While not exactly Un-Precompose, Video Copilot's free has a "Precomp to Selected Layers" hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+P) that can help avoid precomposing in the first place.
When you precompose layers, After Effects moves those assets into a new composition and leaves a single composition layer in your main timeline. If you change your mind later, reversing this manually requires several repetitive steps: Opening the pre-composition. Selecting and copying all the internal layers. Going back to the main composition. Pasting the layers back into the timeline.
Before integrating it into your workflow, it's important to be aware of a few potential issues: Un Precompose After Effects Plugin Free Download
Once you download a free .jsx or .jsxbin un-precompose script, follow these steps to install it: Navigate to your After Effects directory:
In After Effects, grouping layers creates a nested timeline known as a pre-composition (pre-comp). While great for cleanup, you often need to undo this choice hours later to change an animation path, tweak independent text layers, or bypass annoying Adobe Premiere Pro Dynamic Link formatting. While not exactly Un-Precompose, Video Copilot's free has
is an essential utility plugin that saves hours of tedious manual labor. For motion designers who frequently receive projects from other artists or need to quickly edit elements buried in pre-comps, it is a "must-have" tool.
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects [Version]\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels Selecting and copying all the internal layers
After copying the file, to load the plugin.
: A dialogue box allows users to decide whether to keep or delete properties from the pre-comp and whether to delete the now-empty pre-composition from the project panel entirely. Critical Limitations to Note
: You need to hand over a clean, flat project file to another editor or client who prefers working on a single timeline.
The most direct way to get Un-PreCompose is from its official home on the marketplace. While the suggested retail price is $29.99, the developer operates on a "pay-what-you-want" model. This means you can download it for free by entering "0" in the price field. Enter your email address to receive the download link, and you can proceed without paying. The developer encourages users to test the plugin thoroughly before deciding to pay for it. If it works for your workflow, you can return later to support the developer.