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Rendering FAQ

Render timing & scripting

Variable length videos in templates?

If your template needs to adapt to videos of different lengths, you can make it automatically adjust its duration using the Crop or Crop + Shift in scripts. To set it up:

  • In your After Effects project, use a placeholder video that’s longer than any clip you plan to upload (for example, a 1-minute clip for a 30-second template).
  • In Plainly, apply the Crop script to that video layer.
  • The Crop script trims the composition containing your video to match the duration of the uploaded video.

If the video is inside a pre-comp, add Crop both to the video layer and to the pre-comp layer in your main comp.

If your template has multiple scenes, each with its own video (e.g. Scene 1, Scene 2, and so on):

  • Add the Crop script to every video layer.
  • Add the Shift In script to scenes 2 and onward.
  • Set Shift In’s target to Previous Layer’s Out Point (Shift In → Out Point → Previous layer/comp).
  • This makes each scene start when the previous one ends.
  • And finally, add Crop to the last scene so the final composition ends when your last video ends.

Special characters & fonts

How do you render special characters?

If special characters aren’t rendering correctly:

  1. Try removing All Caps formatting from layers.
  2. Check if Strict Fonts is enabled; disable it if needed.
  3. Make sure your chosen font supports these characters.

I used Google Font but it didn’t work?

Google fonts don’t work because they are designed for web use and not for desktop applications like After Effects. Try going to official Google GitHub repository  and copying the raw link of desired font.

For example, navigate to CourierPrime-Bold.ttf  font

Example of Google Font

Copy the raw link of the font, by right-clicking on the Raw button and selecting Copy link address.

Example of Google Font

You should get a link like this:

https://github.com/google/fonts/raw/refs/heads/main/ofl/courierprime/CourierPrime-Bold.ttf

Use that url in the fontUrl field in Plainly.

Example of Google Font in Plainly

Audio, video, replacement, sync & control

My replaced audio is hard to line up or is distorting. Why?

This is usually caused by MP3 files. We’ve introduced automatic conversion to WAV during processing, which should solve most distortion or alignment issues. If problems persist, try uploading your audio as a WAV file directly.

Audio is not playing in my render. What can I check?

Make sure the audio layer in your After Effects template is not muted or turned off. Also verify that the audio file you’re replacing is properly linked and supported.

Is there a way to mute dynamic video tracks?

Yes, there are a few options:

  1. Placeholder audio: Add a placeholder with audio and turn the audio off directly in AE. Whatever layer you pass during rendering will never play audio.
  2. Layer management script: Use the layer management script to control audio.
  3. Expressions: Add an expression to the audio layer and map it to another text layer to control audio levels. You can then parametrize that adjustment layer in Plainly to adjust audio levels as needed.

Is there a way to define at which speed a video clip should be played?

Yes, you can control the speed of a video clip. Enable Time Remapping on any layer or composition and add an expression to Time Remap property.

Here is an expression example on how to control speed with Text Layer:

Speed control text layer
speedControl = thisComp.layer("Speed Control"); // your text layer
frameDur = thisComp.frameDuration;
val = value;
 
for (i = 0; i < time; i += frameDur) {
	val += parseFloat(speedControl.text.sourceText.valueAtTime(i)) / 100;
}
 
val * frameDur;

Or this expression to control the speed with Slider applied on an Adjustment Layer:

Speed control adjustment layer
speedControl = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Speed")("Slider");
frameDur = thisComp.frameDuration;
val = value;
 
for (i = 0; i < time; i += frameDur) {
	val += speedControl.valueAtTime(i) / 100;
}
 
val * frameDur;

You will be able to parametrize both Text Layer and Adjustment Layer, whichever you chose, in Plainly, and change the speed dynamically.

My video is glitching or stuttering when I replace it with a different clip, why is that?

This could be that the main composition’s frame rate is set to certain fps value, for example 60 fps, while the replacement video you’re using is only 24 fps.

In After Effects, when a lower frame rate video (like 24 fps) is placed into a higher frame rate composition (like 60 fps), After Effects has to generate additional frames to fill in the gaps. This frame interpolation can sometimes cause stuttering or visual glitches, especially at clip transitions or right at the start of a layer.

If you can’t control the source video, the solution is to lower your composition frame rate to 24-30 fps - this should eliminate the glitching between renders.

AI features

Can we use AI to replace placeholders from AE templates?

Unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment. Plainly does not support AI-based content replacement.

How to convert news feed to video using AI?

We have an guide on our YouTube channel that explains how to create a video from a news feed. You can watch it here .

File formats & compatibility

WebP format is not supported. What should I do?

Convert your WebP images into a format suitable for After Effects, such as PNG or JPG, before sending them to Plainly for rendering. For some formats, Plainly will handle the conversion, but uploading in a supported format speeds things up. Check out the suggested formats for more details.

Are word-by-word captions supported?

No, Plainly does not support word-by-word captions at this time. You must pass the .srt file as a whole. Read more about caption support in the Captions section.

Is it possible to download the updated After Effects project file after replacing content and rendering?

Yes, you can download the updated After Effects project file after replacing content and rendering. This will include all the changes, including new text, images, and other assets you have added or modified.

  1. When on Render form page, click on the Options button.
Example of options
  1. In the Projects section, check the box for Upload project files.
Example of options
  1. Once the render is complete, go to the Render details page, and you will find a link to download the project in the top right corner.

Is it possible to render with alpha channel?

Yes, you can render with an alpha channel in Plainly. This can be done with Output format options, either switch to HQ with alpha, or choose Custom and select a MOV format with encoding params. Read more about this in the Output formats section.

I am getting 403 error when trying to render my media file used for dynamic content.

Check if your server IP is blacklisted on some known blacklist services, for example here . If that is not the case, please contact support.

Rendering issues

Content is not showing up when trying to render a design?

Make sure that if there are any off options in the desired design, that they are not set to off if you want them to show up.

Example of options

I’m running into a timeout issue. What causes this?

Timeout issues can occur when the Time Remap effect is applied to layers. After Effects creates a temporary file in the background which can lead to these problems. If you’re experiencing timeouts, try disabling or adjusting Time Remap on your layers.

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