After Effects CC2017 includes several new features such as a CINEMA 4D renderer for faster 3D rendering, team projects for collaborative work, text template workflows that can be shared between After Effects and Premiere Pro, and the ability to import and dynamically link scenes from Character Animator. Other updates include resolving missing fonts from TypeKit, new project templates, freezing layers on their last frame, setting marker durations by dragging, and including date/time values in output name templates.

1. After Effects CC2017: The New Features in Details
Thisyear at Adobe MAX,we releasedAfterEffectsCC2017 (14.0), whichfeaturesavarietyof
performance andworkflowenhancements.
In thisarticle,we’re sharingmore detailabouthow the new features work,includingnew project
templates,syncingmissingfontsfromTypeKit,andDynamicLinkwithCharacterAnimator..
New 3D CompositionRenderer:CINEMA 4D
AfterEffectsCC2017 adds a new3D rendererforcompositionswhichusesthe MaxonCINEMA 4D
standardrendererfor3D layers,includingextrudedtextandshapesandcurved2D planes.
Thisrendererisdesignedtomake itfastand easyto animate 3D textandlogosin AfterEffects.
The 3D functionalityof the CINEMA 4D rendererissimilartothe Ray-traced3D renderer:whenenabled,
3D textandshape layerscan be extruded,andother3D layers(solids,footage,etc.) canbe bentinto
curvedplanes.Because the tworenderersworkverydifferently,the renderedresultswill be different,
and there are differencesin3Dlayermaterial optionsandotherlayerbehaviors.
The performance of the CINEMA 4D rendererismuchfasterthan the CPU-onlyperformance of the Ray-
traced 3D renderer.
In associationwiththisnewrenderer,the composition3Drenderersettingshave beenmovedfromthe
Advancedtabof the CompositionSettingsdialogtoanew 3D Renderertab.Clickingthe name of the
rendererinthe upper-rightcornerof the Compositionpanel will now bringyoutothistab.In additionto
choosingthe 3D renderer,the 3D Renderertabdisplayshelpful informationaboutthe different3D
renderers,includingwhichlayerbehaviorsare enabledanddisabled.
Clickthe Optionsbuttontosetthe optionsforthe currentrenderer.Youcan alsonow accessthe
rendereroptionsfora3D compositionbyclickingthe Optionsbutton(wrenchicon) inthe upper-right
corner of the Compositionpanel.
The CINEMA 4D rendereroptionsinclude asingle Qualityslider,whichaffectsmultiple parametersof
howthe CINEMA 4D rendererwill drawthe 3Dlayers.The resultingrendererparametersare shownin
the Options,Anti-aliasing,andReflectanceboxes.The single Qualitysettingmakesiteasytochoose a
balancedcombinationof renderingspeedandacceptable 3Drenderingqualitywithoutrequiringyouto
understandandmodifythe manycontributingparametersto renderingquality.
IMPORTANT: You will receiveawarningaboutusingan olderinstallationof CINEMA 4D if youhave
changedthe CINEMA 4D InstallationOptions(viaeitherthe CINEWARE effectoptionsorthe CINEMA 4D
rendereroptions) touse afull installationof CINEMA 4D R18 SP1 or earlier,insteadof the renderer
engine installedwithAfterEffects.

