Skip to main content
Pre-compose Pro checks your license against the Tack Studio app:
  • “Open the Tack Studio app.”: Pre-compose Pro can’t reach the Tack Studio app on your computer. Make sure it’s installed and running, then run Pre-compose Pro again.
  • “Activate using the Tack Studio app.”: the app is running, but no license is active. Activate Pre-compose Pro in the app, then run it again.
See Installing tools for the full activation flow.
Layer > Pre-compose Pro… is only enabled when a composition is active and at least one layer is selected in it, the same conditions as the native Pre-compose.
Pre-compose Pro requires After Effects 24.4 or later. It’s a native plugin, so it loads when After Effects starts. Check your version (Help > About After Effects), reinstall via the Tack Studio app if needed, then restart After Effects.
Leaving attributes behind only works for a single layer with source footage, the same rule as the native Pre-compose. With multiple layers selected (or a layer with no source, like a text or shape layer), attributes must move into the new composition.
Duration adjustment needs the layers inside the new comp to keep their own timing, so it’s only available with Move all attributes into the new composition selected.
The [#] placeholder must be at the end of the default name: shot_[#] works, shot_[#]_element doesn’t. See Naming.
Pre-compose Pro reads your label names and colors, and your keyboard shortcuts, from After Effects’ preferences files on disk. If it can’t find them (an unusual install location, or a brand-new AE install that hasn’t written preferences yet), the label dropdown or shortcut buttons can’t work. Quit and reopen After Effects so it writes its preferences, and try again.
Masks that can’t define a sensible crop area are skipped: an inverted mask, a first mask set to Subtract, or masks all set to None. The layer falls back to its full source bounds. See Cropping.
A few things can inflate the measured bounds:
  • Null layers: check Ignore Nulls is on in Settings.
  • Box text: the full text box counts by default; turn on Ignore Paragraph Text to measure only the rendered text.
  • Off-screen content: turn on Constrain to Parent Composition to clamp the crop to the frame.
  • Over time: when measuring over time, the crop covers content wherever it moves during the whole animation, not just where it sits now.
The shortcut takeover is optional. Click Add under Keyboard Shortcuts in Settings, then close the Keyboard Shortcuts window when it appears to confirm. Reset puts the native binding back.