Pre Comp workflow

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Hi all,
I cant seem to quite grasp the pre comp replacement workflow.

1. I add field Shapes PC to my google doc
2. I add a comp called Shapes PC
3. in the data field I add Precomp1, precomp 2 etc
4. Now how do I cycle thru my precomps? It just replaces once

Thanks
John

@johnsyounger

Thanks for getting in touch with us. I think you’re on the right track, but there are a few extra steps that you’ll need to do to get this working 100%. First, make sure that you rename the target comp you want to swap. When a comp is first dragged into the timeline, the name will be surrounded by braces (i.e.: [Shapes PC]). If Templater is applied to a layer with this naming convention, it’ll only be swapped out once. This goes for images, movie files, and other assets to be switched out as well. So I’d definitely start by renaming the comp. You may also need to put double curly braces on the comps you want to cycle through in the data set. So rather than precomp1, precomp2, etc maybe try {{precomp1}}, {{precomp2}}, and so on. Give those suggestions a shot and if you run into additional issues, please just let us know. Thanks!

RENAMING!
Thanks, knew it was something simple.
J

@johnsyounger to add to what Jeff said, here’s an easy way to think about it, step by step:

• add “shapes pc” column to Sheet
• create a comp called “shapes precomp” (you want it to be different so that it’s easy to rename in a following step)
• add “shapes precomp” to your timeline (within another comp)
• select the “shapes precomp” layer in your Timeline panel, hit “enter” to rename, and change its name to “shapes pc”

Now, in your data field you can set {{precomp 1}} and {{precomp 2}}, and Templater will look for comps with those names in your “Project” panel, and swap them in in place of the shapes precomp layer that you added at the beginning.

@Jon Yup just skipped the rename :) smh
Thanks
J