CompItem object¶
app.project.item(index)
app.project.items[index]
Description
The CompItem object represents a composition, and allows you to manipulate and get information about it. Access the objects by position index number in a project’s item collection.
CompItem is a subclass of AVItem object, which is a subclass of Item object. All methods and attributes of AVItem and Item, in addition to those listed below, are available when working with CompItem.
Example
Given that the first item in the project is a CompItem, the following code displays two alerts. The first shows the number of layers in the CompItem, and the second shows the name of the last layer in the CompItem.
var firstComp = app.project.item(1);
alert("number of layers is " + firstComp.numLayers);
alert("name of last layer is " + firstComp.layer(firstComp.numLayers).name);
Attributes¶
CompItem.activeCamera¶
app.project.item(index).activeCamera
Description
The active camera, which is the front-most camera layer that is enabled. The value is null if the composition contains no enabled camera layers.
Type
CameraLayer object; read-only.
CompItem.bgColor¶
app.project.item(index).bgColor
Description
The background color of the composition. The three array values specify the red, green, and blue components of the color.
Type
An array containing three floating-point values, [R, G, B]
, in the range [0.0..1.0]
; read/write.
CompItem.counters¶
app.project.item(index).counters
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 13.2 (CC2014).
Warning
This method/property is officially undocumented and was found via research. The information here may be inaccurate, and this whole method/property may disappear or stop working some point. Please contribute if you have more information on it!
Description
This attribute works app-wide: if changed on one CompItem, it will change it for every CompItem in the project. The value stays until restarting AE. Once restarted, it will revert to false.
This parameter doesn’t do anything.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.displayStartFrame¶
app.project.item(index).displayStartFrame
Description
The frame value of the beginning of the composition.
This value is an alternative to calculating the start frame using CompItem.displayStartTime and CompItem.frameDuration to compensate for floating-point problems.
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 17.1.
Type
Integer; read/write.
CompItem.displayStartTime¶
app.project.item(index).displayStartTime
Description
The time set as the beginning of the composition, in seconds. This is the equivalent of the Start Timecode or Start Frame setting in the Composition Settings dialog box.
Note
As of After Effects 17.1, the minimum value is -10800.0
. Before 17.1, the minimum value was 0.0
Type
Floating-point value in the range [-10800.0...86339.0]
(-3:00:00:00 to 23:59:00:00); read/write.
CompItem.draft3d¶
app.project.item(index).draft3d
Description
When true, Draft 3D mode is enabled for the Composition panel. This corresponds to the value of the Draft 3D button in the Composition panel.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.dropFrame¶
app.project.item(index).dropFrame
Description
When true, indicates that the composition uses drop-frame timecode. When false, indicates non-drop-frame timecode. This corresponds to the setting in the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.frameBlending¶
app.project.item(index).frameBlending
Description
When true, frame blending is enabled for this Composition. Corresponds to the value of the Frame Blending button in the Composition panel.
Type
Boolean; if true, frame blending is enabled; read/write.
CompItem.frameDuration¶
app.project.item(index).frameDuration
Description
The duration of a frame, in seconds. This is the inverse of the frameRate
value (frames-per-second).
Type
Floating-point; read/write.
CompItem.hideShyLayers¶
app.project.item(index).hideShyLayers
Description
When true, only layers with shy set to false are shown in the Timeline panel. When false, all layers are visible, including those whose shy value is true. Corresponds to the value of the Hide All Shy Layers button in the Composition panel.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.layers¶
app.project.item(index).layers
Description
A LayerCollection object that contains all the Layer objects for layers in this composition.
Type
LayerCollection object; read-only.
CompItem.markerProperty¶
app.project.item(index).markerProperty
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 14.0 (CC 2017)
Description
A PropertyGroup object that contains all a composition’s markers. Composition marker scripting has the same functionality as Layer markers.
See MarkerValue object.
Type
PropertyGroup object or null; read-only.
Example
The following sample code creates a project and composition, then creates two composition markers with different properties
// comp.markerProperty allows you to add markers to a comp.
