aeset 0.1.0

A macOS CLI tool for After Effects project scaffolding

Aeset — After Effects Project Scaffolding Tool

Every video editor or motion designer wastes 10–20 minutes at the start of every project doing the exact same thing: creating folders by hand, naming them consistently, opening After Effects, and setting up a new composition with the right resolution, framerate, and duration. It is not creative work. It is repetitive work. Multiply it by 50 projects a year and you have lost a full work week to folder creation and blank composition setup.

Aeset is a tool built to solve this for After Effects on macOS. It takes the "scaffolding" logic used by software developers and applies it to the motion design world.

1. What The Tool Does

The user opens their terminal, navigates to where they want the project to live, and runs:

aeset

The tool then asks a series of interactive questions:

• Project name (e.g., Nike_Ident_2026)
• Project type (Commercial, Personal, etc.)
• Resolution (Full HD, 4K, Vertical, etc.)
• Frame rate (24, 25, 30, 60 fps)
• Duration in seconds
• Color space (sRGB, Rec. 709, ACES)

After those answers, the tool:

1. Creates a standardized folder tree inside a new project directory.
2. Copies a blank .aep template file into the project folder.
3. Generates a small ExtendScript .jsx file containing the user's specs.
4. Opens After Effects with the project file via a macOS system call.
5. Fires an AppleScript command that tells After Effects to run the .jsx, which creates the composition and internal project bins (folders) automatically.

2. Folder Structure Generated

Aeset generates a directory layout that follows conventions used by professional motion studios. The core principle is: never mix source files with outputs.

On Disk:

<ProjectName>/
├── project/
│   ├── <ProjectName>.aep       (copy of blank .aep template)
│   └── setup.jsx               (temporary setup script)
├── footage/
│   ├── video/                  (raw video clips)
│   ├── audio/                  (music, SFX, voiceover)
│   └── renders/                (outputs from C4D, Blender, etc.)
├── assets/
│   ├── images/                 (static graphics, PNGs, PSDs, AI files)
│   ├── fonts/                  (local fonts scoped to this project)
│   └── documents/              (briefs, scripts, reference PDFs)
├── exports/
│   ├── drafts/                 (work-in-progress renders)
│   └── final/                  (delivered, approved renders)
└── README.md                   (auto-generated project notes)

Inside After Effects:

The tool also creates corresponding bins in the Project Panel to keep your workspace clean:

• _COMPS (containing your main composition)
• _FOOTAGE
• _ASSETS
• _AUDIO

3. The Mechanism

The .aep file

An .aep file is a binary format that cannot be easily generated by code. Because of this, Aeset ships with a hand-crafted blank .aep template. Every time the tool runs, it copies this template and renames it.

The .jsx file

The tool generates a plain text ExtendScript file at runtime. This script has full programmatic access to After Effects. It uses the specs you provided in the terminal to build your composition and organize your project panel.

The AppleScript Trigger

The .jsx is triggered explicitly after After Effects opens using a macOS AppleScript command (DoScript). This bridges the gap between the Python-based CLI and the Adobe environment.

4. Installation and Requirements

Installation

Aeset can be installed via pip:

pip install aeset

Requirements

• macOS: AppleScript and the 'open' command are macOS-specific.
• Adobe After Effects 2025: The tool is currently configured to target the 2025 version.
• Python 3.11+

5. Constraints and Assumptions

• No Adobe credentials required: The tool uses only local scripting.
• After Effects must already be installed: The tool does not manage the AE installation itself.
• Local execution: All files are generated and stored locally on your machine.