After Effects Scripting in Python WIP

Scripting in After Effects is used to automate repetitive tasks and are often used as a creative tool to streamline tasks that might be too time consuming to do manually. For example, you could write a script to generate a number of localized versions of a particular image or to gather information about the various color profiles used by a collection of images.

After Effects COM & DOM

After Effects can be scripted through COM(Component Object Model). Its DOM(Document Object Model) is the same when accessing it through either its own JavaScript engine or Python or any other scripting language it supports. The Photoshop DOM consists of a hierarchical representation of the AE (After Effects) application, the documents used in it, and the components of the documents. The DOM allows you to programmatically access and manipulate the document and its components. For example, through the DOM, you can create a new document, add a layer to an existing document, or change the background color of a layer. Most of the functionality available through the Photoshop user interface is available through the DOM.

But why Python?

AE scripting officially supports JavaScript, AppleScript & VBScript. However, Scripting in Python is also fairly easy if not easier if you're already comfortable with Python. You may have already heard that Python is gaining in popularity, but did you know it’s now the most popular introductory programming language in U.S. universities? Python is also cross platform just like JavaScript is and lately becoming one of the fastest growing programming language according to StackOverflow as of September 2017

Python is easy to use, powerful, and versatile, making it a great choice for beginners and experts alike. Python’s readability makes it a great first programming language - it allows you to think like a programmer and not waste time understanding the mysterious syntax that other programming languages can require.

Getting Started

Python allows you to access COM and it's DOM with the help of a Python extensions like "pypiwin32" or "comtypes". Install these modules and you're ready to start scripting Photoshop in Python

pip install pypiwin32 or pip install comtypes

Test example, to try to connect (WIP)

from win32com.client import Dispatch

app = Dispatch("AfterEffects.Application")

# At present this errors, still trying to find the correct COM Object Model ID, to go in the above function call

Reference