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Last updated 12/21/2009
Chapter 16: Plug-ins, scripts, and
automation
Plug-ins
Plug-ins are small software modules—with filename extensions such as .aex, .pbk, .pbg, and .8bi—that add
functionality to an application. After Effects effects are implemented as plug-ins, as are some features for importing
and working with certain file formats. The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in, for example, provides After Effects with
its ability to work with camera raw files.
More Help topics
"Effects overview and
resources" on page 388
Installing and loading plug-ins
When After Effects starts, it loads plug-ins from the Plug-ins folder. By default, the Plug-ins folder is in the following
location:
• (Windows) Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CS4\Support Files
• (Mac OS) Applications/Adobe After Effects CS4
Several plug-ins come with After Effects and are automatically installed in the Plug-ins folder.
You can obtain other plug-ins for After Effects and other Adobe products from Adobe or other vendors. For specific
instructions for installing a plug-in, see its documentation.
After Effects also loads plug-ins from a MediaCore folder, which is intended to hold plug-ins shared between After
Effects and Premiere Pro. Some third-party plug-in installers install their plug-ins in this folder.
Note: (Mac OS) Some third-party plug-in installers incorrectly install their plug-ins into the Mac OS X Package for After
Effects. To reveal these plug-ins, Control-click the After Effects application icon in the Finder and choose Show Package
Contents. You can then move the plug-ins into the After Effects Plug-ins folder.
When loading plug-ins, After Effects ignores the contents of folders with names that begin and end in parentheses; for
example, the contents of the folder (archived_effects) are not loaded.
When exchanging After Effects projects between computer systems, make sure that the plug-ins that the project
depends on are installed on both systems. Similarly, if you are rendering a composition with multiple computers on a
network, make sure that all plug-ins used in the composition are installed on all rendering computers.
On Mac OS, press Command+Option+Shift+Help to generate a list of all plug-ins loaded into After Effects (including
version numbers). For information on using this command on Windows or with a Macintosh keyboard that doesn't
have a Help button, see Todd Kopriva's blog on the
Third-party plug-ins included with After Effects
After Effects comes with several third-party plug-ins, including Foundry Keylight, Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse,
fnord ProEXR, and Cycore FX (CC) plug-ins. These plug-ins are installed by default with the full version of Adobe
After Effects software. These plug-ins are not included with the trial version of Adobe After Effects software.
Adobe
website.
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