STOP using solids \\ Free After Effects Script
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 3. 08. 2024
- Download Void for free: www.battleaxe.co/void
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I use Null Objects in After Effects all the time, but it's always annoyed me how they clutter up my project panel with solids. The nulls are dependent on those solid layers, so if you delete them, all instances of those solids will disappear and break your comps. The same goes for solid and adjustment layers. Wouldn't it be great if we could eliminate the solids folder altogether and create independent assets that don't rely on any other sources? Well, now you can! Introducing Void, the latest free script from Battle Axe.
Void allows you to create shape layer-based assets that replace and improve the functionality of Null Objects, Solid Layers, and Adjustment Layers. You can even use Void to replace all of the nulls, solids, and adjustment layers in a specific comp or the entire project with the click of a button. We've created a compact Script UI panel that gives you all this functionality, a Kbar button with multiple functions, AND the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts to each layer type to completely integrate Void into your regular workflow, leaving solid layers in the past.
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:51 Void
02:38 Variant
03:02 Volume
03:50 Replacing Solids with Voids
05:19 Auto-parenting with Voids
06:25 Using Voids as character controllers
09:19 Zeroing the position property with Voids
11:18 Shape Layers vs Solid Layers
13:51 Installing the Script UI Panel
14:42 Installing the Kbar button
16:47 Assigning keyboard shortcuts
18:56 Thanks for watching!
The one thing I'd worry about with this is render time.
I just ran a test with a comp that had 114 nulls driving paths of shape layers over 1000 frames. Of those 114 nulls, only 17 were visible and being used to drive groups of other hidden nulls. I then converted all the nulls to voids, disabled previews, cleared my cache, and rendered both comps.
The Null-driven comp took 11 seconds to render.
The Void-driven comp took 14 seconds to render.
So yes, there likely is a performance hit using Voids instead of Nulls, but this is such an extreme scenario and the render time difference is so minute that I don't believe it would ever cause me to wish I were using nulls instead.
That being said, if you have 100+ voids visible in your comp at once then yes, Nulls are likely going to give you better performance.
@@JakeInMotion That's fair. Thanks for doing the testing!
â@@JakeInMotionWill it be possible to have a button in a future version that can hide and unhide Voids, particularly for use during the rendering process?
Voids are created as guide layers, so they won't render even if they're visible. If you want them to render, just select them, right click, and disable the guide layer feature.
Wow after many years in After Effects, I have just learned that null and adjustement layers are just solid as well.
I always just make a solid and turn on the switch. It's liberating!
The selecting multiple shapes and parenting to the void when you generate one feature is so great! I've been doing this on auto-pilot with Nulls for the past 4 years and every time I do I think; "WHY ADOBE?? Why don't you let me do what my brain thinks is so natural??". Thanks Jake! Will be downloading this one!
This is fantastic. I created a keyboard shortcut to make a new shape layer for a lot of the reasons you go over at the beginning of the video. I almost always use shape layers instead of solids so I'll definitely get use out of this little script. I went ahead and paid the $5 for it. Much appreciated!
Great job Jake, Adam and the rest of the BA team! Jake, great on camera presence once again :-)
This is huge!!! Iâve been converting my workflow over to Shape Layers the last few months & itâs been great saying goodbye to my solids folder!
These are some great features! I've been using shape layers instead of solids because I also hate the clutter it builds in the projects panel. Another minor advantage I've found to using solids though is that, say you have a complex project with many precomps and you've copied an adjustment layer that applies a certain look to multiple compositions. If you need to change that look for the whole project, you can easily right click on the adjustment layer in the projects panel and reveal all the instances where it's being used. Same applies for solid layers if yo're generating a turbulent noise or something. Null layers will never see the light of day again though.
I think you could make anything seem cool tbh Jake - love your infectious style of teaching. And thanks for another great freebie :)
I laughed so much throughout the video, man!
You made me so happy! ;'DD
And your presentation skills are so... I'm jealous. Just makes me jealous.
Thank you very much, man. I'm so glad I discovered you here.
Makes me excited to create!
