Add the Source Text property of a text layer to the Essential Graphics panel.
Use this page to know about the Essential Graphics panel in After Effects and how to work with Motion Graphics templates and Primary Properties.
The Essential Graphics panel allows you to build custom controls for motion graphics and share them as Motion Graphics templates via Creative Cloud Libraries or as local files. Essential Graphics panel works as a bucket in which you can add different controls, modify them, and then pack them as shareable Motion Graphics templates. A new workspace for working with the Essential Graphics panel in After Effects, named Essential Graphics, is available from the workspace bar. You can access the workspace from the Window > Workspace.
The Essential Graphics panel in After Effects can be used in four main ways:
In the Essential Graphics panel, use the Primary drop-down to select a composition in your project to start building a Motion Graphics template.
To open a composition in the Essential Graphics panel in After Effects, do any of the following:
The Primary composition is the current composition in the Essential Graphics panel. You can add supported properties from the Primary composition to the panel. You can also add properties from the compositions that are in the hierarchy of the primary composition.
Properties from a composition that is not in the hierarchy of the primary composition are considered unrelated properties. When you add unrelated properties to the Essential Graphics panel, a warning message is displayed. The properties are still added to the panel, but are highlighted in red and have no effect when exported as a Motion Graphics template.
To use unrelated properties, nest the composition containing the properties into the primary composition or the hierarchy.
Unrelated properties do not work when the composition is exported as a Motion Graphics template.
You can add supported properties from any effect or any layer property group such as - Transform, Masks, and Material Options.
Types of supported controls:
If you add unsupported properties, After Effects displays a warning message.
To add a control, drag single or multiple selected properties from the timeline into the Essential Graphics panel.
You can also use the Add Property to Essential Graphics panel command to add properties to the Essential Graphics panel from either the Timeline or Effect Controls panels. Use any of the following steps to add properties:
You can also assign a keyboard shortcut to the Add Property to Essential Graphics panel command. See Visual Keyboard Shortcut Editor.
If you want to only view the properties supported by the Essential Graphics panel, select the Solo Supported Properties button in the panel. The button filters the properties and displays the supported properties in the timeline.
You can use the Essential Graphics panel to customize controls in the following ways:
The controls that you add to the Essential Graphics panel are linked to the source properties. Changing the value of a control also changes the value of the properties in the composition. For example, if you change the Opacity to 50% in the panel, the value of Opacity in the composition also changes to 50%.
The composition values are simultaneously updated as you slide the value of numerical controls in the panel. To disable the live update feature, hold Option (macOS) or Alt (Windows) as you slide.
You can group controls in the Essential Graphics panel for better navigation and reduce clutter. This is helpful when you add long lists of editable controls or the primary properties of nested compositions to the panel.
To create a group, select the Add Formatting menu in the lower-left corner of the Essential Graphics panel, then select Add Group.
To add a control to a group, drag it over the group name.
When you add a text layer to the Essential Graphics panel, you can modify and control the font family, font style, size, and faux styles of that layer in a Motion Graphics template.
Add font property controls to the panel:
Add the Source Text property of a text layer to the Essential Graphics panel.
Select the Edit Properties option on the right side of the control row.
In the Source Text Properties dialog, select the font properties to control from the following options:
Font controls are unsupported as primary properties of a nested composition.
To add comments, select the Add Comment button at the bottom of the Essential Graphics panel. You can add multiple comments, rename them, and reorder them. You can also undo and redo adding comments, reorder them, and remove them if necessary.
To delete a comment, select the comment and press Backspace or Delete.
When you duplicate a composition in the Project panel (cmd+D for macOS or ctrl+D Windows), After Effects duplicates properties and comments added to the Essential Graphics panel for that composition.
To name or rename your Motion Graphics template, select the name field of the template, and enter a new name.
You can set the poster frame for your template. The poster frame is used as the thumbnail image for your template in Creative Cloud libraries and the Essential Graphics panel in Premiere Pro.
To set the poster frame:
In the primary composition, place the current-time indicator on the frame you want to select.
Select the Set Poster Time button in the Essential Graphics panel.
To export your composition as a Motion Graphics template:
Select the Export Motion Graphics Template button at the bottom of the Essential Graphics panel. Compositions in the hierarchy of the primary composition are included in the template.
In the Export As Motion Graphics Template dialog, select the Destination menu. The available destinations are:
Under the Compatibility section, select a checkbox:
For more information on adding assets to Creative Cloud Libraries, see Creative Cloud Libraries in After Effects.
