Silhouette Shape Import/Export Plug-in for Adobe After Effects
The Silhouette Shape Import/Export Plug-in will import Silhouette Shapes and convert them to After Effects masks as well as export and convert After Effects masks to Silhouette Shapes.
Importing Silhouette Shapes into After Effects
1 Start Adobe After Effects, open a project and select a layer in the Timeline.
2 From the After Effects File menu, select Import > Silhouette Shapes.
A file browser opens.
3 Select the shape file to import and click OK.
The Silhouette Shape Import/Export Plug-in will import the shapes and convert them to After Effects masks. When importing Silhouette Shapes, the following shape parameters transfer into After Effects: opacity, blur, shape color, shape name, invert and locked states, transfer mode and per-shape motion blur state.
Exporting After Effects Masks to Silhouette Shapes
1 Start Adobe After Effects, open a project and select a layer in the Timeline that contains After Effects masks.
2 From the After Effects File menu, choose Export > Silhouette Shapes.
A file browser opens.
3 Type a name and press OK to save the file.
All After Effects masks from the selected layer are exported and a file is saved with a .fxs file extension. When exporting After Effects masks, the following shape parameters transfer into Silhouette: opacity, blur, shape color, shape name, invert and locked states, transfer mode and per-shape motion blur state.
Shape Import/Export Notes
1 The general rule is that the After Effects Composition size must match the Silhouette Session size for shapes to import and export properly. However, as long as the ratio of the sizes between the After Effects Composition and the Silhouette Session match, you can successfully import and export shapes between them. For instance, you could import or export shapes from a 2000x1000 Silhouette Session to a 1000x500 After Effects Composition with no problems, as long as the pixel aspects were the same.
2 When After Effects has the Preserve Constant Vertex Count in the General Preferences dialog deactivated, it is possible for a differing number of control points to occur on different keyframes. These type of shapes can’t be imported into Silhouette.
3 Shapes with variable edge blurs created with the Feather tool can be exported from Silhouette, but only the original spline without the variable edge feather is used.
4 B-Spline, X-Spline and Bézier splines can all be exported from Silhouette, but B-Splines and X-Splines are first converted to Bézier splines.
5 The resulting Silhouette export of B-Splines and X-Splines that use extreme, variable weight adjustments will not exactly match the original B-Spline or X-Spline. Do not use extreme, variable weight adjustments if you are planning on exporting B-Splines or X-Splines.