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  • Change logs of Dataclay software releases, known issues, and promotions

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    Jeffundefined

    The Dataclay team has just released Templater version 3.5.0, which adds some amazing new functionality, improvements, and bug fixes. Thanks for your patience, and Happy Rendering!

    WHAT’S NEW IN TEMPLATER 3.5.0

    Templater 3.5 contains the exciting new Dynamic Essential Properties feature as well as significant enhancements to the Dynamic Subtitles utility introduced in the 3.4 release. It also includes UI updates and several bug fixes.

    New Feature: Dynamic Essential Properties

    Templater now supports using data to change and control values of properties promoted to the Essential Graphics panel in After Effects. While you can dynamically update the values of essential properties on nested pre-comp layers (layers within a composition), it is not possible to change values within the primary composition itself, as indicated by the following image:

    alt text

    Using After Effects’ built-in tools, you can build a primary composition with a manually configured set of essential properties. You can then nest an instance of that primary comp into a new timeline and have Templater adjust parameter values within the “Essential Properties” group for that “pre-comp” layer.

    The nested comp starts with the essential properties at the default values set in the primary comp. But because the nested comp is now a layer, you can change the “instanced” values in one of two ways:

    From within the “Essential Properties” group on the layer

    By selecting the pre-comp layer, going to Window > Properties, and finding the Essential Properties

    The values in that pane can be adjusted using a data source.

    This feature also allows Templater to support Motion Graphics (.mogrt) templates. Users often purchase these templates because of their high design quality. The templates are designed to be customized, and producers can now do so quickly, easily, and iteratively using Templater.

    Dynamic Subtitles Improvements

    Work from a Floating or Docked Palette

    You can now launch Dynamic Subtitles and choose whether to dock the palette or keep it a floating palette. Previously, only the floating palette was available.

    Edit Subtitle Content for SRT Rig

    You can now open and edit an SRT file from within the Dynamic Subtitles utility. Templater opens the file for the current comp using your system’s default application for the SRT file extension. Changes to the SRT file are saved and appear as soon as you reload the comp in Templater.

    Edit Subtitle Timings for an SRT Stack

    You can now edit the timings of individual subtitles by adjusting specific layers within an SRT Stack. This allows editors to fine-tune when subtitles appear, and how long they stay on-screen, in each iteration of a video. The feature is especially helpful when adjustments are needed for subtitles in different languages.

    Sync Changes from an SRT Stack to an SRT File

    When you make changes to subtitle content, timings, or both, you can now sync those changes back to the appropriate SRT file from within the Dynamic Subtitles utility. Sync is available from the SRT Stack pane, even if content changes were made on the SRT Rig and no SRT Stack was created. The sync operation is one-way.

    Export Changes from an SRT Stack to an SRT File

    The new Export feature in Dynamic Subtitles lets you export a copy of the SRT file for the current job to a local directory. This is useful when the original file is accessed via URL and you need a local copy. If you have made changes to subtitle content, timings, or both, these changes are automatically synced to the SRT file before it is exported. There is no need to sync and then export as two separate steps. Export is available from the SRT Stack pane, even if content changes were made on the SRT Rig and no SRT Stack was created.

    New Text Layer Options When Creating an SRT Rig

    Dynamic Subtitles now supports both Point Text and Box Text options for the dynamic text layer in an SRT Rig. The default setting is box text.

    Create an Anchor Position for Subtitle Text in SRT Rig

    Anchor Position is based on the x-height of your selected font and is the point from which your text scales. If you select box text, it is also the point from which your text wraps. You can choose from Top, Middle, or Bottom, giving you greater control over how your subtitles appear.

    New Box Text Settings When Creating an SRT Rig

    For SRT Rigs that format the text layer as box text, additional new settings enable editors to:

    Set a Base Threshold: Controls how far down in the video the box text can appear. Editors can move the box on individual layers in an SRT Stack, but never below the base threshold.*

    Set a Wrap Margin Threshold: Controls text wrapping within box text to ensure the desired margins are maintained.*

    Remove new line characters: Sets a preference for handling hard returns in the SRT file. When selected, hard returns in the source file are removed so that new lines are controlled by text wrapping only. This is a global preference.*

    These settings flow through to the SRT Stack if one is created. They cannot be edited after the rig is created unless the editor detaches the layer and uses AE tools to do so manually.