These options only display warnings, they do not modify the content of the Motion Graphics template. To edit the project to meet the requirements, cancel the export and make the changes, then export the Motion Graphics template again.
Choose the export destination from the Destination menu and select OK.
You can import Motion Graphics Templates that use the Roto Brush effect into Premiere Pro. For more information, see Roto Brush, Refine Edge, and Refine Matte effects.
You can author Motion Graphics templates (.mogrt files) that do not require the user to have After Effects installed on their computer to customize them. Make sure that your templates meet the following requirements to ensure an After Effects install is not required for the user of your .mogrt:
To edit your After Effects Motion Graphics template (.mogrt files), you can open them in After Effects as a Project file. After you edit the template, re-export it as a .mogrt file.
To open a Motion Graphics template as a project:
Select File > Open Project.
In the Open Project dialog, select a .mogrt file, then select Open.
When you open a .mogrt as a project, After Effects extracts the project file and assets. In the Extract "<filename>.mogrt" dialog, choose a location to extract the .mogrt contents, then select Extract.
You can also modify a Motion Graphics template used in a sequence in Premiere Pro 12.1:
In After Effects, open the .mogrt file as a project. Modify the compositions, or add or modify controls in the Essential Graphics panel.
After you edit, in the Essential Graphics panel, select the Export Motion Graphics Template button. You can either replace the original .mogrt file or select a new location or name for the updated file.
In Premiere Pro, in the Browse tab of the Essential Graphics panel, hold Opt (macOS) or Alt (Windows) and drag the new or updated .mogrt over the existing .mogrt clip in the sequence. Premiere Pro updates the Edit tab of the Essential Graphics panel with the new controls.
Data-driven Motion Graphics templates allow you to quickly and accurately customize bar charts, line graphs, and more, without manual entry or deep knowledge of motion graphics.
With this feature, you can add controls for CSV (comma-separated value) and TSV (tab-separated value) spreadsheet data to the Essential Graphics panel. When you export these Motion Graphics templates with data controls to Premiere Pro, you can modify or replace them in Premiere Pro.
Another use is that the data controls in the Essential Graphics panel can work as a data browser or editor for CSV or TSV data layers in your composition without exporting it as a template. When you add a composition with spreadsheet data to the panel, the panel displays all the related data which is editable. If you are working with a nested composition, the data controls are not accessible as primary properties of that composition.
Import a CSV or TSV file into your project and add it to your composition.
In the Timeline panel, twirl open the layer properties for the data layer.
Select and drag the data property group of the layer to the Essential Graphics panel.
You can modify the following properties for spreadsheet data in the Essential Graphics panel:
When you add the Data property group of a data layer to the panel, it removes the expressions that link the data properties of the layer to the source data file. It changes them to static values. If you modify the source data file outside After Effects, the static data values automatically update.
For more information on how to use these templates in Premiere Pro, see Work with data-driven Motion Graphics templates.
If you are working with .tsv files, specifically with Excel in German (but this impacts any language that uses a comma instead of a decimal), Excel saves the .tsv files as .txt files. You need to manually change the file extension to .tsv before attaching it to a Motion Graphics template in Premiere Pro.
Alternatively, you can use other spreadsheet tools like Open Office or Google Sheets.
Essential Properties work as primary controls that allow you to access layer and effect properties of a composition when it is nested in another composition. This can be time-saving when you build complex animations across multiple nested compositions as you don't have to open separate precompositions to view their properties. Essential Properties can override their original values and keyframes, which allows you to reuse the same composition as multiple instances with different values. The source composition remains the same, your edits only create instances that you can render after editing your comp.
For detailed information, see Work with Essential Properties to create Motion Graphics templates.
When you author a Motion Graphics template, it is common to keep the MOGRT flexible for editors using them in Premiere Pro by giving sliders and checkboxes to customize properties. However, for more complex workflows with multiple options, using sliders or checkboxes is not always intuitive, and is time-consuming. You can use the Dropdown Menu Control which is especially helpful for authors of Motion Graphics Templates and editors in Premiere Pro as the menu makes it easier to have more control options and a simpler experience to adjust parameters.
For detailed information, see Use expressions to create Dropdown menu in the Essential Graphics panel.
For more information on how it works in Premiere Pro, see Use Motion Graphics templates in Premiere Pro.
When working in the Essential Graphics panel, allow Premiere Pro editors to replace media, such as logos, videos, and other content within Motion Graphics templates. When working within After Effects, change out videos and images with Essential Properties to create rapid iterations on your composites. For more information, see Replace images and videos in Motion Graphics templates and Essential Properties.
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