create-composition

Generate a new composition in Adobe After Effects with customizable settings, including name, dimensions, pixel aspect ratio, duration, frame rate, and background color, for streamlined project creation.

Instructions

Create a new composition in After Effects with specified parameters

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`backgroundColor`	No	Background color of the composition (RGB values 0-255)
`duration`	No	Duration in seconds (default: 10.0)
`frameRate`	No	Frame rate in frames per second (default: 30.0)
`height`	Yes	Height of the composition in pixels
`name`	Yes	Name of the composition
`pixelAspect`	No	Pixel aspect ratio (default: 1.0)
`width`	Yes	Width of the composition in pixels

Implementation Reference

src/index.ts:447-473 (handler)

The handler function for the 'create-composition' tool. It writes the command 'createComposition' with parameters to a temp file for After Effects to execute and returns a confirmation message.

async (params) => {
  try {
    // Write command to file for After Effects to pick up
    writeCommandFile("createComposition", params);
    
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: `Command to create composition "${params.name}" has been queued.\n` +
                `Please ensure the "MCP Bridge Auto" panel is open in After Effects.\n` +
                `Use the "get-results" tool after a few seconds to check for results.`
        }
      ]
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: `Error queuing composition creation: ${String(error)}`
        }
      ],
      isError: true
    };
  }
}

src/index.ts:434-446 (schema)

Zod schema defining the input parameters for the create-composition tool, including name, dimensions, duration, frame rate, and background color.

{
  name: z.string().describe("Name of the composition"),
  width: z.number().int().positive().describe("Width of the composition in pixels"),
  height: z.number().int().positive().describe("Height of the composition in pixels"),
  pixelAspect: z.number().positive().optional().describe("Pixel aspect ratio (default: 1.0)"),
  duration: z.number().positive().optional().describe("Duration in seconds (default: 10.0)"),
  frameRate: z.number().positive().optional().describe("Frame rate in frames per second (default: 30.0)"),
  backgroundColor: z.object({
    r: z.number().int().min(0).max(255),
    g: z.number().int().min(0).max(255),
    b: z.number().int().min(0).max(255)
  }).optional().describe("Background color of the composition (RGB values 0-255)")
},

src/index.ts:431-474 (registration)

The server.tool() call that registers the 'create-composition' tool with its description, schema, and handler function.

server.tool(
  "create-composition",
  "Create a new composition in After Effects with specified parameters",
  {
    name: z.string().describe("Name of the composition"),
    width: z.number().int().positive().describe("Width of the composition in pixels"),
    height: z.number().int().positive().describe("Height of the composition in pixels"),
    pixelAspect: z.number().positive().optional().describe("Pixel aspect ratio (default: 1.0)"),
    duration: z.number().positive().optional().describe("Duration in seconds (default: 10.0)"),
    frameRate: z.number().positive().optional().describe("Frame rate in frames per second (default: 30.0)"),
    backgroundColor: z.object({
      r: z.number().int().min(0).max(255),
      g: z.number().int().min(0).max(255),
      b: z.number().int().min(0).max(255)
    }).optional().describe("Background color of the composition (RGB values 0-255)")
  },
  async (params) => {
    try {
      // Write command to file for After Effects to pick up
      writeCommandFile("createComposition", params);
      
      return {
        content: [
          {
            type: "text",
            text: `Command to create composition "${params.name}" has been queued.\n` +
                  `Please ensure the "MCP Bridge Auto" panel is open in After Effects.\n` +
                  `Use the "get-results" tool after a few seconds to check for results.`
          }
        ]
      };
    } catch (error) {
      return {
        content: [
          {
            type: "text",
            text: `Error queuing composition creation: ${String(error)}`
          }
        ],
        isError: true
      };
    }
  }
);

src/index.ts:156-170 (helper)

Supporting utility function that writes the command name and arguments to a JSON file in the system temp directory, which is monitored by the After Effects MCP bridge script.

function writeCommandFile(command: string, args: Record<string, any> = {}): void {
  try {
    const commandFile = path.join(process.env.TEMP || process.env.TMP || '', 'ae_command.json');
    const commandData = {
      command,
      args,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
      status: "pending"  // pending, running, completed, error
    };
    fs.writeFileSync(commandFile, JSON.stringify(commandData, null, 2));
    console.error(`Command "${command}" written to ${commandFile}`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Error writing command file:", error);
  }
}

mcp-after-effects