Smart Selector is the third commercially licensed script I have developed and released for Adode After Effects on aescripts.com. Smart Selector follows the release of my other two products, Trigger and Mercury. Smart Selector is a workflow aid to help animators find layers within both their active compositions as well as within densely nested precompositions. Smart Selector is the world's most advanced layer selection algorithm for After Effects, allowing motion designers to spend less time searching and more time animating. This is a personal project I undertook over the course of two years, without any indication that this technology was even possible to develop. My goal was to push the limits of what was once thought impossible in After Effects, while also learning a bunch of handy new skills along the way. I'm currently working on two more workflow enhancement scripts for AE (please inquire to see prototypes) and I've been enjoying the process of breaking new ground. You can view the Smart Selector product page at aescripts.com/smart-selector or stick around and watch the promo and demo below!
Product Synopsis: Smart Selector is the world's most advanced layer selection algorithm for After Effects. Smart Selector's proprietary technology allows users to pinpoint and select layers densely nested within After Effects compositions. No more soloing layers or toggling eyeballs to locate the layer you want, with Smart Selector its as simple as point and click. Smart Selector can find any layer viewable within the AE comp window, programmatically seeing through layer transparency allowing you to select art even if it's buried under layers of document sized artwork or compositions with transparent boundaries. Smart Selector even allows you to pinpoint layers nested within multiple precomps. From a master layer you can find and select artwork buried hundreds of precomps down as well as choose to have the script ignore adjustment layers along the ride. Simply put, if you can see it you can select it.
How To Use:
1. Press 'Create Smart Selector’. This will create a new null layer called Smart Selector in your active composition.
2. With the Smart Selector null selected, navigate to the effects control menu and select the crosshair icon on the point controller named 'Smart Selector'. Once selected place the point over any layer you want to select in your composition window.
3. Press ‘Find & Select Layer’ and the script with automatically find and select the layer in your active composition. If you want to locate the layer inside a precomp check on 'Find Layer in Precomp'.
Watch the full demo below:
Powerful Features:
Find Layer in Precomp: When checked, Smart Selector will dive inside precomps and select the layer in its deepest level. When unchecked Smart Selector defaults to selecting the layer within the active composition.
Ignore adjustment layers: When checked, Smart Selector will ignore adjustment layers and allow you to select any layer underneath.
How To Use:
1. Press 'Create Smart Selector’. This will create a new null layer called Smart Selector in your active composition.
2. With the Smart Selector null selected, navigate to the effects control menu and select the crosshair icon on the point controller named 'Smart Selector'. Once selected place the point over any layer you want to select in your composition window.
3. Press ‘Find & Select Layer’ and the script with automatically find and select the layer in your active composition. If you want to locate the layer inside a precomp check on 'Find Layer in Precomp'.
Troubleshooting:
Turn on show layer controls: When positioning the Smart Selector point controller make sure 'Show Layer Controls' is checked on. You can turn it on by going to View>Show Layer Controls or by using the shortcut Shift+CMD+H. As a general rule of thumb is you can't see the point controller in your comp window, Smart Selector cannot pull the nessessary position data After Effects needed to run the script.
Turn off 3D layers: Smart Selector only works on 2D layers. If Smart Selector recognizes 3D layers you will be prompted with an alert to turn them off. Simply check their visibility eyeball and rerun the script. Smart Selector will then look past them and continue finding the correct layer.
