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I do a lightpainting video on After Effects (CS6 here) and I have some questions about it. To have some continuous lines from a moving light, I have to duplicate my layer each times I want (35 times for more than 1sc for example). Because I have a lot of comps to do and many many layers to duplicate, I search a solution to avoid this boring job by hand…

If you have an idea about a script or something else which duplicate a layer X times and move 1 frame each time (like stairs), it would be welcomed!

Here is a screenshot of the current (but working) solution, by hand :

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/873/afterduplcalques.jpg

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2 Answers

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Check the Array script on aescripts.com website. It duplicates your layer in desired numbers and has more control for offsetting the properties like position, scale, rotation as well as time. It is really easy to use and has many great built in functions for creating really good looking and creative motion graphics. Especially for your case, playing around with the script might function as a brainstorm tool to create new looks. Just watch the provided tutorial video to see the features.

By default, AEScripts website will set a price but you can "Name your own price" for this particular script. Just register with the website and type zero in the price field and add to cart.

My personal thought on the pricing, if you are using the script in a commercial project, it is always a good thing to pay some amount for it. As this is a great and creative tool, it deserves some donations, think it as a tip. It is not compulsory but a way of showing appreciation.

By the way, check the other scripts on the website, it is a gold mine. There are lots of great tools to speed your workflow.

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Thank you for this reply! I already saw aescripts and some plugins like Layer Repeater but I don't know we can set any price! To test it, that's perfect. Thank you ;) – Flayks Nov 27 '12 at 21:36
But, with Array, I don't know if I can offset the frame position in the timeline and not with X, Y or Z positions… – Flayks Nov 27 '12 at 21:42
In the tutorial video, around 3:07, the script does that as well, isn't that what you are looking for? – Inan Berbatov Nov 28 '12 at 7:46
That's exa-ct-ly that. Thank you so much for your tips! 'will save a lot of time ! – Flayks Nov 28 '12 at 12:24
Glad it works for you. – Inan Berbatov Nov 29 '12 at 19:11
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One other thing to add. On the Layer Repeater plugin you can offset your animation in time as well. So you could do the same thing by animating the opacity of the 1st layer, and that will get offset in time to the rest of the layers.

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