Best Christmas gift đ thank you both for creating and sharing this amazing extension
One advantage of solids is that they render multiple times faster than a shape layer. Even if you were just to use them as a disabled layer (as a track matte or reference in an effect). You check this yourself in AE's render time panel. A few layers won't make much difference but it might have an influence once you have a lot of layers. So I guess I'm still sticking with solids. ;)
That being said, the null object replacement in this script looks actually quite neat. ;)
I can imagine it slowing things down if you for instance had a sine wave generated with nulls and path from nulls script, or similar scenarios with many nulls driving shape points
Check out my response to the comment I just pinned. I tested this on a comp with over 100 nulls and the render time was negligible.
Seems like AE's new beta features a big improvement in shape layer performance (2x-10x faster as they say). Looks promising - the solid shape layer performance gap should be greatly reduced if not closed completely. :)
â@@JakeInMotion I do think the issue for me is not nulls which are not visible and therefore don't render but rather once something has to get rendered. But as stated in the other comment I just posted, luckily the new AE beta features a big speed improvement for shape layers which is great news! :)
@@ConstantinMaier yeah i saw this, looks promising too! hopefully they make ae faster generally
A big YES to this PAY WHAT YOU WANT script and one technical note : in some cases (some effects and some plugins Red Giant, Video Copilot etc) the visual result is NOT the same with a shape layer and a solid "used as adjustment layer" or "used with some blend modes". Unfortunately I don't have a precise exemple in mind now but I certainly checked and observed the difference, so it is definitely something worth checking "solid vs shape" in some edge case scenarios. Thanks for the solid slayer!
I've been using Shape Layers for controllers, solids, adjustment layers, and zeroing positions for awhile. I hate getting a project from someone and getting a thousand unnamed solids. Glad someone came out with a script to replace solids. Never knew about Shape Layers vs Solid Layers @ 12:20. Learning something new everyday.
For years I've been using an AE template file with custom designed shape layers for use as solids, adjustment layers and nulls. The first two would also fill out the whole canvas by using expressions. Thank you so much for your script and also for letting me know, that I'm not the only person annoyed by the bizarre fake-footage way how AE is handling these objects.
14:47 Wait! ... is that Rubberhose 3?!!đ„ Can't Wait to see what's new...đ
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I started using this and I'm loving all of the other features (offsetting position, auto parenting) even more than the lack of creating solids
This is game changing! Crazy good. keep up the good work man.
Brilliant. Canât figure out whatâs better - the script by Adam. Or the explanation of the script by Jake. Amazing!
Why just not to use shape layers from the very beginning? Joey Korenman from School of Motion once said in one of the videos - don't use solids, use shapes (for effects, expression controls, and so on), because they don't create additional stuff in your project panel. It was very very long time ago, but since then I'm using only shapes almost all the time.
This is amazing! Solids never really bothered me. But this might be a convenient tool for even faster workflows! Thanks for this video!
Apologies, had to double comment, nicely done with the alt-click zero-ing out of controllers! In Maya this is called Freeze transformations, and a great way to start from a known base position (0,0) Sanity saver!
I have always wondered why the anchor point of the Null-object is not centred. I like to have my anchor point centred. Thanks for this well thought script.
I work with AE for years and honestly solids never really bothered me. It's annoying when you reduce a project and they're just gone, but in general I just thought it was part of the process and I needed to pay more attention.
But this is a game changer lol thank you very much, this made me view all the workflow in a different way.
Muchas gracias Jake, como siempre gracias por preocuparte por la comunidad đ
This is amazing, man. You are a life saver, as usual. Thank you very much.
Great script! I would love an option to create a null object only for the unparented layers. So you could select all the layers and create a master null, without worrying about breaking the link of your already parented layers. Also an option to change the default name of the voids, variants or volumes :)
Great video Jake and awesome script Adam!!! Thank you!
This is fantastic, canât believe is free. Thanks so much!!!
This is like VC FX Console in a way that changes how people work so thank you for creating this and giving us at least a good alternative.
I've been a bit incredulous that Adobe hasn't put in an actual null object. This is pretty cool though!!!
