In this article, we will go over what our template curators have found to be the most common issues when reviewing AE templates. We will present the best solutions and practices to get your template accepted to our catalog as fast as possible.
1. Preview video
The preview video should accurately reflect what your template can achieve, showing exactly how the product is working and what the project actually contains. Avoid overselling or unrealistic expectations as this can be especially confusing for a novice user.
The preview video/image should not contain any 4K, HD, Rival Site, Software, Third Party logos or icons. This makes the browsing page look messy and inconsistent.
The music/SFX used in the preview video should be from Motions Arrays library only.
Please only use placeholder media and videos from Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, Gratisography and assets from Motion Array library that you have a license to use.
Actual placeholder media should not be included in the final upload.
2. File Structure
The file structure should follow the example package, found on our upload rules page:
The package should contain the project file in a folder named “After Effects”
A “Fonts” folder that should contain a text document with links to all the fonts used in the template. We recommend using Adobe fonts, Google fonts or fonts from sites such as Font Squirrel or DaFont. It is important that you read the terms and conditions of the font links you are supplying to ensure they are 100% free for personal and commercial use.
A “Help” Folder that should contain a video tutorial going over the main features of the specific template you are submitting (target size 10MB) and the generic instructions PDF (Make sure it’s the latest version of the PDF, found in our example package). You should also include links to the images/video you have used in your preview video and any additional sound effects.
3. Project Structure
The project structure needs to be exactly the same as the example project, found on our upload rules page. This consistency is crucial for our users, helping them to easily navigate your template.
Editable Comps - All the editable comps in their relevant folders: Color, Text, or Images/Video folders. For example, all text comps should be in the “text” folder inside the “editable comps” folder.
Final Comps - The final compositions need to live here, and they should be sized according to what you have marked in the description box.
Others - Everything else/None editable compositions.
4. Text/Logo/Media Placeholders
Users often have little to no experience with the software. Without a clear boundary of the amount of text/logo/media accepted in the placeholder, users begin to get very unexpected results**. The idea is not to limit the space of the placeholder, the idea is to make sure that no matter what the user puts in that space, it works 100% of the time.
**There is obviously some room for flexibility with small text in large text compositions but it must add to the design or offer some kinds of functionality and not affect the template in this way.
How to test your text/logo/media placeholders:
Scale the text/logo/media layers to the full size of the text/logo/media compositions you have supplied. Then check out the final compositions to ensure that the design has not been broken.
2. Make sure the text is not overlapping other elements where it should not be and that it’s fully visible without being masked/matted out.
3. Make sure the logo/media placeholder accurately represents the amount of logo/media we see in the final composition, and that the overall design has not been broken and still “looks” good.
4. Please leave the text we see in the preview movie inside of the text placeholders and size the text placeholder compositions accordingly. Do not change the text to Text 01,02,03 - Your Text 01.02.03 etc. Users should be able to recreate what they see in the preview movie at the same size and in the same position without the need to edit and adjust keyframes within a scene or text composition sizes etc.
5. Color Controllers
Every template should feature color controller options when it is applicable. Users like to have the ability to customize the template to match their own unique brand and style. The color controllers should live in a subfolder in the 01. editable comps folder and should be called “Color”.
The color controller options should be neat, well organized, and be named accordingly.
You can create a global color controller or individual color controllers for each composition within your template.
We highly recommend consolidating color controls where appropriate. Combining instances of the same color to make customization quicker and easier for the user.
Users should also be able to see the updated results within the same composition as the color controller.
If your template includes a logo placeholder, make sure you add an option to see the logo in its original colors without too many image-altering effects such as glows, overlaying patterns/elements, reflection maps, etc. Users like to see their logo in its original state.
Our curators may send you a “Needs Work” request if they feel your project has too many color controllers and can be consolidated for a better user experience.
6. Missing Elements From The Color Controllers
Please ensure all of the color controllers are working as intended and have been linked to elements within the project. You can check this by changing all of the color controller options individually to a different color that is not featured in your project. Then slowly scrubbing through the timeline adding missing elements that our users might want to edit the color of. Please remove any unused color controller options from your project..
7. Expressions Errors
It is important that you run an expression checker before you submit your template. This ensures that the project will work in any language version.
You can purchase one from here: https://aescripts.com/expressionuniversalizer/
8. Missing Files
Once you finished working on your template, you should collect all of the assets used in your project using the following method:
File → Dependencies → Collect Files
→ For All Compositions
This ensures that there are no missing files in the project you submit to the site.
9. Missing Font Links
Collecting your project and running a report will show you what font links you have used in your project at the bottom of the text document. Bear in mind that this will not always show you all of the fonts used in the project, so keeping a list of the font links you have used, whilst you create the template is always good practice. Please make sure to delete the report afterward.
10. Saving Templates Backwards to Previous Versions
It is important that you submit your template in the version it was created in, as certain effects are not available between different versions, for example - Gaussian blur, third-party plugins, and expressions often break or the expression checker will not run/complete. Keep in mind that most of our users are using the latest versions.
11. Package Sizes
Keep your package sizes to a minimum by converting your assets into an .mp4 or .mov files with h.264 or ProRes compression. This also helps our users who have slower internet connections to download your package.
12. Missing Music Link
We sometimes need to remove music/SFX from our library if it infringes on other people’s rights. Please make sure that the music link you are supplying is still available on our site.
13. Description, Tags & Info
Please take your time when filling out the description box. Include the amount of editable text/logo/media placeholders wherever it is applicable. Try to come up with unique naming conventions for your submissions. Do not use version numbers or the same names for your submissions. Do not copy and paste descriptions from one template to another.
Fill in the information in the drop-down boxes correctly. For example, there are ten 4K sizes, remember that our users can search by resolution size.
Use tags that relate to your project. Do not fill the tags with words that do not relate to your project/popular search terms. When entering tags you do not need to repeat words, for example - Modern Titles, Modern Lower thirds, Modern Text, - This should be changed to Modern, Titles, Lower thirds, Text.
Poor description and tagging will slow down the review process as we will have to rewrite it.
Once you are confident you have completed all the “needs work” requests sent to you by our curators, go ahead and resubmit your template. If you are still unsure of what the issue is please feel free to contact us. Content@motionarray.com and someone will be able to help you out.