v1.75 pt_OpenSesame

Backwards Compatible Projects and Spreadsheet Editing

pt_OpenSesame opens up the After Effects project format, using a fully editable, human-readable text-based format.

Create backward-compatible projects that open in any version back to CS3, or just export parts of a project for editing in a text editor or spreadsheet. Quickly export all text to create multiple language versions, or send to clients for text approval, then easily incorporate any changes. You can also change footage, property values, render queue items, and more, making version automation simple.

pt_OpenSesame Highlights

pt_OpenSesame text files can also be used with a separate script called OpenSesame Server to create fully automated project versioning and rendering workflows.

Spreadsheet Editing

pt_OpenSesame allows you to change or version anything in your project through human-readable spreadsheets that can be updated by anyone (including a web app).

Workflow

1. Run OpenSesame, check ‘Export Editable Values’, and click ‘Show Edit List’. Use the Edit List to add the parts of the project you want to export for editing. For example, click ‘All Text’ to add all the text layers to your project. Choose whether to export just the text or also text styles from the options at the bottom.
2. Click ‘Export Project’. You’ll be asked to save your project file and a text values file will be created along with it.
3. Open the text file in either a text editor or spreadsheet app like Excel and edit as required. Once completed, save the file in the same format. Save as many versions as you like, the naming of the text file is not important.
4. Click the ‘Import Project’ button and select the text file containing the changes you want to import.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some parts of projects can’t be exported due to scripting limitations. The following features aren’t currently supported:

• Paint, Rotobrush, and Puppet Pin effects.
• Text style support is CS4+ only and doesn’t include features like kerning, vertical and paragraph text, or multiple text styles on one layer.
• Proxies.
• Custom data values. Effect properties with custom data values can’t be exported, such as the Levels Histogram and the Hue/Saturation effect. In these cases, you could use the Levels (Individual Controls) and Color Balance (HLS) effects instead.

Helper Script Support

Use helper scripts to extend OpenSesame’s functionality in all kinds of ways, or to make changes that would otherwise be difficult to accomplish just by altering the text values file. You can run as many helper scripts as you like, and choose whether they run before or after any renders are completed. This feature is primarily intended for OpenSesame Server‘s fully automated project versioning and rendering workflow and is included in OpenSesame so you can test helper scripts with your project templates before deploying to OpenSesame Server, but regular OpenSesame users may find it useful too.

Backward Compatibility

Because OpenSesame exports your project as a human-readable text file, this can be imported into any version of After Effects back to CS3 (some restrictions apply, see below).

Workflow

1. Open the project you want to convert, run OpenSesame, and click Export Project. If you don’t have the version of After Effects required to open the project you should get someone else to do this first step, such as the person that created the project. They can use the trial version of OpenSesame for this.
2. Launch your earlier version of After Effects (CS3 or later) and run OpenSesame. Click Import Project, then choose the previously exported text file.