Autograf Rigging Utilities

NOTE  You don't need to understand these details to use the Dynamic Subtitles feature. We're providing them for developers and other curious users.

After Effects does not natively support the standard subtitle SRT file format for import. The Dynamic Subtitles feature works around this by creating a "ghosted" copy of the SRT file. This ghosting process:

• Wraps an exact copy of the SRT file inside a file with a .jsx extension, normally used for ExtendScripts
• Normalizes line endings from Windows or macOS to Unix
• Converts all encoding to UTF-8
• Ensures there is one and only one blank line between each subtitle

This process provides a consistent file that Templater is able to process easily and quickly.

If you're running After Effects with Templater on a Windows machine, the default location for rigging utilities is:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects <year>\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels\Templater Rig Utils

If you're running After Effects with Templater on a macOS machine, the default location for rigging utilities is:

/Applications/Adobe After Effects <year>/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels/Templater Rig Utils

Your icon can follow any design you like, but it must be saved in the PNG format. For a consistent appearance in the rigging utilities window, we recommend your icon should:

• Have a transparent background
• Have dimensions of 37 x 33 pixels

We recommend that you create a JSON file to serve as a tool tip when users hover their mouse over the icon. If you don't do so, Templater shows the name of the folder that contains your utility. This may not provide the user experience you want. The following example shows the formatted JSON file for the Dynamic Subtitles utility.

{"en" : "Adds a dynamic subtitle layer to the active composition"

TIP You can localize the tip for other languages by adding more key/value pairs to the JSON object. For example, to display the preceding tip in Spanish, you would edit the JSON file as shown here:

{"en" : "Adds a dynamic subtitle layer to the active composition"

"es" : "Agrega una capa de subtítulos dinámicos a la composición activa."}

At this time, only SRT files are supported.

You can choose to launch the Dynamic Essential Properties utility as a floating palette. If you plan to use Dynamic Subtitles frequently, you may prefer to dock the palette in your After Effects workspace.

1. Open Adobe After Effects and launch Templater.
2. To use Dynamic Subtitles from a floating palette:
   1. In the Templater panel, click the wrench icon at the bottom left of the Batch Assets section. This launches the Autograf Rigging Utilities window.
   2. Click the Dynamic Subtitles icon to launch Dynamic Subtitles. In the panel on the right, the SRT Rig tab is shown by default.
3. To use Dynamic Subtitles from a docked palette:
   1. In After Effects, go to Window >TemplaterDynamic Subtitles.jsxbin.
   2. When the Dynamic Subtitles palette appears, click the name of the palette, then drag and drop it where you want it in your workspace.

   Once you have placed the palette, its location is stored by Templater for future sessions. For each new After Effects session, you must launch the Templater panel (Templater <version>.jsxbin) before you can launch Dynamic Subtitles.