This awesome! I played around with building something similar awhile back and it's crazy that this isn't native to AE.
Just learned this. Thanks mate!
đ Another amazing plugin that is truly a game changer in terms of workflow! Thank you again! đ Bye bye nulls, adj lyrs and solids đ
changing the color of a solid đđ« awesome script and explanation!
also i'm freaked out to learn that ALs and nulls are also just solids. i've been void pilled
i use solids for quick and dirty alpha mattes, will give this a go to see if it's what's been lagging some projects
Love the auto parenting to individual and multiple layers function
Great job, Jake!
I've been reusing Solids to avoid clutter, but to also have those dependencies because sometimes I do Alt-drag replace to some PSD layers in order to avoid depending on files (for eg. when my boss sends a Color Correction PSD file)
Um...wut. This is some crazy voodoo for realz. Good stuff! Gonna start using it asap!
I am that one type of person that this is for. đââ Thanks Battle Axe!!
And this is free!! Thank you so much for this!!
This is awesome. I hate that messy solids folder.
HI JAKE.. IM HAMID FROM IRAN,AND I SAW ALL TOUTORIALS YOU MAKE. THANK YOU
Holy moly! Thanks!
Amazing! Love things that make life easier
Amazing! Thank you đ
O my battle axe god, this is amazing!!!
Be still my OCD heart. Jake, you're my hero đ
Hey, Jake wonderful video. I have a question, can you tell me about your technique for squash and stretch for this animation in simple few steps if it's not a problem , because it's looks perfect.
Thank you! I have a video showing my technique for a basic squash and stretch: czcams.com/video/0FZPR5lJh2U/video.html
Thank you so much
I'm of two minds here. I ONE HUNDRED PERCENT agree that projects have a tendency to get completely out of hand with the amount of solids and nulls generated during the course of building a comp. However, the use of a script (cool as it is) seems like an over-engineered solution. AE users, instead, should learn to reuse the layers they've created rather than create a new one over and over. True, this is less convenient when we're talking about Nulls, cuz Adobe was just plain dumb by doing whatever they do behind the scenes that doesn't allow you to drag a null onto the comp AS A NULL, but I try and drive reusing solids into junior designers as often as possible.
I feel like anyone that's gonna care about the organization so much as to want to use this script is already making a modicum of effort to reuse solids wherever it makes sense. After (x) years of doing this for a living, it's rare for me to have more than a single solid at the main comp size and one null. If it needs to be an adjutment layer - hit the switch. If it needs to be a different color - add a Fill Solid effect.
There is an interesting quirk:
I downloaded and immediately started using this. Then the first effect I used on a "volume" created by Void were the Grid and Slant Effects. When you rotate the "volume" layer, the effects do not rotate along with it. When you apply the same effects to a solid, and then rotate the solid, the effects DO rotate with it. It was just interesting that my first use case ended up in a scenario in where there is not a 1:1 parity between the 2.
Yeah, I addressed that in the video. It's just the nature of vector layers in AE. If you check the video you'll see a workaround but it's not necessarily better than using a solid.
@@JakeInMotion oh man, haha! Sorry! I watched almost the whole thing, but my download finished, and I guess I was too eager to jump in. It's already coming in handy! Love the Null functionality
Volume: nice to se the colorpicker, but the Volume is all over the Comp, so I dunno know where to pick the color?
Every stuff is there for a reason and also the rendering times will increase really high. Also to mention that you could have the same advantages years back with duik/bassel
See the pinned comment đ
amazing!
Game changer! The replace function handles expressions, too, right?
Sure does!
Game changer! thanks!
sençacional!
vlw jake!
13:00 not redundant at all, sometimes I make my BG color as a solid and if I want to adjust it then it will only create a new solid layer that still needs to be replaced individually on each comp it was used; making it a precomp is great đ
Solid works the same, just Ctrl + Shift + Y, and check the button for update the Solid in project
But still, in precomp you can put anything, not just change the color :)
@@MrPondo17 woah you're right, i for sure remember this wasn't the case last time i tried it
So simple, yet so beautiful! Thank you.
