the nested layers are not applied to any underlying layers in the main composition, and that 3D layers above and below the collapsed layer cannot intersect or cast shadows on each other.”

@jon said in Text not Updating:

in the notes here

Thanks Jon! Greatly appreciate the quick feedback and the link, cheers!

@gjkoble Yes this is absolutely possible by enabling Bot. The trial actually gives you all features from all editions of Templater. So, technically, you could not acheive what you are asking with Templater Rig, you would need Templater Bot. However, since you are still within your trial period, you could still do this.

You can point to any URL that responds with JSON object arrays. Each object in the array would effectively be a new video. It’s up to you how you want to setup the server that Templater requests data from at regular intervals. You can see Bot in action by watching the following video:

The Bot for Templater

However, that video shows a Google Sheet as a Templater data source. You can do the same thing except instead of using a Google Sheet, you can use a URL feed. Learn more about using URL feeds with Templater on our support site. Note the following from that article, however:

When using a URL feed, The Bot cannot update the value of the “render-status” key because the data source is specific to the user’s system. Therefore, users should register custom scripts to update “render-status” values at appropriate events to avoid re-rendering “ready” data.

Hopefully this helps, and please do not hesitate to ask any more questions!

Thank you for giving Templater a spin!

@bluesummitrealty Were you able to resolve your issue?

Another alternative is you might use the {{off}} flag in your data source to force a layer’s visibility to turn off. See this small bit of documentation, then head over to our YouTube channel to check out this video.

There are Plugins like Text Anarchy that let you animate Font Styles… and i’ve read that in the upcoming templater version you might be able to hook into extended script…

Still baffles me that there is no way to animate font properties in AE … in 2018

To Avoid the 1-Frame Issue we did the following:

Create a 2-Frame Comp with a really high framerate (whatever the current version of AE supports) and export it as a tiny Quicktime. That file will be effectively handled as a 1-Frame footage without being a infinite-time-layer.

So basicly the same as above, just adjust the framerate!