F.A.Q.

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F.A.Q.
Bugs/Problems
Workflower seems to cause AE or other scripts/extensions to crash/freeze. Why is this happening?
If you're still using version 1.0 or 1.0.1, please update to the current version as it contains fixes for critical bugs that caused AE or other scripts/extensions to crash!
If the update doesn't solve your problems concerning crashing/freezing, please contact Workflower's customer support.
I'm a Japanese user (other users might be affected too) and I cannot start up the script, use Single Script Mode on Windows, and/or set shortcuts on Wokflower's shortcuts panel.
If the script is not starting up, please make sure that your AE keyboard layout preset file name only contains regular English characters or numbers. To do that, go to AE's Keyboard Shortcuts panel and next to the keyboard layout preset dropdown, click on Save As... to create a copy of the current preset. Then choose a name only with English characters or numbers. (It might take a bit to solve the underlying issue as this seems to be a bug within AE.)
If you cannot use Single Script Mode, please switch to Individual Scripts Mode. There seems to be an AE bug that prevents Single Script Mode from working when the OS language is in Japanese.
If you cannot set shortcuts on Workflower's shortcuts panel, you can temporarily switch the language of your OS to US or something similar to set shortcuts.
For more information on Single Script Mode and typing in shortcuts, please read the dedicated chapter for Japanese users.
I'm a Mac OS Monterey user and the script crashes on startup.
Unfortunately, there seems to be an issue with the update check that the script performs at startup and this Mac OS. Please check out the following  page on how to disable the update check  before launching the script:
​https://aescripts.com/knowledgebase/index/view/faq/scripts-crashing-in-macos-monterey/​
Workflower did not get me a date as promised by the promotional video!
Please make sure you're not dabbling in any other competing software to After Effects. Dates are only available to users who are loyal to their love for After Effects. You MUST NOT have any instance of Nuke, Cavalry, or similar installed on your computer! Please remove the programs immediately and try again. Various dates should now appear quickly.
Compatibility
Can I open up a project that was created with Workflower when I don't have the script?
Yes, you can open up a project created with Workflower even if you don't have the script.
However, if you want to continue to work in this project, it is recommended to convert your comps to either Non-Indented Layout or Expression Mode Layout (no indent and no special characters) before handing over the project in order to get rid of all indent of layer names. As of version 1.0.3, you're able to batch convert all of your comps in a project to one of these layout styles. For more info about this function, click here.
Left: Indented Layout; Right: Expression Mode (No Indent + No Special Characters)
If the aep is returned to you, it is possible to convert the comps back to Indented Layout. For that to be possible, however, it is necessary that no layer/comp comments were deleted, as Workflower relies on them to store information about groups and layers. Also, the group header, as well as the shy'd layers above and below the group, mustn't have been deleted. These are necessary for Workflower to be able to identify the beginning and end of a group.
Left: A Group with shy'd Layers above and below; Right: A Group with shy'd Layers revealed
However, if you want to exchange the project file with someone who doesn't have Workflower, that person might find it annoying to deal with the additional shy'd layers above and below groups. That's why you can also remove those layers using the batch conversion function. But be aware that it will then be impossible to read group information on re-importing and you would have to create your groups anew!
Can projects be exchanged between Windows and Mac without problems?
Workflower will work on both platforms. However, on Mac, Workflower uses different icons within the layer names than on Windows. Also, the layers are indented a bit differently due to the fact that AE uses a slightly different font here. Still, importing a project from another OS works without breaking expressions, etc., as far as this has been tested, and the layout will be readable even in the layout of the other OS. When you execute any Workflower function, it will then convert the comp layout to its OS-specific layout. (If you want to continue to work in this comp, it is important to convert it to the OS-specific layout, otherwise, some expressions might break!)
However, the workflow between Windows and Mac hasn't been tested extensively so far. So if you may run into any issues, please contact Workflower's customer support and we'll fix it.
If you want to be really safe, you can also convert all comps in your project to a layout without any indent or special characters (what is called Expression Mode) before the file is being exchanged. Since the Expression Mode layout has no indent or special characters, it will look exactly the same on both platforms. As of version 1.0.3, you're able to batch convert all comps in a project to this layout style.
Still, as stated before, the layout should be readable in the layout of the other OS, too, so converting all comps to Expression Mode shouldn't be necessary.
Will Workflower's comp layout break scripts/plugins that depend on specific layer names?
It depends on the specific script/plugin and how it's referring to that layer name. If layer names are properly referenced in expressions, for example, Workflower will update the names in these expressions so that they don't break. If they aren't, or the script/plugin refers back to the layer name in some way, this might cause issues.
If the other script/plugin causes issues, you can always use Workflower's Non-Indented Layout or Expression Mode Layout which will remove the indent from all layer names. As Non-Indented Layout will still rename some layer types with special characters, you might want to disable the icons for Parent Exception Layers and Prime Clone Layers in the Icons Settings of Workflower as these are the only icons that affect regular layers (that means layers not created by Workflower). If your workflow is mainly based around these other scripts/plugins, you should then set your Default Layout Style to Non-Indented Layout or Expression Mode in the Layout Settings of Workflower.
Left: Indented Layout; Right: Non-Indented Layout
Of course, Indented Layout would still be preferable over Non-Indented Layout in terms of clarity in the comp. So, if the layers that mustn't be renamed are only a few, you can also place them outside of groups and go to Workflower's Layout Settings to disable Indent Layers Outside Groups to Fit AE Layer Icons. Now, all group-less layers won't be indented.
(Fixed in version 1.0.5) As of now, this only works on Windows. On Mac, there's a bug that still indents these layers with one space. This will be fixed soon. For the time being, please use Non-Indented Layout instead.
