Main Menu

Workflower's main menu offers access to all functions of the script. You access it either as a dialog or - since version 2.0 - as a ScriptUI Panel.

On the panel, hold down Shift, Ctrl/Cmd, or Alt/Option to execute additional functions. New icons will be revealed for the additional functions.

When right-clicking on each of the buttons, you get quick links to the function's user guide chapter and tutorial.

Main Menu as Dialog

Hit the shortcut for the Main Menu dialog to come up (Win: Ctrl+Alt+X, Mac: macControl+X).

Click anywhere in the menu but the buttons or hit Escape to close it. (Closing it by clicking outside of the menu unfortunately won't work.)

Main Menu Panel Shortcuts (Windows only)

Main Menu as ScriptUI Panel

(Added in version 2.0)

To install the ScriptUI Panel, please follow the instructions.

After installation, open the ScriptUI Panel by going to Window > Workflower ScriptUI Panel.jsxbin.

The ScriptUI panel has a responsive layout. Change the panel size for it to adjust to the four possible configurations:

1. Row layout, 1 line

2. Row layout, 2 lines

3. Column layout, 1 column

4. Column layout, 2 columns

Tip: When you center-click on empty space on the ScriptUI panel, Refresh Layout will be executed.

Customize ScriptUI Buttons

If you want to save on space in your AE interface, you can also customize which buttons you want to appear in Workflower's ScriptUI Panel.

To make use of this, go to Settings > Miscellaneous > Customize ScriptUI Buttons. Now choose which buttons you want to deselect.

Please note that these settings only apply to the ScriptUI Panel. The Main Menu via shortcut will still feature all available buttons.

Button Size

As of version 2.0.1, Workflower's ScriptUI Panel displays smaller buttons than the Main Menu as Dialog.

In case you rather like larger buttons to be displayed, right-click on any button and select Use Large Buttons.

ScriptUI Panel Caching

The Caching Problem

It does seem that a ScriptUI Panel only has limited access to AE's cache, and when executing a function that relies heavily on caches, performance will not be as good as compared to executing the function from within a regular script.

Default Caching Solution

That's why, for certain functions that rely heavily on caching (e.g. Refresh Connections), the ScriptUI panel will not execute the function itself but it will call the main Workflower file within which the function will be executed, hence accessing more of AE's cache and increasing the performance. Nevertheless, there will be a bit of a lag between pressing the button and the execution of the function.

However, since most functions don't rely so much on caching, they will be executed directly from the ScriptUI Panel itself, hence reducing the lag and interacting with the ScriptUI Panel feels more responsive.

Choosing a Manual Solution

But there's also a way to manually choose the method to be used. Go to the System Settings and choose between these options:

1. Better Responsiveness (= executing from ScriptUI Panel)

2. Better Caching (= executing from main Workflower file)

3. Mix between Methods (= mix as described above)

Now, this choice can come in handy when you're working on a comp and you might notice a slowdown when executing Workflower functions. You might want to try to set the method to Better Caching and see whether it helps when more of AE's cache can be taken into account.

Learning Tools built into the Main Menu

(Added in version 2.0)

The Main Menu provides two ways that help with learning Workflower:

1.) Extended Tooltips

Hover over the functions on the Main Menu to get information on the function.

When pressing a modifier key, the Extended Tooltip of the modifier function will be displayed.

You can also turn off Extended Tooltips and only use simple tooltips (displaying solely the function name and shortcut), or disable tooltips altogether by going to the Miscellaneous Settings or by right-clicking on a button and disabling it from the Help Menu.

2.) Help Menu

When right-clicking on a function button, Workflower will open up a dropdown where you can click on links to the user guide and tutorial chapter about the specific function.

Press one of the modifier keys and right-click on the button to open up the links for the modifier functions.

You may also change your tooltips preferences from this menu.

Other Main Menu Features

Reveal Project File

(Added in version 2.5)

Reveals the current project file in the file explorer/finder (via Main Menu: right-click on empty space, then click on Reveal Project File).