// It has the same functionality as layer.property("Marker")
var currentProj = app.newProject();
var comp = currentProj.items.addComp("mycomp", 1920, 1080, 1.0, 5, 29.97);
var solidLayer = comp.layers.addSolid([1, 1, 1], "mylayer", 1920, 1080, 1.0);
var compMarker = new MarkerValue("This is a comp marker!");
compMarker.duration = 1;
var compMarker2 = new MarkerValue("Another comp marker!");
compMarker2.duration = 1;
comp.markerProperty.setValueAtTime(1, compMarker);
comp.markerProperty.setValueAtTime(3, compMarker2);
CompItem.motionBlur¶
app.project.item(index).motionBlur
Description
When true, motion blur is enabled for the composition. Corresponds to the value of the Motion Blur button in the Composition panel.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.motionBlurAdaptiveSampleLimit¶
app.project.item(index).motionBlurAdaptiveSampleLimit
Description
The maximum number of motion blur samples of 2D layer motion. This corresponds to the Adaptive Sample Limit setting in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Integer (between 16 and 256); read/write.
CompItem.motionBlurSamplesPerFrame¶
app.project.item(index).motionBlurSamplesPerFrame
Description
The minimum number of motion blur samples per frame for Classic 3D layers, shape layers, and certain effects. This corresponds to the Samples Per Frame setting in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Integer (between 2 and 64); read/write.
CompItem.motionGraphicsTemplateControllerCount¶
app.project.item(index).motionGraphicsTemplateControllerCount
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 16.1 (CC 2019)
Description
The number of properties in the Essential Graphics panel for the composition.
Type
Integer; read-only.
CompItem.motionGraphicsTemplateName¶
app.project.item(index).motionGraphicsTemplateName
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 15.0 (CC 2018)
Description
Read or write the name property in the Essential Graphics panel for the composition.
The name in the Essential Graphics panel is used for the file name of an exported Motion Graphics template (ex., “My Template.mogrt”).
The following example will set the name for the active composition and then return it as an alert
app.project.activeItem.motionGraphicsTemplateName = "My Template";
alert(app.project.activeItem.motionGraphicsTemplateName);
Type
String; read/write.
CompItem.numLayers¶
app.project.item(index).numLayers
Description
The number of layers in the composition.
Type
Integer; read-only.
CompItem.preserveNestedFrameRate¶
app.project.item(index).preserveNestedFrameRate
Description
When true, the frame rate of nested compositions is preserved in the current composition. Corresponds to the value of the “Preserve frame rate when nested or in render queue” option in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.preserveNestedResolution¶
app.project.item(index).preserveNestedResolution
Description
When true, the resolution of nested compositions is preserved in the current composition. Corresponds to the value of the “Preserve Resolution When Nested” option in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Boolean; read/write.
CompItem.renderer¶
app.project.item(index).renderer
Description
The current rendering plug-in module to be used to render this composition, as set in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box. Allowed values are the members of CompItem.renderers.
Type
String; read/write.
CompItem.renderers¶
app.project.item(index).renderers
Description
The available rendering plug-in modules. Member strings reflect installed modules, as seen in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Array of strings; read-only.
CompItem.resolutionFactor¶
app.project.item(index).resolutionFactor
Description
The x and y downsample resolution factors for rendering the composition. The two values in the array specify how many pixels to skip when sampling; the first number controls horizontal sampling, the second controls vertical sampling. Full resolution is [1, 1]
, half resolution is [2, 2]
, and quarter resolution is [4, 4]
. The default is [1, 1]
.
Type
Array of two integers in the range [1..99]
; read/write.
CompItem.selectedLayers¶
app.project.item(index).selectedLayers
Description
All of the selected layers in this composition. This is a 0-based array (the first object is at index 0).
Type
Array of Layer objects; read-only.
CompItem.selectedProperties¶
app.project.item(index).selectedProperties
Description
All of the selected properties (Property and PropertyGroup objects) in this composition. The first property is at index position 0.