    Settings Available in AE Essential Graphics Panel

    The user experience for editing Dynamic Subtitles has been greatly enhanced. Now, when an SRT Rig is created, all of the associated settings are automatically promoted to the AE Essential Graphics panel. This makes it dramatically easier for editors to adjust settings and immediately see the effects of their changes on the current job.

    Support for HTML bold and italic tags in SRT Files

    Editors can now apply faux bold, faux italics, or both to individual subtitles by editing SRT files to include HTML markup. The markup (for example, <b>Date</b>or <i>Timestamp</i>) can be seen in the subtitle layer markers. You can only apply HTML markup to the entire subtitle; in other words, you cannot apply bold to part of a subtitle and italics to another part.

    HTML markup is applied at the SRT Rig layer and carries through when an SRT Stack is created. The markup is also saved when you use the new sync or export features.

    User Interface (UI) Updates

    In Adobe After Effects 2025, the ScriptUI was updated to enhance accessibility. All Templater dialogs have been updated to correspond to these changes.

    FIXES in Templater 3.5.0

    The following issues have been fixed in this release:

    Google Sheets documents sometimes failed to retrieve on Windows machines.

    Spreadsheet cell values that contain operands are now interpreted as strings.

    Templater now correctly handles null values in a dynamic footage layer as “faulty”.

  • Questions, answers, and discussions about data sources compatible with Templater.

    Google Sheets Local JSON Remote URL Feeds Tabbed Separated Values
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    Jeffundefined

    @eric_dean

    Great question! Escaping the quotation marks should be as easy as putting a backslash before the quotes in the text block of our JSON file. So, for example, if we wanted something like this:

    Lorem ipsum "dolor" sit amet

    we’d write it like this:

    Lorem ipsum \"dolor\" sit amet

    The backslashes should be read as an “escape” to keep the quotation marks in the text from interfering with the formatting of the JSON data file.

    Hopefully, that should be all we need, but if you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

  • Topics related to Dataclay QUE, the optimal datastore with an API for Templater

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    Jeffundefined

    @joevac

    Dataclay QUE should absolutely update the render-status to “done” even if you’re rendering with Templater Pro. As far as the other question is concerned, there are quite a few benefits to using QUE to interface with Templater, even if you’re not using Templater Bot.

    The first benefit is that QUE is highly flexible and efficient when it comes to the storage of data since it’s not limited to a spreadsheet’s rigid format. This allows a lot more flexibility in changing between projects on the fly while still using the same Campaign and Project data.

    QUE also provides much more information on each Job’s status than we’re able to provide using the Google Sheets API. If you take a look in the QUE interface at the “View Job Logs” option all the way on the right, you should be able to see that data.

    Finally, QUE has a number of easy-to-use API hooks that can give users the flexibility to set up intricate systems to deposit data from a number of different sources directly into their QUE campaigns. Check out this link for more information on that feature.

    Hopefully, that all makes sense, but if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

  • Topics related to Dataclay Projector (now available in Beta). Transcode, deploy, and archive your media outputs to streaming providers and cloud storage.

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    No new posts.

  • Questions, answers, and discussions about preparing After Effects projects for processing by Templater.

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    Jeffundefined

    @pbretz

    Hmmm. That’s quite odd. The only thing I can think of that might be interfering with the asset swap in the way that you’ve described is if an Event Script is present that’s overriding Templater’s standard reversioning logic before it can be performed.

    If that’s not the case, it might be beneficial to try manually replacing the asset in the AE Project panel by right-clicking on it and using the Replace Footage> File option. If that still doesn’t swap the file, there might be an issue with After Effects or this specific Project file that we’ll need to address.

    Another option that might get things moving in the right direction would be to look at the templater.log and, more importantly, the templater.err files to see if there are any messages there that might give us a better idea of what’s happening when Templater attempts to reversion the layer in question.

    If there is a failure reported in either of those files, we could be looking at a situation where another logic problem is causing Templater to stop the reversioning process before it can process the mp3 layer in question.

    If you’d like to share those files here, we can certainly take a look. However, if the logs contain sensitive information, you can also get in touch with us at support@dataclay.com, and we’ll be more than happy to continue troubleshooting the issue through that channel.

