Parametrization

Parametrization is what makes your templates dynamic. It allows you to create templates that can be customized with different values, such as text, images, videos, colors and effects.

Process

Parametrization is done during template creation or editing. Once you choose a template rendering composition, Plainly will automatically detect all the available layers in the composition tree and will show you a list of all the layers that can be parametrized.

To parametrize a layer, click on it in the Available layers list which will open the Parametrization window.

Parametrization window will should you basic layer information, and it’s your job to define how should this layer be changed on each render. There are few options for you to choose from:

• Change in - this option lets you choose a specific composition you want to make this layer parametrized. Default is All compositions, which means that this layer will be parametrized in compositions it exists.
• Template value Static or Dynamic - this option lets you choose if you want to have a static or dynamic value for this layer.
• Scripting - Scripts are a powerful way to customize your layers even further. Read more about scripting in the Scripting section.

Static

Static parametrization is the simplest form of parametrization. It lets you assign a fixed value to a layer — such as text, image, or color — that will be applied every time a template is rendered.

To set a static value, select the layer, and in the Parametrization window, choose Static, and enter the value you want to set.

Dynamic

Dynamic parametrization is the core feature that changes content of a single layer during the rendering process. As the result of dynamic parametrization, you get a render parameter that can be set at render time, either by filling it out in a render form or by sending as JSON data to Plainly HTTP API.

By having render parameters, you can create templates that can be customized with different values, at render time, which allows you to create thousands of unique videos from a single template with different data inputs.

To set a dynamic value, go through all layers you want to make dynamic. Select each layer, and in the Parametrization window, chose Dynamic.

When setting up a dynamic parameter, you’ll configure the following fields:

• Display name - is a human friendly name to display in the auto-generated render forms on Plainly Web UI.
• Parameter name - is a technical name of the parameter to use when calling the render API endpoint.
• Default value (optional) - if you want to set a default value for this layer. This value will be used if no other value is provided during the rendering process.
• Mandatory (optional) - make this layer mandatory to fill in during the rendering process. If this option is enabled, the render will fail if no value is provided for this layer.

Parametrized dynamic layers will be shown in the render forms, and you will be able to set a value for them when rendering the template, and that value will be used in the rendered video output.

Effects

You can parametrize effects in the same way as you parametrize layers. These effects need to be applied to adjustment layers.

To parametrize an effect, click on the adjustment layer, and in Parametrization window choose the effect you want to parametrize in a dropdown menu under the Apply for effect.

As before, you can choose between static and dynamic values. If you choose dynamic, you will need to provide a display name and a parameter name. Once parametrized you can change the value of the effect when rendering the video.

Behavior in multi-composition

There are two main scenarios to consider when working with dynamic layers across multiple compositions in your After Effects project:

1. Same layer reused in multiple compositions — When parametrizing such a layer, you’ll see the option to apply the change in: All compositions, or A specific composition. Based on your choice, the parameter will either affect every instance of that layer across all compositions or only within the selected one.
2. Different layers with the same name in multiple compositions — In this case, even though the layers share a name, changes are applied only to the specific layer instance you selected — not globally.

Additionally, Plainly allows you to map the same parameter to different layers. For example, if you have two completely separate layers named layer1 and layer2, you can assign them the same render-time parameter name. This way, a single input value (via the render form or API) will apply to both layers during rendering.

Parametrized layers

Parametrized layers can be seen in Parametrized layers tab. They will also be shown in the Render forms, and you will be able to set a value for them when rendering the template.

Parametrized layers will display the display name, parameter name, compositions in which the change on a layer is applied, layer type, scripts associated with it, and layer actions.

Edit parametrized layer

To edit the parametrized layers, navigate to the Parametrized layers tab, and click on the pencil icon next to the layer you want to edit. This will open the Parametrization window where you can change the settings for this layer, same as when you first parametrized it.

Delete parametrized layer

To delete the parametrized layer, navigate to the Parametrized layers tab, and click on the trash icon next to the layer you want to delete. This will remove the layer from the list of parametrized layers.

Reorder parametrized layers

Order of the layers in the Parametrized layers tab is the order of the layers in the render forms. You can rearrange the order of the layers by navigating to the Parametrized layers tab, and dragging and dropping the layers in the desired order.

FAQ