Multiple Keyframe Copy and Paste Library

What type of scripts do you need?

Moderator: byronnash

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Paul Hill
Posts: 8
Joined: April 30th, 2007, 4:44 am
Location: Bristol UK

Hi there

I was just having a go at doing some character lip-syncing in After Effects. I had constructed a mouth with separate layers for the lips, teeth, tongue and back of the mouth. Each layer was a solid with one or two masks to make up the shapes needed. I then adjusted the masks to create the standard mouth shapes required for lip-syncing (ah, ee, oh, oo etc) As I did this I key-framed every position on every layer. So I ended up with about twelve frames at the start of my composition, each with a different mouth shape.

With all the basic positions created I could then play through the dialogue and copy & paste the relevant mask shapes to the corresponding sounds. Using mask shapes means that you can tween between the positions as well as make individual adjustments to the shapes later.

However, it requires a lot of going backwards and forwards copying and pasting from each layer.

I was wondering if there is anyway to copy key frames from multiple layers and store them in a library.

So for example, say I select all the key-frames from all the layers that make the "ah" mouth shape. I then have an interface with a blank list of Copy and Paste buttons. I click on the first Copy button and then fill in a text box next to it to label it as "ah". I then select all the key frames that make the "ee" shape. I click on the second Copy button and label it as "ee". I do this for all 12 mouth shapes. So I've built a labelled library of key-frames for multiple layers.

I can then go through my dialogue and simply click on the Paste button next to the relevant label.

I know there is a script that already allows copying and pasting to multiple layers but I imagine that building something that can store many different combinations would probably be quite difficult.

Anyway, it was just a thought I had. I'm not asking anyone to actually try and make the script for me (I've got no-idea how it would be done but I imagine it's a whole lot of work). I just wondered if it was possible and whether anyone else would find such a thing helpful.

Thanks for reading.
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lloydalvarez
Enhancement master
Posts: 460
Joined: June 17th, 2004, 9:27 am
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Could you do this with animation presets? They store keyframes.
Paul Hill
Posts: 8
Joined: April 30th, 2007, 4:44 am
Location: Bristol UK

I should have thought about that option. I guess I'm just used to manually doing my keyframes.

However, I may be wrong but I don't think you can select and save keyframes from multiple layers into a preset. I guess the alternative would be to use a shape layer with multiple paths. However if you then want to add effects to the shapes, like a bevel on the lips of the mouth, you'd have to duplicate the layer after animating and then delete the undesired shapes from each duplicate. It's probably still quicker doing it that way though.

Thanks
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