JSON Export/Import to AE bug in version 11.7 ?

[D.T. Nethery]

I mentioned this in a response I posted on another topic , but because that was an older topic and already had the green check-mark ("solved") applied to it , I thought I should post this as a new topic so it is not overlooked by TVPaint Support.


I exported a scene using Clip: Layers Structure> JSON . When I imported it into After Effects using the AE Import Script only about half of my layers were exported to AE (I double-checked to confirm that all of the layers are in the folder with the JSON file ... all layers are there in the folder, but for some reason many of the layers do not get imported to AE).

Here are my settings for export to JSON:

My TVPaint_JSON_to_AE_export settings.png (31.93 KiB) Viewed 2206 times

When I exported the same scene from TVPaint 11.5.3 using the same export settings (Ignore Duplicate Images checked) it imported into AE flawlessly, with all layers accounted for and everything in the correct place on the timeline. So I suspect this is a bug in 11.7. I haven't tried it with 11.7.1 yet because it is crashing too much and I have no time to waste because I have a deadline to hit today. The problem may be fixed in 11.7.1 (?) but I don't know . I'm not able to send you the file as it is a project under an NDA, so I can't share it. Based on this experience I suspect that there is a bug with the Clip: Layers Structure> JSON export and/or a problem with the AE Import Script. It works properly in 11.5.3, but does not work in 11.7.

[D.T. Nethery]

And there is this:

Trying again with export to JSON in 11.7. The progress bar gets to 100% ... and then it just sits there , the Saving Sequence progress bar never disappears , although it shows that the task is 100% completed. (this does not happen every time , but it has now happened three times, so it's often enough to warrant a report on this behavior). When I check on the status it shows TVPaint Animation 11 Pro not responding (frozen) . If I wait about 20 minutes it eventually unfreezes , but that's 20 precious minutes of lost work time. (yes, I realize I could be using the new TVPaint Convertor for this task while I continue to work in TVPaint , however that's another topic ... )

Screen Shot 2022-12-15 at 10.56.25 AM.png (74.78 KiB) Viewed 2154 times

This Export-from-TVPaint-Import-to-After Effects function is so very useful , but it seems to have become unstable. I hope someone from the development team can take a close look at this to see if it can be made more reliable.

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EDIT: After having this happen again today (progress bar for JSON export at 100% , but TVPaint is seemingly frozen , then unfreezes after waiting around 25 minutes) I am wondering if the problem is with the progress bar ? The progress bar advances to 100%, which leads the user to believe that the export has been completed ,but in fact the export process has not really finished yet and will take another 20 - 30 minutes to completely finish ? So the issue is that the progress bar needs to show a more accurate status of the export progress and not jump to 100% if the export is not actually finished yet.

EDIT #2- Indeed, I can confirm this behavior with the progress bar. I turned off all layers except for one layer. (the entire scene has 28 layers) This one layer has 145 images. I checked the box for export Visible Layers only. When I clicked on Export the progress bar only took about 30 seconds to reach 100%, but in fact the export of the 145 images took another 12 minutes to be completed. So there is a problem with the progress bar. It advances to 100% before the export process has completely finished.


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[cgmodeler]

Hello D.T, I did a fix a few years ago (2020) that has been working still without problem for me. I went back to tvp 11 because 11.5 had many issues with the new menus and conventions that I was already used to and were bugging me.

First you need to check if the layers are indeed at the json make sure to check that all your layers are within the .json file) look for this field with notepad++ or a json browser.

Code: Select all

 "layers": [
                {
                    "name": "FX_A",
                    "visible": true,
                    "position": 0,
                    "opacity": 163,
                    "start": 54,
                    "end": 79,
                    "pre-behavior": 0,
                    "post-behavior": 3,
                    "blending-mode": "Color",
                    "group": {
                        "red": 0,
                        "green": 0,
                        "blue": 0
                    },
                    "link": [
                        {
                            "instance-index": 54,
                            "instance-name": "1",
                            "file": "FX_A/FX_A0001.png",
                            "images": [
                                54

that name field, should repeat itself on each one of the layers with its proper name
Now if in your JSON all the layers are present then the issue will lie with the jsx importer from after effects.

I'm attaching my version, I hope that helps you. (The jsx is within the zip file since tvp forum doesn't allow for jsx files)

AfterEffects Import TVPaint JSON_COCOA.zip

(12.24 KiB) Downloaded 292 times

Also you can try using Hironogi Takagi Export As PNG with project name script.

[D.T. Nethery]

Can anyone from TVPaint Support confirm this bug in the JSON Export/Import to AE function in 11.7 ?

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Lately I've been using the JSON export quite a bit . Something else I found out (or was reminded of) about the JSON export/import script is it doesn't like to have % as part of the Layer Name. For example, if you have a Shadow layer that is set at 40% opacity to make it transparent , don't name the layer "Shadow 40%" . The AE Import Script won't import it to AE if it has % as part of the layer name (and it won't import any of the layers above or below the layer that has % as part of the layer name). If you like to have a reminder about the intended opacity percentage, as I do , then name the layer something like "Shadow 40" or "Shadow 40 percent" or "Shadow 40 opacity" as a reminder that the layer is to be exposed at 40% opacity. Don't include the % symbol in the layer name.

This is something else I'd like to request would be confirmed by TVPaint Support. If using the % symbol as part of a layer name prevents the entire project from being imported properly into AE then that should be included in the User Guide in the section about JSON.

UPDATE: the issue with using the % symbol as part of a layer name was confirmed by Dean on another thread: