omino pixel blog

For immediate download: Omino Python Plug-in for After Effects.

This plug-in lets you write a script in Python and then run it on every frame. The script can do drawing, access other layers, and so forth. Because sometimes, you just need to write code to get the job done. Omino Python gives you a straightforward way to provide drawing code directly in your After Effects work flow.

This isn’t for everyone; but if you have a little bit of scripting experience, Omino Python should be very easy for you to pick up.

Mac OS X on AECS5 only, for now…

Here’s a little demo.

Here’s another youtube demo, too.

The download includes plenty of documentation, or you can read it right now.

I’ll be posting some tips and examples — there are so many possibilities opened up! — but to break the ice, here’s a simple Omino Python script to do some drawing.

The script in Python. I didn’t know Python before starting the project, but it’s a nice easy little language, and quite popular, so there’s plenty of resources to learn it. It’s not so different from JavaScript or anything else. No semicolons and no curly braces, though! Here it is:

import math
import random

def ompy_main(c):
    ctx = c.layer_out_context

    w = int(c.width)
    h = int(c.height)

    # draw a red circle...
    ctx.set_source_rgb(1,0,0)
    ctx.arc(w/2,h/2,100,0,2 * math.pi)
    ctx.fill()

    # effect parameter controls size
    size = c.floats[0]
    ctx.set_font_size(size)

    # draw a grid of random numbers, spaced by 30
    random.seed(c.frame) # start the random sequence
    for x in range(0,w,30):
        for y in range(0,h,30):
            # random color
            ctx.set_source_rgb(random.random(),random.random(),random.random())
            # random number
            n = str(random.randint(0,9))
            # draw it.
            ctx.move_to(x,y)
            ctx.show_text(n)

And here’s a screen shot showing the output:

Your script can access a collection of parameters — some floats, some colors, &c — and use them as needed. In this case, I just used one float parameter to control the size of the random numbers printed.

This is just the beginning! Read the doc for the full story. Try out the plug-in.

More to come!