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Useful Things FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)Installation Issues
Starting or Using After Effects
Using Useful Things
(Mac OS) On a multiprocessor Mac OS machine, the Python installation seems to be taking a long time.The Python installation portion of the Useful Things installation process might take some time to complete, so be sure to give it enough time to finish its work. Python needs to be installed for the Useful Things software to work, so do not cancel the Python installation. (Mac OS X) During the Python installation or when ConfigurePythonCarbon is double-clicked, the installation process stops at a <<terminated>> window.The <<terminated>> window appears because the Python installer or ConfigurePythonCarbon script could not overwrite some files. This problem is mainly due to a permissions issue on the CFMSupport folder (as described in the ReadMe file and installation instructions in the User Guide). To fix the problem, be sure to follow these installation instructions for changing the permissions on the CFMSupport folder, and then either reinstall Python or, if Python is already installed, double-click the ConfigurePythonCarbon icon in the Python 2.2.2 folder. If the problem persists, do the following:
(Mac OS X) When ConfigurePythonCarbon is double-clicked, the installation process stops at a “Import Error: No module named os” error.This error might appear if there was a problem with the existing Python preferences file. Try deleting this file — in the Macintosh HD:Users:your login name:Library:Preferences:Python folder, delete the “Python 2.2.2 Preferences” file. Then, run ConfigurePythonCarbon again. I’ve upgraded to After Effects 6.0, and when I try to open the Import Footage dialog box (such as by double-clicking in the Project window), or when After Effects finishes scanning for plug-ins at startup, After Effects exits immediately or displays an error message.This problem was introduced in the released version of After Effects 6.0, and was not known at the time Useful Things 1.5 was released. To workaround the problem, install the free Reveal plug-in in the Profound Effects folder. Adobe is aware of the problem, but the installation of the Reveal plug-in is the only workaround at this time. If installing Reveal does not solve the problem, try temporarily removing the OpenGL3D.AEX plug-in from the Adobe\After Effects 6.0\Support Files\Plug-ins\Standard\Extensions folder on Windows or Adobe:After Effects 6.0:Plug-ins:Standard:Extensions folder on Mac OS. I’m only seeing Set Stream Flags actions in the undo history. What are these?If you are using Useful Things v1.5 on After Effects 6.0, only mapped parameters will appear in the Effect Controls window. However, this causes numerous Set Stream Flags actions to appear in the undo history. Version 1.5.1 fixes this problem by removing the feature that shows only mapped parameters in the Effect Controls window. You will need to resave your projects in version 1.5.1, as described in the readme file. Version 1.5.1 is a free update for existing users. I recently updated my NVIDIA graphics card to the ForceWare Release 50 (v52.16) driver, and After Effects 6.0 now exits or crashes on startup.If you are using Useful Things on After Effects 6 for Windows and have an NVIDIA card, DO NOT upgrade to the latest NVIDIA display driver (ForceWare Release 50; v52.16). If you do, After Effects will exit or crash on startup. The v52.16 driver causes OpenGL memory leaks in After Effects 6. Adobe and NVIDIA are aware of the issue and are working to resolve the issue. You should downgrade to a previous version of the display driver for stability. If you have other applications that need this updated driver, the only workaround at this time is to move Adobe’s OpenGL3D.AEX extension plug-in from the Standard\Extensions folder to the Required folder. When an updated driver that fixes these problems becomes available, be sure to move the OpenGL3D.AEX file back to the Standard\Extensions folder. (Mac OS) I can’t change panels in the After Effects Preferences dialog box.Once you create or open a project that uses any effect (not just Useful Things), list menu and Previous and Next buttons in the After Effects Preferences dialog box stop working. If you need to adjust the preferences, restart After Effects, and then before opening a project or applying an effect to a layer, open the Preferences dialog box. If this procedure still does not work, just access the appropriate panel by selecting its name from the Preferences submenu. Note: This problem is fixed in After Effects 6.0, which requires Useful Things 1.5 or later. (Mac OS X) I’ve upgraded to Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther), and After Effects displays several error message on startup.If you have upgraded to Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther), be aware that the Panther install erases the important “PythonCore 2.2.2” and “PythonCoreCarbon 2.2.2” files in the Library/CFMSupport folder because Panther installs Python 2.3. If you have Useful Things or Useful Assistants installed, these missing files will cause After Effects to display one or more of the following message(s) on startup:
