- In the .zip file you downloaded, you will see the 'Warp to Keys.jsxbin' file. Select and copy this file.
- You need to paste it into the 'ScriptUI Panels' folder for your version of After Effects. (You must have After Effects
CS3 or higher to use the Warp to Keys script and it makes much more sense if you have CS5.5 or above where you have use of the Warp Stabilizer.)
- Mac: ~/Applications/Adobe After Effects YOUR VERSION/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels
- Windows: C:/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe After Effects YOUR VERSION/Support Files/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels
- Now start up After Effects. You will see 'Warp to Keys.jsxbin' at the bottom of the 'Window' menu. Select it to open the Warp to Keys panel. If After Effects was already open, you must restart the program before it will be visible in the 'Window' menu.
You have two main functions inside of Warp to Keys, 'Warp Stabilizer to Key-frames and 'Setup Reverse Stabilization'. Each function has a few options which are displayed under their buttons.
Warp Stabilizer to Keyframes:
Notes Before Using
The 'Warp Stabilizer to Key-frames button will start a process that can be very time consuming. When running this script, just keep in mind that the duration of the clip as well as the resolution will affect the processing time. You can cancel the process at any time by pressing the 'ESC' key on your keyboard.
This process is not undoable, at least not in the normal sense. You are not able to use Edit>Undo, however because the warp stabilizer effect is not deleted on completion of the script, you can revert to the pre-script version by deleting the position, rotation and scale key-frames and their expressions and then re-enabling the warp stabilizer effect.
Motion blur should be turned off on the stabilized layer. The way the script works, there is a possibility that the rotation will jump between 359.9 and 0. If motion blur is on, you will get rotational motion blur during these jumps.
This button will analyze the Warp Stabilizer applied to the selected layer. It will apply the analyzed data depending on the selected method.
The first method is 'Apply to Layer'. If this option is selected, the results of the analysis will be applied to the selected layer. The result will be a stabilized layer that uses position, rotation and scale key-frames for the stabilization rather then the Warp Stabilizer effect. The warp stabilizer effect will still be present on the layer, it will just be turned off. There will be two new controls on the footage layer, 'Flip Video' and 'Stabilize Amount'. Flip Video is only used for correction purposes. In some instances, your video may be flipped upside-down after processing, in these cases, just turn on the Flip Video checkbox. Otherwise, this option will not be used. The Stabilize Amount slider can be used to select the amount that the clip is stabilized. A value of 100, the default value, will be a version exactly as it was when the Warp Stabilizer was still turned on. A value of 0 will give you the original un-stabilized clip. Any value in-between will be a mix of the two possibilities. You can key-frame the values to move between stabilized and shaky over the duration of your clip.
The second method is 'Apply to Null'. This option will create a new null object and apply the tracking data to it. The result is a null object that follows the motion of the un-stabilized clip. The warp stabilizer effect is also turned off on the layer. This option basically gives you the results that a point tracker would give you. You can use the Warp Stabilizer to track the motion of the entire frame, or you can use the Warp Stabilizer VFX (in After Effects CC and up) to track a selective portion of the shot. This allows you to get accurate feature tracks without having to find and choose the track points manually. The resulting null can be used as a parent to layers you want to follow the motion of the shaky layer.
Setup Reverse Stabilization:
This will take the selected layer and create a new reverse-stabilized composition. This was meant to be used on layers that have just had the 'Warp Stabilizer to Key-frames process with 'Apply to Layer', however you can also use it on layers where the tracking has been done using other methods. Select all of the options (Anchor Point, Position, Rotation, Scale) that you would like to be reversed in the new composition. The by default, Position, Rotation and Scale are selected. In most cases, the default options will be used.
Please note that after running 'Setup Reverse Stabilization' your results may see the layer moving around in the new composition. You will have to either drop the original footage clip under the new precomp, or expand the dimensions of the precomp in order to hold the footage so it doesn't move outside the boundaries of the composition.