Jan 13, 2019

Nudging a layer by a fraction of frame


When working with audio in After Effects I often find it difficult to sync the sound with a desired precision because all layers are snapped to frame length. But it's possible using AE scripting. You can save this as a separate script or (like me) use it with ft-Toolbar.
var comp = app.project.activeItem;
var lr = comp.selectedLayers[0];
if (comp.selectedLayers.length > 0) {
    var frl = comp.frameDuration;
    app.beginUndoGroup("Layer Nudge");
    lr.startTime += frl/4;
    app.endUndoGroup();
} else alert("Select a layer");
This code will nudge your selected layer by 1/4 of a frame length forward.
If you use ft-Toolbar (or similar extension) put the previous code as a main Javascript function. And for the modified (Ctrl +Click for instance) use the copy of it with a change of the sign in the line:
    lr.startTime -= frl/4;
It nudges the layer into the opposite direction. Or if you need a different precision, just change the divider /4.

You can find more useful AE scripts in my GiHub repository

Happy aftereffecting :)