I'm wondering what's the reason behind the Position of Voids set to separated dimensions by default⊠It would be great to have it as an adjustable setting.
That's just another personal preference. Just like solids, some people hate the dimensions being combined, some really don't care. I fall into the camp of "it depends on what I'm doing", but Adam prefers them to be separated.
Does the script really separate the dimensions, or is it just that setting in AE preferences?
@@dannir7 it does separate them, yes. I'm in a camp of "rarely doing it" people so that's just an inconvenience to me. A minor one, obviously, cause it's a one-click problem.
Wow thank you so much, I'm one of user who dislike solid layer
11:54 i used wave warp on solid layer and it confuses me alot. now I use shapes to stop the confusion
I have a question. What happens if I collect files for the project where I used the void, for example, and I send the file to another person to work on and this person doesnât have the plug-in? Will this work?
It will work! Void just generates shape layers instead of solids, so there are no assets needed for them to work. The script just generates and replaces layers; once the layers are generated there is nothing dependent on having the script installed.
Making controllers out of voids with offset is super awesome thanks. But do lots of solids, adjustment layers and nulls slow down your project? Havenât tested both scenarios, just wondering if thereâs a massive performance boost when opening/saving the project.
I tested render times, see the pinned comment for the specifics. I haven't noticed any issues with save/opening time.
Great!
Is there a way to set the "position" of the void nulls not to be separated in x y ?
Not by default, but you can combine them again by right-clicking on either position value and unchecking separate dimensions.
MASSIVE TUTORIAL
IMO it would be better to not add the extra symbol when using the replacement feature, as this breaks already applied expressions and you have to do a lot of manual relinking afterwards. Maybe add a comment instead of renaming the layer.
I think this is very generous of you guys! But, I'm too much of a newb to comprehend what is given! So maybe a Void video for Dummies would be great, and hopefully I'll learn why "Solids bad, Vectors good"! Thanks anyway!
He explains why they're bad in the beginning, or at least one of the major reasons. The biggest reason is Imagine you imported an image of a kitten into your project. Now imagine you add that to a composition. If you were to delete the image of that kitten from your project library you would also lose it in any compositions using that kitten image.
Ok, so now say you just want a layer that will control another layer. This is called a "null" object layer. Null objects don't render to your final video and are only used as little controllers for controlling various aspects of other layers, such as position or rotation, etc. Well, what most people don't realize is that a null object is really just After Effects creating a solid layer and tweaking aspects of it to act as a null object. A solid layer, which is a layer of nothing but a single color, needs to have a source file which ends up in your project library just like that kitten image. If this solid image gets deleted, well, so does your null object.
A lot of null objects tend to get created in even relatively simple projects which means you now end up with a folder in your project full of tons of solid images in a "solids" folder. Aside from being messy it also means you better be sure you don't delete one of them and break something in a composition.
Void solves this but also adds a replacement for solid layers, and adjustment layers, which are themselves basically just solids that end up in your project library.
Hope that helps!
EDIT: Also, vectors, as in shape layers, aren't good in the same sense we may think of vectors being useful, like being smoother and being able to be infinitely scaled, etc. It's just that Void is creating a shape layer which is then being treated as a null object. Outside of that there isn't major vector aspects of the layer outside of just not creating a solid layer in the library and also having some better controls. Long story short this isn't about how vectors are better than solid images really but rather about how it's annoying AE creates solid images when making null objects.
@@galaga00 Thank you soooo much! This made total sense now. Very well explained.
Thanks again!
@@DEADLINETV my pleasure :)
Hey Jake
I use void and variants all the times I switched the short cuts to the headless files provided
But recently I am getting a problem.
Void and Variant headless scripts are visible in the file>script
but when I go to change the shortcut they are not visible even when I search on the search bar.
Can you please tell me why it may be happening??
So we found out that AE indexes the headless scripts and only allows so many to be accessible to keyboard shortcuts. The workaround is to add a 1 before the names of each script so they're indexed at the top of the list, then you'll see them in the key kard shortcuts list.
