Mailing List AE-List@media-motion.tv — Message #63170
From: Rick Gerard <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
Sender: Rick Gerard <ae@mstrg.com>
Subject: Re: [AE] Find Z position on timeline
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2017 23:13:00 -0700
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
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Maybe I am not understanding the problem but it seems to me that if you just created an empty text layer and then tied the Source Text to the Z value of the zoom layer or camera or whatever is animated between 0 and a couple trillion you could see the current zoom value quickly. Make it a guide layer so it doesn’t render. 

Something like this with a right justified text layer:

Math.round(thisComp.layer("zoom").transform.position[2])

No need to deal with decimals. 

Now you could quickly scroll through the timeline and get very close to the desired Z value to set the in point for your next layer. Once you are close just using Ctrl/Cmnd + right or left arrow should get you to the exact frame pretty quickly. I probably should have said close enough to the right frame because when you are dividing about 10000 frames (about 6 minutes) by trillions each frame is going to jump about 100 million.

You might be better off dividing the Z value like this: Math.round(thisComp.layer("zoom").transform.position[2]/10000000)

That way, if your comp is 6 minutes and the Z value change is 1 trillion, the last two digits will change and it will be easier to read.

It’s not a type in a number and move the CTI to that Z value but it should provide a very quick way to scroll very close to the right frame in the timeline.  

If you are trying to automate something then this won’t work but it should give you a fast and easy way to get the CTI to the right place in the timeline. 


Rick Gerard
DP/VFX Supervisor
Northern CA.

On Sep 22, 2017, at 6:03 PM, Stephen van Vuuren <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

Phil,
 
Thanks! Yeah, this is where my script incompetence haunts me. I’m sure it can and hoping it was already written. Hold that script start though – I might be able to math this without the script but if it fails I will ping you off list to take advantage of your generous offer when I’m 100% sure I need it. 
 
Right now waiting for the revised background layer to come off the farm and time out the layers – and I leave Sunday to show clips at a conference, so might be first week in October before I know for sure.
 
 
best,
Stephen
 
stephen van vuuren
336.202.4777
 
 
A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.
–Stanley Kubrick
 
From: After Effects Mail List [mailto:AE-List@media-motion.tv] 
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 9:00 PM
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
Subject: Re: [AE] Find Z position on timeline
 
a script could easily go through each frame and copy the data to a CSV.
 
I could help you if needed (basically the reverse of what I wrote to generate the positions for each sprite).
 
Phil
 
 

Phil Spitler  |  Creative Technologist |  Bonfire Labs  |  t : 415.394.8200  m : 415.571.3139
 
 
On Sep 22, 2017, at 5:54 PM, Stephen van Vuuren <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:
 
That’s an interesting idea Chris but not sure how to copy keyframes for 6000 frames (there would be a keyframe in each frame obviously) and get z values for all 6000 into a spreadsheet.
 
best,
Stephen
 
stephen van vuuren
336.202.4777
 
 
A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.
–Stanley Kubrick
 
From: After Effects Mail List [mailto:AE-List@media-motion.tv] 
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 6:20 PM
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
Subject: Re: [AE] Find Z position on timeline
 
Can you copy & paste the keyframes to your spreadsheet and set up another column with frame numbers?  Then you can do your search in there…
 
On 23 Sep 2017, at 4:50 am, Stephen van Vuuren <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:
 
Angie,
 
First, the value graph goes off the top. My values so exceed what it can display, the UI can’t display them on the graph.
 
As for assigning keyframes and looking for those, that’s a clever idea but it does not search for a range or closet value. I would have to know the value at that keyframe. I.E.  assigning keyframes is almost impossible to have the exact value I have say for Mars.
 
I’m working on another workaround to translate the math to a graph that matches AE and lets me locate by timecode as I don’t think AE has any function to find a keyframe with a value between two values.
 
best,
Stephen
 
stephen van vuuren
336.202.4777
 
 
A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.
–Stanley Kubrick
 
From: After Effects Mail List [mailto:AE-List@media-motion.tv] 
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 1:53 AM
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
Subject: Re: [AE] Find Z position on timeline
 
Can’t find a script that searches for values but there’s one that searches for keyframes so . . . 
A workaround could be this;
 
Separate the XYand Z position values.
Add an expression to the Z position value - no need to do anything to it, just a default expression.
Then convert the expression to keyframes - this will add a keyframe to each frame.
Then use this script to find the keyframe with the magic Z value.
Once you’re done, delete all the keyframes.
 
 
 
cheers,
 
Angie
 
Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin
Lynda.com Author & Trainer
 
Please Subscribe to my newsletter if you’d like to keep up to date with training offers, free tutorials and  news of events.
 
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On 22 Sep 2017, at 01:58, Stephen van Vuuren <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:
 
Okay, no luck hunting around. I have yet another comp for film with zoom from center of Milky Way, 6 minutes long with z values set in stone with start and end keyframes only, z values are massive (quadrillions) to preserve relative differences with things like Earth and moon.
 
The background layers of the Milky Way have been done for some time, locked and pre-rendered. Now I need to place objects like nebula, planets etc. I have spreadsheet that gives me the correct AE z value but I have to find it on the timelines and stepping through 1 frame at a time is tedious. I need to “search” for that z value and have timeline cursor go spot on timelines with that z value.
 
Please tell me this script exists.
 
best,
Stephen
 
stephen van vuuren
336.202.4777
 
 
A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.
–Stanley Kubrick

 
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