About Masks to Cropped Layers

Masks to Cropped Layers works on After Effects layers that contain multiple masks, such as artwork imported from Illustrator or areas tracked with Mocha. For each mask, the script creates a new layer—either a solid or a pre‑comp—cropped to the calculated size of that mask. This allows vector artwork masks to be animated individually with stroke or fill effects, and enables VFX work like rotoscoping or localized tracking to use smaller pre‑comps, which improves RAM preview speed and reduces unnecessary pixel processing.

Mask dimensions can be derived from simple rectangles or from bezier paths for pixel‑accurate results. Users may measure size from a single frame, the composition work area, or the layer’s duration. New layers can be padded and their position values rounded to integer pixels for sharper output. The panel includes quick‑select buttons for all open or closed masks, and respects manual mask selections.

Features

• Copies each mask on a layer to a new solid or pre-comp, cropped to that mask’s size
• Calculates mask sizes using either basic rectangles (fast) or bezier paths (slower but pixel-accurate)
• Measures mask size from a single frame, the composition work area, or the layer’s duration
• Uses all masks when none are selected, or only the masks you manually select
• Panel buttons to quickly select all open or all closed masks
• New layers can be padded out, with position values rounded to integers for sharper results

Best for

After Effects artists who need to animate vector artwork from Illustrator or perform VFX tasks such as rotoscoping, clean‑ups, and localized tracking on small plate areas.