📋 Usage Patterns

Pattern 1: Create Composition Programmatically

// scripts/create_comp.jsx
var comp = app.project.items.addComp("MyComp", 1920, 1080, 1, 30, 300);
var solid = comp.layers.addSolid([1,0,0], "Red Solid", 1920, 1080, 1);

Pattern 2: Batch Render Project

aerender -project ./my_project.aep -output ./output.mov -mp

Pattern 3: Apply Effect via Script

// scripts/apply_effect.jsx
var layer = app.project.activeItem.selectedLayer(1);
layer.property("ADBE Effect Parade").addProperty("ADBE Gaussian Blur");

🔧 Available Scripts

Script	Purpose
`create_comp.jsx`	Create new composition with specified params
`batch_render.jsx`	Queue multiple compositions for render
`apply_effect.jsx`	Apply effects to selected layers
`export_template.jsx`	Save project as template (.aet)

🚀 Quick Start Workflow

Check AE Installation: Verify After Effects is installed
```
which aerender
```
Load Project: Open existing .aep or create new
```
app.open(new File("./my_project.aep"));
```
Execute Script: Run ExtendScript via:
- AE: File → Scripts → Run Script File
- Command-line: aerender -script ./myscript.jsx
Render Output: Use aerender for headless rendering

⚠️ Requirements

Adobe After Effects installed (CC 2019+)
ExtendScript Toolkit (optional, for debugging)
aerender in PATH for command-line rendering

📚 References

ExtendScript Guide: See references/extendscript_api.md
Effect Names: See references/effect_names.md
Render Settings: See references/render_settings.md

🎯 Monitoring

Be verbose about:

Composition settings (resolution, duration, framerate)
Effect choices and parameters
Render queue status
Output format decisions

after-effects-mcp

After Effects MCP Bridge

🛠️ Core Capabilities

1. ExtendScript Automation

2. Command-Line Rendering