Previewing a Composition

Before you begin, ensure all of the following conditions are met:

• The Templater Settings effect has been applied to all layers intended to be dynamic.
• Column names or property keys in your data source match the names of dynamic layers.
• A data source, footage folder, and output folder are entered into the fields in the Batch Assets section of the Templater panel.

TIP We have recently changed our previewing method. View instructions for previewing in versions prior to Templater 2.9.0.

Single preview for layout with data

1. In the Transport section of the Templater panel, select a valid range of jobs you want Templater to process by entering row or object position values into the Start and Finish fields.

   WARNING  Start must be greater than 1 for Google Sheets and tabbed-delimited files (row 1 is reserved for column names). For JSON object arrays, Start must be greater than 0. The Finish value must be greater than the Start value.

2. Click the and icons to change between jobs in your range

   NOTE  Templater will cycle back to either the Start or Finish row when the Transport reaches the range bounds.

3. Use the and icons to jump to the first or last row in your selected range.
4. Click the Refresh icon button to load the current job's data into your dynamic layers.
5. (Optional; new in 2.9.5) If you wish to continue to preview a range of data from Templater's cache based on your range selection, you can toggle the Lighting Bolt (Live Preview) icon button, and the preview will advance using the cached data. If you make changes to the data, you will need to re-enable live data for Templater to view your changes in After Effects. If you update the selected range, Templater will automatically re-enable live data.

Single preview for layout

1. Update the content of a dynamic Text Layer by using the Type Tool and entering in a new phrase. Or change the layer's Templater Settings parameters such as Scale Factor, Alignment, Attach On, etc.
2. Click the Wand icon to automagically update each dynamic layer according to its Templater Settings values.

   NOTE  The Wand feature lets you see how Templater applies its spatial and temporal layout intelligence to your composition without retrieving any data from the connected data source.

Multiple previews with cycling

1. In the Transport section of the Templater panel, select a valid range of jobs you want Templater to process by entering row or object position values into the Start and Finish fields.

   WARNING  Start must be greater than 1 for Google Sheets and tabbed-delimited files. For JSON object arrays, Start must be greater than 0. The Finish value must be greater than the Start value.

2. Click the Clock icon to begin cycling previews within the selected range. Once started, you will see your composition update at regular intervals. While cycling through previews, all Templater controls are disabled. Click the Clock icon again to stop cycling previews and enable Templater's user interface.