What properties of After Effects project can be edited without opening the application itself

[Guest]

I would like to move the layers up and down in the timeline panel and set their starting point, maybe set some keyframes. I would like to do this without manually open after effects and set their order myself.

Can this be scripted using some programming language? And more generally, what are the things you can edit in After Effects project, without manually editing the project itself?

Thanks, Pat

[Dave_LaRonde]

Nothing.  Open that project file up and get crackin'!

[Guest]

Thanks for stopping by Dave. Oh, thats unfortunate! I've been researching the subject further, and it seems that ExtendScript offers functionality of reordering layers, maybe even setting their staring point. Although I haven't found a way to do that without actually opening after effects and clicking running script manually.

[Mylenium]

There is no such thing as just running a script. Scripts are just reflections and instanciated internal functions and commands. Without running AE even the smartest script doesn't know what to do when executing a command. that and of course AE projects are just binary data blobs that can't be read without the actual parsing routines of the main program. So no, what you want is impossible. At some point AE has to be involved.

Mylenium

[Dave_LaRonde]

Well, I was WRONG about not being able to alter a project file without opening it.  You can change the name of the project file, and you can't do so if it's open.

[Rick Gerard]

Here's a bit of the 'code' in an AEP file, do you see anything in there that looks like code you can edit?

cdat(?tdum tduM @Ytdmn(ADBE Envir Appear in ReflectLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô  ˇˇ ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(?tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Camera Options GroupLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Group EndLIST\Gidegdta LIST@listlhd34– Ó     LIST Ewstfvdv  fiop ftts foac fiac fipc fifl fvdv  fiop ftts foac fiac fipc fifl LIST ‚CLayldta†   X]® S]®D  Custom View 3   Utf8 Custom View 3LIST ¥tdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Transform GroupLIST ∞tdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Anchor PointLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????     cdatH@Ñ@vÄtdmn(ADBE PositionLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????     cdatH@¢„é8·Û–¿ñ' q√Á°¿õ« q√Á°tdmn(ADBE Position_0LISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM tdmn(ADBE Position_1LISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM tdmn(ADBE Position_2LISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM tdmn(ADBE ScaleLIST >tdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdatx???tdum tduM tdmn(ADBE Rotate ZLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdmn(ADBE OpacityLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(?tdum tduM @Ytdmn(ADBE Envir Appear in ReflectLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô  ˇˇ ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(?tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Camera Options GroupLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Group EndLIST\Gidegdta LIST@listlhd34– Ó     LIST Ewstfvdv  fiop ftts foac fiac fipc fifl fvdv  fiop ftts foac fiac fipc fifl LIST êSecLldta†    X]® S]®á  Markers    Utf8 MarkersLIST htdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Transform GroupLIST ÷tdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Position_0LISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM tdmn(ADBE Position_1LISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM tdmn(ADBE OrientationLISTˆotstLISTætdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô    ]®? 6‚Î C-????   cdat LIST$otkyotda tdmn(ADBE Rotate XLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdmn(ADBE Rotate YLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdmn(ADBE Envir Appear in ReflectLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô  ˇˇ ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(?tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Layer StylesLIST btdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Blend Options GroupLISTÃtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Adv Blend GroupLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(dropShadow/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(innerShadow/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(outerGlow/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(innerGlow/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(bevelEmboss/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(chromeFX/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(solidFill/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(gradientFill/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(patternFill/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(frameFX/enabledLISTJtdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Extrsn Options GroupLIST Ptdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Bevel DirectionLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(?tdmn(ADBE Group Endtdmn(ADBE Material Options GroupLIST 4tdgptdsb  tdsn tdmn(ADBE Appears in ReflectionsLISTŒtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô  ˇˇ ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(?tdmn(ADBE Reflection CoefficientLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM @Ytdmn(ADBE Glossiness CoefficientLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(@Ytdum tduM @Ytdmn(ADBE Fresnel CoefficientLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM @Ytdmn(ADBE Transparency CoefficientLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM @Ytdmn(ADBE Transp RolloffLISTÓtdbstdsb  tdsn tdb4|€ô   ˇˇ]®? 6‚Î C-????  cdat(tdum tduM @Ytdmn(A

[Guest]

Not really. I will try changing some values and then compare the project to its previous state. Maybe something useful pops out. Btw, which app did you use to open the project as text?

[Rick Gerard]

Basic text editor....

Change anything and you'll get a can't open errors in the AEP.

There is nothing in there that can be directly edited.

[Guest]

Thanks. It appears they use a checksum.

[VictoriaNece · Accepted solution]

Standard .aeps are not human-readable. You can save the project as XML (.aepx), and then some features are editable in a text editor.