    Let us know how it goes and we’ll see where we need to go from there.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

  • Questions, answers, and discussions about batch rendering and replicating re-versioned After Effects compositions.

    Rendering Dynamic Comps Replicating Dynamic Comps
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    Jeffundefined

    @1337err

    We can take a look at the templater.log and templater.err files to see if there’s any additional information there, but from my experience, I doubt that there will be anything more specific than what we’ve already got. Unfortunately, AE tends to be a bit vague with its error syntax.

    However, if we can reliably re-create the error, we should be able to use the technique that I outlined in my previous post to narrow things down relatively quickly. In the past, I’ve done this by making a copy of the file with the problem, opening it, and bulk deleting 50% of the assets in the Project panel. Depending on whether the error persists, we should be able to logically assess which half of the project data contains the error.

    Once we figure that out, we can repeat the process by either restoring the deleted assets and deleting the other 50% or by deleting 50% of what’s left and checking whether the error reoccurs. By chopping out increasingly smaller chunks of the project, we should be able to get a bead on what layers are causing the issue without a massive amount of undue work. Hopefully that helps to get things moving in the right direction.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

  • Questions, answers, and discussions about Templater's automation extensibility and integration.

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    Jeffundefined

    @RyanB

    Glad to hear that you were able to track down the issue. I did some research and spoke with some of our devs, and I can confirm that all write operations for both replication and render actions should be completed before any “post_cmd_job” actions are run.

    If you have any other questions, please feel free to let us know.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

  • Examples of Templater used by creative studios, broadcast, and application developers.

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    Sruli Broockerundefined

    David Graff, John Wirtz, and Brian Kaiser founded Hudl in 2006 with the goal of capturing and adding value to every moment in athletics. Using their computer science backgrounds, the University of Nebraska sports fanatics built a platform that would enable coaches and players to review, annotate, and share game video across multiple platforms and devices. Their hard work paid off.

    With 130,000 sports outfits subscribing to their software worldwide—including NFL, NHL, and NBA teams, and an exponentially growing number of high school teams signing up every season—Hudl recently secured $72.5 million in a single Stage B funding round for a total valuation of $250 million. They expect this fall to be their busiest ever with 30,000 varsity high school football teams subscribing at a minimum of $800 per year for their cheapest package!

    Several times a year, Hudl holds a company-wide event called Skunkworks, modeled after the fabled Lockheed Martin creative think-tank that produced some of the company’s most innovative solutions. One of their teams wanted to address the “cookie-cutter” sameness of the popular highlights feature favored by athletes and recruiters. Developers Casey Batemen, Joel Hensley, and Kelly Herrington discovered Templater Bot, and found the best turnkey solution for making their highlight reels standout.

    Hudl successfully integrated Templater Bot into its robust video automation platform, and will soon roll out the Video Goodness product feature — enabling every team or athlete to have their own customized ESPN-quality highlight reel created in just a few minutes. The feature is eagerly awaited, and should make a huge splash when it goes live just in time for football season.

    Templater Bot’s coding-friendly API and ability to turn huge amounts of data into highly customized and individualized bulk renders allowed Hudl developers to clear some of their most challenging implementation and logistical hurdles.

    We are blown away by Hudl’s ingenious use of Templater in their pipeline and wish them continued success! We look forward to partnering on more solutions in the future.

  • Questions, answers, and discussions about deploying Templater Bot onto servers

    Environments Pulling Data Pushing Data API Development
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    Jonundefined

    @Maris adding for future reference, since the Adobe forum link appears to be dead, and don’t want the info lost to history.

    There is a hidden developer Console panel that is accessible by hitting ctrl + f12. From there you can open the menu on the panel and navigate to Debug Database View. In that view, you can search for the option AEDebugShowPreviousCrashWarning. By default it will be checked/true, but you should be able to disable it by unchecking that option.

    18b78b25-31f2-40ad-a48a-a729112ccea1-image.png

  • General topics related to Dataclay products

    License Management
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    Jonundefined

    @UncleMonty To follow on Jeff’s replies, in case you are using an earlier version of Templater 3, it’s recommended to run the Templater uninstaller and download and install Templater from one of those links he provided. The zip names are going to be the same, but the contents will be different—which is why you’ll want to install from a fresh download.