2. The CINEMA 4D rendererincludesimprovementstothe CINEMA 4D engine,whichare requiredto
rendercertaincasescorrectly.(The CINEMA 4D rendererandCINEWAREshare the same engine,
howeverthese improvementsare notapplicable toCINEWARE.)
If you getthiswarning,we recommendresettingAfterEffectstouse the defaultCINEMA 4D engine until
an update forCINEMA 4D R18 withthe engine improvementsisreleased,whichisexpectedshortlyafter
the release of AfterEffectsCC2017. To do this:
Open the Composition Settingsdialog.
Click on the 3D Renderer tab and choosethe CINEMA 4D renderer.
Cick the Optionsbutton.
Click the ChooseInstallation
Click the Defaultsbutton.
Team Projects(Beta)
Team Projectsisa newhostedcollaborationservice forCreative Cloudforteamsandenterprise
customersthatallowseditorsand motiongraphicsartiststoworksimultaneouslyinsharedprojects
withinthe 2017 versionsof AfterEffects,PremierePro,andPrelude CC.
For more details,readourannouncementaboutTeamProjects.
In AfterEffects,youcancreate or opena teamproject usingthe File > New > New TeamProject(Beta)
and File >OpenTeam Project(Beta) commands,orthe equivalentbuttonsinthe Startscreen.Use the
Edit> Team Projectmenutomanage an openteamproject.
New TextTemplate Workflow
You can nowshare texttemplate compositionsbetweenAfterEffectsCC2017 and Premiere ProCC
2017 as a single,packagedfile thatcontainsall of the assets requiredforthatcomposition.
In Premiere Prothe templatebehaveslikeanyotherimportedfootage,withthe added abilitytomodify
the text.Thismeansthat an AfterEffectsartistcan easilypassatemplate totheireditorasa single file.
Also,while AfterEffectsneedstobe installedonthe same computerasPremiere Pro,thiscopyof After
Effectsdoesnotneed tobe licensed.
To save a compositionasatexttemplate file(.aecap),choose Composition>ExportCompositionAsText
Template.The same commandcan be foundinthe File > Exportmenu,or whenyouright-clickona
compositioninthe Projectpanel.
The existinglivetexttemplate workflow,importinganAfterEffectscompositionintoPremiereProvia
DynamicLink,still worksbutwithone change:the Template optioninCompositionSettings>Advanced

3. has beenremoved.Now,anycompositionwithunlockedtextlayerscannow be usedas a live text
template.
Regardlessof whetheryouuse the newor existingtexttemplate workflow,changingthe textin
Premiere Procontinuestoworkthe same:onlyunlockedtextlayerscanbe changed,andyoueditthe
textinthe EffectControlspanel.
TypeKit Sync of Missing Fonts
Missingfontscan nowbe automaticallysyncedusingTypeKit.The new Resolve Fontsdialogisdisplayed
whenyouopena projectthat usesfontsthatis notinstalled.If the fontsare available fromTypeKit,you
can choose to have themautomaticallysyncedtoyourCreative Cloudaccountandinstalled.
TypeKitsyncisavailable bothforfontsincludedwithyourCreative Cloudsubscription,andforfonts
available forpurchase fromTypeKitMarketplace. Fontsthatare not available fromTypeKitwill be
replacedwiththe defaultfont.
New Project Templates
You can nowset AfterEffectstoloada template projectwhenyou choose the New Projectcommand.
To enable this,choose Preferences>New Projectandenable the New ProjectLoadsTemplate option,
thenchoose a template project.Clickthe Choose ProjectTemplate button tochange the template
project.
The template projectcanbe an AfterEffectstemplateprojectfile (.aet),AfterEffectsprojectfile (.aep),
or an AfterEffectsXML projectfile (.aepx).Selectthe file type atthe bottomof the SelectTemplate
dialog;note thaton macOS youmay needtofirstpressthe Optionsbuttontoexpose the Enable menu.
WhenNewProjectLoadsTemplate isenabledand youchoose New Projectfromthe File menuorStart
screen,yourtemplate projectwill openasanunsaved,untitledproject.The template projectwill also
openwhenyouchoose File >Close Project.
Freeze On Last Frame
The newFreeze OnLast Frame command,in the Layer> Time menu,holdsalayeron itslastframe until
the endof the composition.Thiscommandautomatesseveral stepsneededforone of the most
commonusesof time remapping.
Whenyouchoose the Freeze OnLast Frame command,several thingshappentothe selectedlayers:
Time remappingisenabled.

