Bodymovin unable to rexport AVD XML file

[ryleii]

Hey there, I've been encountering issues exporting XML file through bodymovin in After Effects

• After Effects 2022 v22.4, english
• Bodymovin 2022 5.9.4

Yesterday I was testing out XML exportation through bodymovin. I tested exportation on both a past animation file and downloaded google AE file. Initially, I tried to export the AVD XML file (standard included)

got the error: "is Preferences > Scripting & Expressions > Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network enabled?"

I was quite confused as the settings is ticked as seen here

After multiple failed attempts, it was able to export it. I tried saving the settings in bodymovin multiple times, I restarted After Effects, I ticked the "Enable Javascript Debugger".

Today I wanted to export another version of the same file and for some reason I keep getting the same error as yesterday: "is Preferences > Scripting & Expressions > Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network enabled?"

I tried re-exporting the same downloaded google file (which somehow worked yesterday) but received the same error.

I've since tried:

• Re-doing After Effects settings (unticking the debugging)
• Re-installing bodymovin to the latest (https://airbnb.io/lottie/#/after-effects?id=installing-bodymovin <https://airbnb.io/lottie/#/after-effects?id=installing-bodymovin)
• tried restarting After Effects
• Tried restarting my comp but nothing works
• tried re-installing After Effects

I don't understand what's happening, is there a hidden permission not assessed? if so why did it work yesterday and not today? could a code be broken? I'm not sure where to check

Here's the google AE file you can test.

news_avd_v02.aep.zip

[bodymovin]

Hi, that error is a sort of catch all if it's an unknown error that the exporter doesn't understand. But it might be related to something different. I tried exporting the .aep you shared and I had no issues exporting it, even tried it multiple times. Do you get the same error if you only try to export the regular json file without ticking the avd format?

[ryleii]

Hi there,

oops, accidentally closed the ticket.

Oh yes, I wanted to ask if you know how i could check the script ran when I click render for bodymovin and see if I could find the error line and post it here (not sure if this is under AE or Bodymovin).

I think the strange part of this issue is that the JSON file will still be rendered out properly, it only affects the XML file. I did 2 tests on this, exporting JSON only and exporting JSON + XML. In both cases only the JSON renders. I don't get the error if I export JSON only.

I'm planning to ask others to render the XML on their AE, and I'm guessing it shouldn't encounter this. But if that's the case, I'm not sure how to proceed for myself (since I've tried re-installing AE and Bodymovin)

[bodymovin]

These instructions should help to see what is going on https://github.com/bodymovin/bodymovin-extension/issues/112

[ryleii]

thanks for the link to the ticket! I've read through the post but am not sure how to start. Do I have to download Devtools? to access this window?

[bodymovin]

you need to open Chrome dev tools in a chrome browser. But if you're not familiar with web development, it might be difficult to do.

[Ravikaanty]

Hey, it's not able to export AVD. I am getting the same error.

[Waihong2022]

I'm having the same issue =[

[jonnocohen]

Just found this issue while searching for solutions for a similar issue I had. In case it's useful to anyone, my issue turned out to be a parametric ellipse with Trim Paths. Using 'Convert to Bezier path' resolved it and everything rendered just fine.

That's the ;tldr, seems parametric shapes can cause problems with Lottie export. Here's a more detailed description of my scenario and the solution I found:

• My animation is made up of several comps, chained together in the main one. Everything is purely vector based.
• I had already previously worked through some Lottie rendering issues involving Set Matte effects and multiple Merge Paths on single layers (e.g. combine 2 shapes and subtract the third one).
• I'd seen others mention that expressions may cause this AVD rendering problem, so I tried setting Bodymovin to 'Convert expressions to keyframes', to no avail (the expressions used are loops, a popular bounce script by Dan Ebberts, some follow through effects referencing ValueAtTime on another layer, and a few parented properties).
• I rendered each of the source comps separately and discovered that only one failed to render in AVD.
• In this comp, I disabled all layers but one, then enabled them one by one until it failed to render.
• The problematic layer had no expressions or effects on it, just two ellipses, each with a Trim Paths applied. I tried separating the shapes into separate layers - no dice with either of them. Then I noticed they were parametric shapes (i.e. Ellipse with its own size settings rather than just a Path property). I converted them to bezier paths, and everything worked just fine.
• In hindsight, I did have a Rectangle layer elsewhere that had given me issues - I'd put keyframes on the 'Roundness' property to change the radius of the rounded corners, and Lottie export was ignoring it. When I replaced it with a regular path-based layer, it was resolved.

Hope this is useful to anyone else who runs into this issue.

[daddoo2005]

Hi all, I found the cause of that, and it is, as usual, super silly: The exported JSON and XML names should not have spaces and capital letters!!!!!

That's all Have fun

[Raptorrr007]

heyy,

Same problem I had but these capitalized letter didn't work for me. Possibly tried everything in the world. What finally worked was duplicating the comp in AE, and then playing around with the settings.

I had a lot of pngs, so I had to trial and error, every setting that mentioned images or png. Finally after a couple versions that only rendered the skeleton, one worked.

Hopefully this helps someone.