Rendering issues

Rendering issues occur during the actual rendering process of an After Effects project, after it has been successfully analyzed and configured for dynamic rendering.

Invalid renders

This error occurs when the rendering cannot be started as the parameters provided for the given render are invalid. This usually happens in two cases:

1. You marked a parameter as mandatory when creating a Plainly template, but did not provide a value for it when invoking a render.
2. A URL value provided for a parameter that points to a media layer (image, video or audio) was rejected by the Plainly system. There are multiple cases when such rejection can occur:
   • The URL is not accessible (e.g. the server is down, the file was removed, rate-limit was hit, etc.).
   • The URL is not pointing to a media file (e.g. it’s a webpage, a PDF, etc.). Note that either the content-type header or the file extension must be representing a valid media type.
   • The URL is pointing to a media file which is supported by AfterEffects.

{
  "code": "RENDER_INVALID",
  "message": "Fatal error occurred trying to resolve all parametrized layers."
}

Failed renders

Font issues

Unable to install fonts

If you encounter an Unable to install fonts error during rendering, it’s usually caused due to non supported or corrupted fonts when using external font via Layer management script.

{
  "code": "WORKER_FONT_INSTALL_FAILED",
  "message": "Failed to install fonts: https://myserver/fonts/ArialMT.ttf",
  "params": {
    "fonts": [
      "https://myserver/fonts/ArialMT.ttf"
    ]
  }
}

Fonts invalid

A Fonts invalid error during rendering is a safeguard against producing a poor-quality video. This issue can occur if the original font does not support certain characters in the new text, such as Arabic letters for example. Occasionally, this error may also appear in some projects for unknown reasons.

The error details will provide information about the problematic text layer, including the font and text being used.

{
  "code": "WORKER_SCRIPT_FONTS_INVALID",
  "message": "Could not set font for some text layers.",
  "params": {
    "compositionName": "<compositionName>",
    "layerId": "<layerId>",
    "layerName": "<layerName>",
    "text": "<text>",
    "font": "<font>",
    "fontLocation": "<fontLocation>"
  }
}

Asset issues

Failed to convert assets

This error occurs when Plainly tries to convert non-supported media assets, provided as render parameters, to a valid format. Conversion might fail due to a corrupted assets, or the asset might have a different file extension, comparing to its content-type.

The problematic assets will be listed in the error message.

{
  "code": "WORKER_CONVERT_ASSET_FAILED",
  "message": "Failed to convert assets.",
  "params": {
    "assets": [
      "https://example.com/image.jpg"
    ]
  }
}

Download assets failed

If you’re experiencing a failed render with a Download assets failed error, it’s usually caused by the inability to download the assets from the provided URLs. Please make sure that the URLs provided in the render are correct and accessible.

{
  "code": "WORKER_DOWNLOAD_ASSET_FAILED",
  "message": "Failed to download assets.",
  "params": {
    "urls": [
      "https://example.com/image.jpg",
      "https://example.com/video.mp4"
    ]
  }
}

Import assets failed

If you’re experiencing a failed render with an Import assets failed error, it’s usually caused by After Effects being unable to import asset files due to an incorrect asset file extension or unsupported file type.

When you submit a render request, we check all the assets provided as render parameters and, if they are valid, proceed with the rendering process. However, there are cases when the validation check passes, but the rendering process fails due to an incorrect asset file extension, corrupted or an invalid asset type.

The table below shows a few examples.

{
  "code": "WORKER_IMPORT_ASSET_FAILED",
  "message": "Failed to import assets.",
  "params": {
    "assets": [
      {
        "src": "https://example.com/image.jpg",
        "error": "After Effects error: The source compression type is not supported",
        "fileName":"jTiNVxWK2dwNDnztBcsQ.png"
      },
      {
        "src": "https://example.com/video.mp4",
        "error": "After Effects error: The source file has bad header. Please check that it is a valid file.",
        "fileName":"cDkAaWlndaMMsmuqmqbf"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Scripting issues

Script action wrong layer type

If you are experiencing a failed render with a Script action wrong layer type error, it’s usually caused by the wrong layer type being used in the script action. Please make sure that the target layer type is correct.

For example, you might be trying to apply a text-based script to a media layer, or vice versa. The error message will contain the correct layer types that are applicable for the given action.

{
  "code": "WORKER_SCRIPT_ACTION_WRONG_LAYER_TYPE",
  "message": "Action <actionName> is not applicable to layer <layerName>. Please make sure that the target layer is type of <correctLayers>",
  "actionName": "<actionName>",
  "layerName": "<layerName>",
  "correctLayerTypes": [
    "<correctLayer1>",
    "<correctLayer2>"
  ]
}

Script root comp not allowed

If you encounter a failed render with a Script root comp not allowed error, it means the selected script is applied to a root composition, but the script type does not support root compositions.

{
  "code": "WORKER_SCRIPT_ROOT_COMP_NOT_ALLOWED",
  "message": "Action <actionName> could not be applied to the root composition.",
  "params": {
    "actionName": "<actionName>"
  }
}

Script layer not found

If you are experiencing a failed render with a Script layer not found error, it’s usually caused by the provided script, trying to be applied to a layer that does not exist.

{
  "code": "WORKER_SCRIPT_LAYER_NOT_FOUND",
  "message": "Could not find layer <layerName> in composition <parentComp>.",
  "params": {
    "layerName": "<layerName>",
    "parentComp": "<parentComp>"
  }
}

Script composition not found

If you are experiencing a failed render with a Script composition not found error, it’s usually caused by the provided script, trying to be applied to a composition that does not exist.

{
  "code": "WORKER_SCRIPT_COMPOSITION_NOT_FOUND",
  "message": "Could not find composition <compositionName}>.",
  "params": {
    "compositionName": "<compositionName>"
  }
}

Other issues

FFmpeg encoding error

If you’re experiencing an FFmpeg encoding error, it’s usually caused when unsupported encoding parameters are provided. Please make sure that you’re using the correct encoding parameters for your project. Check the FFmpeg error log and the FFmpeg command arguments to see what went wrong.

You can read more about FFmpeg and it’s encoding at official FFmpeg documentation .

{
  "code": "WORKER_FFMPEG_ENCODING_ERROR",
  "message": "Ffmpeg encoding error.",
  "params": {
    "log": "FFmpeg error log here",
    "cmdArgs": [
      "FFmpeg command arguments here"
    ]
  }
}