After Effects script Copy Text Properties

What does this After Effects script do?

Imagine working on a large-scale video project in After Effects with numerous compositions, each containing countless text layers. Every layer can have its unique style: font, size, color, alignment, and more. To ensure consistency and professionalism, you'd typically need to manually adjust the settings of each layer. This can be a tedious and time-consuming task.

This script is designed to automate this process. It allows you to quickly and efficiently:

• Copy Styles: Select any text layer with a style you like, and the script will save all its settings (font, size, color, alignment, effects, etc.).
• Apply Styles to Multiple Layers: Choose multiple layers or even all layers in a composition and apply the copied style to them.
• Filter Layers by Name: Search for and modify styles only for layers whose names match a specific pattern (e.g., "Title," "Subtitle").
• Replace Fonts: Quickly find and replace all occurrences of one font with another throughout the entire project or selected compositions.
• Analyze Font Usage: Get a list of all fonts used in the project and information about which compositions and layers they appear in.

How to install the script:

Place the .jsx file in any convenient location and run it by going to File -> Scripts -> Run script File. Alternatively, you can place it here for it to always be available in the panel when you start AE: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2024\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels and run it from the Window menu.

How the script for automating text layer work in After Effects works:

1. Select the source text: Highlight the text layer whose style you want to copy.
2. Copy the style: Click the "Copy Properties" button on the script panel. The script will remember all the settings of this layer (font, size, color, etc.).
3. Select the target layers: Highlight the layers you want to apply the copied style to.
4. Apply the style: Click the "Apply to selected" button. The script will automatically change the styles of all selected layers according to the saved settings.

Additional features:

• Find and replace fonts: The script can find all layers using a specific font and replace it with another.
• Filter layers by name: You can specify a name pattern, and the script will only apply styles to layers that match this pattern.

Essentially, this script automates routine text formatting tasks, allowing you to quickly and efficiently create consistent styles in your After Effects projects.

Example:

• You want all the headings in your video to be the same color and font.
• You highlight one heading and copy its style.
• Then you highlight all the other headings and apply the copied style.
• All headings will automatically take on the same appearance.

In essence, it's an assistant for designers that allows you to quickly create consistent text styles in your project.