@@JakeInMotion Thank you so much it worked.
i cant be the only one that thinks the audio is really off in this video? i was just watching another of your tutorials and the audio was so crisp. this video feels so muffled.
LOVE this script. #DeathToSolids
There's an issue with the website. It won't let me download it.
i'm not seeing the replace section. it was there when i opened it but then i did something and can't get it back. do i need to just uninstall/reinstall?
We decided to remove that feature because there were too many instances where it caused problems. We now think of Void as a tool you use moving forward, not looking back at old projects.
@@JakeInMotion awesome, thanks. just getting started with AE and was going to replace all my nulls in the current project I'm working on so I could try this void focused workflow, will have to try it on the next one. appreciate the quick response and also for creating videos that help newbies like myself.
what about mask and masks with fater that i used to do on solids?
You can still use masks on shape layers, the same way you would on solids.
what was the shortcut key for the rotation used at 8:57?
The W key switches to the rotation tool.
@@JakeInMotion a million thanks Jake.
Hero
is it auto-parenting work on 3d layers?
It does generate a Void and parent the 3D layers to it, but the Void layer itself is not 3D. Possible future update though!
What would happen if I used Voids, Variants, and Volumes in a project but then sent that project to another person who prefers using Nulls, Adj Layers, and Solids? Would they have to install the Void script?
Nope, they would just have a project file full of shape layer alternatives đ
Thanks for the quick reply Jake!
All the other options look amazing but I don't think it's a good idea to replace nulls with expression filled shape layers, it's bound to make null heavy rigs A LOT HEAVIER and I KNOW I'm going to be dealing with one of those because so many people have a really weird allergy to having a solids folder buried somewhere in a project.
I would really love to know how the performance changes if you were to swap out all those nulls for voids on a project like that. If you try, please let me know!
Yep! exactly... 5 mins organizing the project panel is mush lesser of a pain than facing performance drops all throughout the workâ
Nice script! But I am okay with solids :P
And you are accepted đđ»
I can see it's clever, I just can't quite work out much real-world use for it yet
I think I covered many real world situations in the video. The simple ability to change the size of the void layer and offset it from the anchor point is enough for me to choose them over nulls, and those are just 2 of the many features of this script.
Not sure how useful this is, AE already struggling with multiple shape layers existing.
so its not working for mask paths? bummer lol
Actually I'm the latest version it does support mask and shape paths.
I feel like this was made for me specifically lol
ok, but a Variant with feathered mask is not possible.
Hi Jake,
Sorry I can't afford to buy u a coffee for this tool cuz im from indonesia (I mean Im broke) but,
I have issue when replace my nulls that already set as point follolw nulls, it just not connected with the path anymore after i replace with void.
I hope u can fix it when u not bussy đđ
"Think of Void as the Null replacer." It's amazing how robust the third party ecosystem for After Effects is, and a testament to its longevity in the marketplace, but also a little sad that Adobe is such a slow moving behemoth that they themselves haven't hired the top (10 or so) developers and solicited development resources (and compensate justly) for their improvements. Ah well. Capitalism, I guess. Keep it up, Jake!
So basically this was created for people with OCD?
OCD is a bit extreme. I think it's for people who enjoy a tidy project.
I'm sorry Jake, but this has no crazy benefit over Nulls. Specially the slower render times of shape layers. I'll stick with nulls.
I support your decision.
hey dude how to install void pls guide us
13:51
@@JakeInMotion thank i watched only 8 mins. will watch the rest in few hours
how is this free omfg
I hate solids, and all my homies hate solids.
âšđ«đđđđ«âš
bro you are saying this plugin is free lol... wow my life is complete now (for 2022 haha)
I thought I'm only the one who hate solid haha
йаŃĐ°ŃĐŸŃĐșĐ°. ))))
this is awesone
Finally, Jake. Iâm so person 2, Iâve written so many helper scripts just like yours to fucking exterminate solids and adjustment layers once and for all. This is so much better though, thanks Battle Axe wizardsđ«¶
All the credit goes to Adam! I know nothing about scripting :D
@@JakeInMotion Oh yes I know, praising the messenger I guess. Thanks Adam!
amazing !