As of version 1.0.5, you can also exempt the names of specific layers from indented by adding a marker with "NNN" to the layer. Read up here for more information. That way, you can keep using Indented Layout and even put these layers into a group without altering their names.
Exempting 'Original Base' from being indented to keep the 'Normalize Track' script functional
However, in addition to that, sometimes there are certain modifications we can do to the code of Workflower in order to make it (more) compatible with that other script/plugin. If you experience any issues with the conjunction of another script/plugin and Workflower, please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we'll take a look at it.
So far, we have tested these scripts/plugins that depend on certain layer names:
Supercomp by Red Giant: Compatible! The layer name of the Supercomp will not be indented in Indented Layout so that it doesn't break the Supercomp.
Deekay Tool by Motion Design School: Unfortunately, Deekay Tool is not compatible with Workflower's Indented Layout. Either exempt layer names from indented, or use Non-Indented Layout or Expression Mode instead.
Limber by Steve Kirby: As far as we've tested this, Limber seems to be compatible with Workflower's Indented Layout. However, as we're not familiar with the everyday use of this script, as of now we cannot guarantee it will work in every situation. You will have to test it out and see for yourself.
RubberHose 2 by Battle Axe: Unfortunately, RubberHose is not compatible with Workflower's Indented Layout when using the default settings. Since Rubberhose's controller layers depend on having exactly the name they're given, either exempt layer names from being indented, or place the layers outside of groups and deactivate Indent Layers Outside Groups to Fit AE Layer Icons, or use Non-Indented Layout.
Joysticks 'n Sliders by Mike Overbeck: According to a user report, Joysticks 'n Sliders is compatible with Workflower's Indented Layout. However, if you experience any issues with it, please contact us.
Layer Storage by Joachim Holler: Unfortunately, Layer Storage is incompatible with any layout of Workflower. This will be addressed in the future.
Normalize Track by Workbench: Since Normalize Track depends on the layer named Original Base to have exactly the same name, you can just exempt this layer name from indentation.
If you know of any other script/plugin that is or is not compatible with Workflower's Indented Layout, you can let us know if you feel like it, so we can extend our list.
Performance
Will Workflower slow down the performance of my comps?
It depends on what aspect of Workflower you mean.
​Groups, for example, don't really reduce performance. There's only one expression that's used when dealing with groups, which is on a layer that's used to display potential error messages about groups. However, we have not experienced this to cause a visible slowdown in performance. Still, you can also disable this error message in the Miscellaneous Settings if you think it reduces your performance. Other than that, though, groups cannot reduce performance since all layers that are used to create groups (headers and footers) are either disabled or set to 0% opacity which AE won't render.
Other Workflower tools, namely Precomp Clones, Clones in Comp, Matte Merges, Group Mattes, Linked Adjustment Layers, and Matted Adjustment Layers, all rely on some sort of expressions that can slow down your comp. However, when using Precomp Clones, Linked Adjustment Layers, and Matted Adjustment Layers, you can also unlink them after you're done working on them (meaning that the expressions will be removed) which should boost the performance.
(The speed improvement after unlinking will be most significant when using Precomp Clones. On Linked Adjustment Layers, however, the speed improvement may not be that great since the fact that all its effects will be copied to all selected layers is the most important factor here concerning speed.)
In the future, we want to implement more features that deal with improving the performance of your comp.
Executing Refresh Layout sometimes gets slow. What can I do about it?
You might want to go to Settings > Layout and disable When executing 'Refresh Layout', check Selected Layers for Unique Naming. This should noticeably reduce execution time when executing Refresh Layout while layers are selected. However, if you want to keep this option on, you can also deselect your layers before executing Refresh Layout.
In addition, you also might want to set Refresh Layout when Expanding / Collapsing / Selecting / Renaming to Never.
Another tip would be to use no or as few locked layers as possible in your comp as they will have to be unlocked and then locked again during the execution of Refresh Layout and - depending on the number of locked layers - this can increase execution time quite a bit. (This issue will be fixed in a future update.)
Other than that, Workflower v1.1 will improve the speed of Refresh Layout by at least 4x. The version will be out soon. However, if you're interested to try the beta, you can also send us a support ticket via aescripts and we'll make it happen. (The beta should be pretty stable by now.)
Workflow
When I create a group, the label colors of all my other layers turn grey. How do I prevent this?
This feature is intended for when you mostly work with groups. All layers outside groups will be labeled to None by default whereas all layers within a group get a uniform color. However, when you don't use so many groups (or you just generally don't want to work like that), you can also change this setting. Go to Settings and in the Layout panel, disable Color Label Layers Outside Groups to 'None' by Default.
You can also change this setting for comps individually if you want to - some comps might be smaller without groups or with fewer groups where you want to color label your group-less layers, some other comps might be bigger ones with mostly groups where it's easier to see which layers are in a group and which aren't when group-less layers are labeled to None. To change this for comps individually, in the Layout Settings, enable Use Custom Color Label Setting for Active Comp. Or even quicker - click on the dedicated button on the relabel panel.
Button for Custom Color Label Setting on the Relabel Panel
Can you make Workflower compatible with KBar buttons, and/or make it a dockable panel?
As of version 1.0.4, Workflower supports KBar buttons for almost all its functions. Click here for more information on how to set it up.
Concerning a dockable panel: Due to the fact that dockable panels execute functions slower than a dialog does, Workflower's Main Menu has been made into a dialog. However, as there seems to be a way to implement this without reducing performance too much, we want to work on a dockable panel soon and offer it in a future release. 