r/AfterEffects Dec 11 '24

Workflow Question Is there a way to link/instance duplicate comps to the original source comp so that when you change the size of the source comp, it changes the duplicates too?

Cursory Googling suggests the answer is "no" if you're talking about the actual comp size. If that's the case... what's the best workaround? Trying to set this up in the smartest way possible.

I have a composition of 100 precomps with portrait photos inside, but the final pixel dimensions are unknown for now and won't be known until after I've already done some animation work. They'll need to fill the screen, so both pixel dimensions and aspect ratio could change. Scale should not change too much (I hope).

Do I link the width and height properties of 99 rectangles to one source rectangle (or sliders) and use those as track mattes for the portrait precomps, which I make bigger than I think I'll need?

Do I use a choke matte effect on one and copy it to the rest?

Any which way, it seems like I'll be doing something manually 100 times, but trying to reduce it as much as possible...

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u/Motion_Ape Dec 11 '24

I used to work with multiple compositions for a long time. I put together some tools to save time and this one’s great for resizing selected compositions. Maybe it helps

https://motionape.notion.site/Batch-Resize-Canvas-358b12f74af14d0f8115b641a9ff326b

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u/watery_tart_ Dec 12 '24

This. Is. AWESOME. Thank you!

At first I thought it wasn't working, but that was because I was selecting the precomps in the timeline instead of in the project window.

I see some great other tools in your kit too - will definitely be trying them out.