4. A time remappinglinearkeyframe issetatthe layerinpoint.
A time remappingholdkeyframe issetatthe layer’scurrentoutpointframe.
The out pointof the layerismovedtothe endof the composition.
Set Marker Duration by Dragging
You can nowset the durationof a compositionorlayermarkerby draggingthe marker’soutpointinthe
Timeline panel.Markericonsalsonowsplitinhalf tomore clearlyindicate the marker’sinpointand out
point.
To seta marker’sdurationbydragging,holdthe Option(macOS) orAlt(Windows) key,thenclickonthe
markericon anddrag to the right.
To change the durationof a marker,clickand drag the marker outpointicon;you donot needtohold
Option/Alt.Draggingamarkeroutpointall the way back to the markerin pointwill setthe durationto
zeroand unifythe markerinand out pointicons again.
Note that dragginga markerin pointwill onlychange the marker’stime,anddragginga markerout
pointwill onlychange the marker’sduration.Youcannot currentlysimultaneouslychange the marker
time andduration.
On a time-reversedlayers,the markerinandoutpointsare alsotime-reversed.(Markeroutpointsare
on the left,markerinpointsare on the right.)
Date and Time Values in Output Name Templates
Name and locationtemplatesforoutputmodulescannow be customizedwithtokensforthe date and
time.A new defaulttemplate,CompName AndDate/Time,hasalsobeenadded;itappendsthe date
and time (inY-M-D_H-Mformat) tothe compname.
Outputname and locationscanbe customizedwiththe followingtokens:
Minutes. Seconds .Timezone
The date and time valuesare recordedintothe outputmodule atthe time youpressthe Renderor
Queue InAME buttons.If you use the Duplicate withFile Name commandonacompletedrenderitem
or outputmodule,the recordeddate andtime will be copied,notthe date andtime tokens.
Import Character AnimatorScenes via Dynamic Link

5. You can nowopenan Adobe CharacterAnimatorCCscene directlyinAfterEffectsCC2017 or Premiere
Pro CC 2017 and keepalive connectiontothe original scene inCharacterAnimator,viaAdobeDynamic
Link.Changestothe scene inCharacterAnimatorare reflectedautomatically whenswitchingbackto
AfterEffectsorPremiere Pro.
Character AnimatorCC(Beta5) is required forDynamicLinkfunctionality.
To importa Character Animatorscene intoAfterEffectsor Premiere ProviaDynamicLink:
Drag the scene fromthe Projectpanel inCharacterAnimatorintothe Projectpanel inAfterEffectsor
Premiere Pro.Tip:Youcan start draggingthe scene inCharacter Animator,Option/Alt+Tab to After
Effectsor Premiere Pro,thendropthe scene inthe Projectpanel.
Importthe scene from the .chproj file:
ChooseFile > Import> File, then select a CharacterAnimatorprojectfile (.chproj).
In the ImportCharacter AnimatorScene dialog,selectthe scene withinthe projectthatyouwantto
import.
ChooseFile > Import> File, then select a CharacterAnimatorprojectfile (.chproj).
In the ImportCharacter AnimatorScene dialog,selectthe scene withinthe projectthatyouwantto
import.
The scene appearsinthe Projectpanel asDynamicLinkvideofootage thatyoucan add to a composition
like anyothervideofootage.CharacterAnimatordoesnotneedtobe openwhileyouuse the scene in
AfterEffects.
Alpha-OnlyRendering fromAdobe Media Encoder
Adobe MediaEncoderCC 2017 can nowrenderthe alphachannel of any source as a grayscale image.To
enable this,choose RenderAlphaChannelOnlyatthe bottomof the Export SettingsdialoginAdobe
MediaEncoder.This functionalityissimilartosettingthe ChannelsoptiontoAlphainthe Output
Module SettingsdialoginAfterEffects.
RenderAlphaChannel Onlyworksforanytype of source footage inAdobe MediaEncoder,notjustAfter
Effectscompositions.Butitisespeciallyusefulwhenyouneedtoexportthe alphachannel of your
compositiontoformatsthatdo not store a discrete alphachannel,suchasMXF OP1a.
Note:In AfterEffectsCC2017, the RenderAlphaChannel Onlyoptionalsoappearsatthe bottomof the
Format Settingsdialog,whenaccessedfromthe OutputModule SettingsdialoginAfterEffects.Thisisa
bug; use the Channelsoptioninthe OutputModule Settingsdialoginstead.