Type
Array of Property and PropertyGroup objects; read-only.
CompItem.shutterAngle¶
app.project.item(index).shutterAngle
Description
The shutter angle setting for the composition. This corresponds to the Shutter Angle setting in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Integer in the range [0...720]
; read/write.
CompItem.shutterPhase¶
app.project.item(index).shutterPhase
Description
The shutter phase setting for the composition. This corresponds to the Shutter Phase setting in the Advanced tab of the Composition Settings dialog box.
Type
Integer in the range [–360...360]
; read/write.
CompItem.workAreaDuration¶
app.project.item(index).workAreaDuration
Description
The duration of the work area in seconds. This is the difference of the start-point and end-point times of the Composition work area.
Type
Floating-point; read/write.
CompItem.workAreaStart¶
app.project.item(index).workAreaStart
Description
The time when the Composition work area begins, in seconds.
Type
Floating-point; read/write.
Methods¶
CompItem.duplicate()¶
app.project.item(index).duplicate()
Description
Creates and returns a duplicate of this composition, which contains the same layers as the original.
Parameters
None.
Returns
CompItem object.
CompItem.exportAsMotionGraphicsTemplate()¶
app.project.item(index).exportAsMotionGraphicsTemplate(doOverWriteFileIfExisting, file_path)
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 15.0 (CC 2018)
Description
Exports the composition as a Motion Graphics template. Returns true if the Motion Graphics template is successfully exported, false otherwise.
The name in the Essential Graphics panel is used for the file name of the Motion Graphics template (ex., “My Template.mogrt”).
Use the motionGraphicsTemplateName
attribute to set the name.
Optionally specify the path to the folder where the Motion Graphics template file is saved. If not specified, the file will be saved in the current user’s Essential Graphics folder:
macOS: /Users/<name>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Essential Graphics/
Windows: C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Essential Graphics\
If the project has been changed since the last time it was saved, After Effects will prompt the user to save the project. To avoid this, use the
project save()
method before exporting the Motion Graphics template.
Parameters
|
Whether to overwrite an exsiting file of the same name, boolean. Required. |
|
Path to the folder where the file will be saved. Optional. |
Returns
Boolean.
CompItem.getMotionGraphicsTemplateControllerName()¶
app.project.item(index).getMotionGraphicsTemplateControllerName(index)
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 16.1 (CC 2019)
Description
Gets the name of a single property in the Essential Graphics panel.
Parameters
|
Integer; the index of the EGP property whose name will be returned. |
Returns
String; read-only.
CompItem.setMotionGraphicsControllerName()¶
app.project.item(index).setMotionGraphicsControllerName(index,newName)
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 16.1 (CC 2019)
Description
Sets the name of a single property in the Essential Graphics panel.
Note
To rename a property as it is added to the EGP, see Property.addToMotionGraphicsTemplateAs().
Parameters
|
Integer; the index of the EGP property to be renamed. |
|
String; the new name for the EGP property. |
Returns
String; read-only.
CompItem.layer()¶
app.project.item(index).layer(index)
app.project.item(index).layer(otherLayer, relIndex)
app.project.item(index).layer(name)
Description
Returns a Layer object, which can be specified by name, an index position in this layer, or an index position relative to another layer.
Parameters
|
The index number of the desired layer in this composition. An
integer in the range |
or:
|
A Layer object in this composition. The |
|
The postion of the desired layer, relative to |
—or—
|
The string containing the name of the desired layer. |
Returns
CompItem.openInEssentialGraphics()¶
app.project.item(index).openInEssentialGraphics()
Note
This functionality was added in After Effects 15.0 (CC 2018)
Description
Opens the composition in the Essential Graphics panel.
Parameters
None.
Returns
Nothing.
CompItem.openInViewer()¶
app.project.item(index).openInViewer()
Description
Opens the composition in a Composition panel, and moves the Composition panel to front and gives it focus.
Parameters
None.
Returns
Viewer object object for the Composition panel, or null if the composition could not be opened.