Freelancer's Best Friend

[lloydalvarez]

As a freelancer you are always sitting down at a new & different machines that are obviously not setup to your prefs..

I have my prefs, shortcuts, Render Settings and Output modules in a special directory on my webserver.

The script would move the local prefs from the machine into a temp folder and read my prefs from the server and install them on the machine. Then, when I am done with my session, I could run the script (or a diffrent script) to restore the local settings back on the machine.

Not sure if this is even possible with scripting, but it would be an awesome tool to have as a freelancer.

[sycophant]

I don't know about the scripting side of this... But I carry those sort of files (my Avid preferences) on a USB drive, it can fit on my keyring, or easily in a pocket, and seems to work on my computers I need to use (even most Macs). I also have a copy of Portable Thunderbird so I can easily check my IMAP email. I love my USB drive.

For what you're trying to do, I don't think an After Effects script would be the best option, I don't think it offers a lot of filesystem operations, and using the sockets object to download binary files via HTTP could be a hassle I think.

[vidpat]

The AE preferences file should contain all of the items you want (i.e. Output Modules, Workspaces). There may be some items specific to a particular installation that may cause difficulties. In my experience, however, copying the preferences file between machines generally works.

An AE script could save and load preferences to a file on a server, but it would be tedious to use the settings and preferences functions for each item. Also, setting some preferences through scripting doesn't always work.

It wouldn't be difficult to write an AE script that would save a copy of the preferences file to a server and download it to the correct location on a different machine. The current preferences file could be copied and then restored when you leave the machine. There is a potential problem with this approach: The script would be running inside of After Effects and AE would need to then be closed and relaunched to have the preferences take affect. Of course, when AE exits it may overwrite the newly downloaded preference file with the settings from the current session defeating the purpose.

A shell script with the above functionality would do the trick. It would need to be executed when AE is not running so that the new preferences file would take affect. Mac and PC versions of the shell script would need to be created. Of course, different directory structures and user permissions could pose difficulties.

Perhaps just uploading a copy of your preferences file to a server or storing it on a disk or thumb drive would be the best approach. Then you could manually back up the machine's current preferences, copy over your own, and restore when you are done. That shouldn't be too much work.

[lloydalvarez]

Perhaps just uploading a copy of your preferences file to a server or storing it on a disk or thumb drive would be the best approach. Then you could manually back up the machine's current preferences, copy over your own, and restore when you are done. That shouldn't be too much work.

And that's what I do know.. I just thought it would be kind of pimpin' to have a script do it.. The reality is that sometimes I show up at a gig and gotta dive right in so I skip the prefs swap.. a script would allow me to do it while shaking hands with the clients... know what I mean.. but I totally understand your point..

Even though my sister knew that getting a pony for christmas was unlikely, it didn't stop her from putting it on her xmas list year after year..