To recreate these two files, simply double-click the ConfigurePythonCarbon icon in the Python 2.2.2 folder. (Mac OS X) A “Python preferences file appears corrupt: Python home folder incorrect. Please remove it and restart Python” error message appears when I start After Effects.To fix this problem, delete the Python preferences file. For Python 2.2.2, it is located in the Macintosh HD:Users:your login name:Library:Preferences:Python folder, and is named “Python 2.2.2 Preferences”. (Mac OS X 10.2) After Effects displays a UTCore or Python error message.If a UTCore- or Python- error message appears when you start the Adobe® After Effects® software, exit After Effects, and then double-click the ConfigurePythonCarbon icon in the Python 2.2.1 folder (within the Applications folder). If that still does not start After Effects without an error, exit After Effects, and install Python 2.2.2 (included in the latest versions of Useful Things). If you are using Useful Things version 1.1.1 or earlier, Click here to download Python 2.2.2 or just update to at least Useful Things version 1.2. (Mac OS X) After Effects 6.0 locks up or crashes during the “Cleaning Up” phase on startup or while opening or saving a project.If After Effects 6.0 is locking up on startup during the “Cleaning Up” phase or while opening or saving a project containing Useful Things effects, you might be using version 1.5 or 1.5.1. This problem has been addressed in version 1.6. Please upgrade to v1.6 or later to resolve this issue. If you are currently using version 1.6 or later, try double-clicking the ConfigurePythonCarbon icon in the Python 2.2 folder (located in the Applications folder) to recompile the Python files used by Useful Things. (AE 6.5) In After Effects 6.5, if you try to apply an animation preset of a Useful Things effect, After Effects will crash.For some reason (in After Effects 6.5), if you try to apply an animation preset of a Useful Things effect by selecting the preset from the Animation > Recent Animation Presets submenu, After Effects will crash. We are still investigating this issue, but you can apply the preset by selecting it from the Effect & Presets palette instead. No elements or very few elements appear in the Available Elements list.You might be viewing the results of a previous search operation. Click the Clear button to view all elements in the Available Elements list. The search results did not produce the expected list of elements.You might be searching on labels only, or some other limiting search criteria. Select the Search by All option in the Element List Options menu. The effect does not appear.One of the following has occurred:
A script element is using an audio layer of an MP3 file, but the element is not drawing any visual elements.The MP3 file might be corrupt or contain incompatible ID3 tags. Try saving the MP3 file from a different application, or converting the MP3 file into an AIFF or WAV file. An error message appears in the PEI Script Console window.A invalid value was assigned to or calculated for a parameter. Check the error message for the name of the script element and parameter that caused the problem, as well as information for fixing the problem (if the script writer provided this help). An effect that use layers sometimes show the layers at the wrong aspect.Useful Things does not currently compensate for the pixel aspect of a layer used in a script element. If the layer’s pixel aspect does not match the composition’s, you will need to compensate for this difference by scaling the element by using the Element.Scale values in the Transform tab of the Useful Things Effect Options dialog box. If you select a video layer for an Audio parameter mapped to After Effects control, then close the project or quit After Effects, an “After Effects warning: memory inefficiency due to 1 unbalanced layer checkouts ( 26 :: 258 )” error message appears.There is no workaround. This is an issue with the After Effects software. The error message, “After Effects warning: Bad argument: couldn’t find param named ‘parameter-name’. Error occured at line line-number. Expression disabled.”, appears when you open a project.The project contains After Effects-mapped parameters from multiple script elements, and one of these parameters uses an expression that refers to another parameter. After Effects cannot resolve the names of these parameters when a project is opened. There is nothing wrong with the expression. Enable the expression by clicking the expression button (“=”) button for the parameter in the Timeline. The keyframe indicators for an After Effects-mapped parameter from a deleted element still appears in the After Effects Timeline, and the parameter is disabled.The disabled parameter is not used. If the keyframe indicators are distracting, do the following:
(Mac OS) I’ve upgraded to After Effects 6.0, and when I try to apply the Useful Things effect on a layer, an “abnormal condition” error message appears.If you are able to start the After Effect software, but applying the Useful Things effect to a layer causes an “abnormal condition” error, you might have the slow handle workaround set for Useful Things. Make sure that Useful Things is not using this workaround. For more information, see this Adobe support knowledgebase document. Also, you might be using Useful Things version 1.5 or 1.5.1. This problem has been addressed in version 1.6. Please upgrade to v1.6 or later to resolve this issue.
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