Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 47

After Effects provides several prewritten scripts to assist you in performing common tasks, and to provide a basis for
you to modify and create your own scripts.
Run the sample script DemoPalette.jsx to get an idea of what sorts of things you can do with scripts. For example,
the Reverse Layer Order script makes reversing the stacking order of layers in the Timeline panel much easier than
reordering the layers manually.
You can write your own scripts for use in After Effects by using the script editor, which is part of the ExtendScript
Toolkit. The ExtendScript Toolkit provides a convenient interface for creating, debugging, and testing your own
scripts.
Note: Scripts created in After Effects 6.5 or earlier that use an index to access a property may not work as expected in
After Effects 7 or later. To resolve this issue, modify your scripts so that they contain equivalent expressions accessing
properties by name.
The default is for scripts to not be allowed to write files or send or receive communication over a network. To allow
scripts to write files and communicate over a network, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After
Effects > Preferences > General (Mac OS), and select the Allow Scripts To Write Files And Access Network option.
• To run a loaded script, choose File > Scripts > [script name]
• To run a script that has not been loaded, choose File > Scripts > Run Script File, locate and select a script, and click
Open.
• To start the script editor, choose File > Scripts > Open Script Editor.
For a complete description of the scripting capabilities available with After Effects, see the After Effects Scripting
Guide on the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/learn_ae_indepth.
To exchange scripts and other useful tools with other After Effects users, visit the After Effects Exchange on the
Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/learn_ae_exchange.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 41
User Guide