GIFsquid is great, but it isn't perfect. Please post here about any problems you encounter.
I've seen this happen when your harddrive is near full. It can also happen if your project is in the root of a drive and not in a folder. Another thing to check is that you have the AE option "Allow scripts to write files and access the network" set.
It really sounds like you're missing some files and/or AE isn't set to allow scripts to write files/access network. Please try re-extracting the JSXBIN file and the GIFsquid folder into your AE/ScriptUI folder and double-check the preference to allow scripts to write files. In your case, the script is choking at the point it should be able to write to C:\programdata
Please doublecheck that you have installed all of the files, in your Script UI Panels folder you should have the gifsquid.jsxbin as well as a Gifsquid folder. Also check in c:\programdata for a file called "squidyavi.bat". If that isn't present after trying to Squirt, it means that GIFsquid wasn't able to write files. If AE is simply not rendering your project after queing an AVI, try rendering it manually or clearing the render queue before squirting.
Thanks for your reply. Here are the contents of the .bat file you requested. I'm assuming it is the "_" in the name that messed it up, as the original file was named "Comp 1", but the renaming algorithm added the "_4" (this was my fourth attempt, versions _2 and _3 also were previously generated by AfterEffects...)
cd\ cd "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2018\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels\GIFsquid\"
GIFsquidavi.bat 24 1500 "D:\Windows\Documents\WebWorks\Brittleknee\Gif Creation\1\Comp 1_4.avi" "D:\Windows\Documents\WebWorks\Brittleknee\Gif Creation\1\GIFsquid_Output" 0.5 480x "" "Comp 1_4.avi" false
exit
Actually, underscores are allowed characters, so it shouldn't be that. Does the issue persist after restarting after effects? Another thing to try is clearing the render queue and deleting any leftover AVI files from failed GIF creation and then trying again. I've sometimes seen AE fail to render anything after pressing g Squirt. Usually manually rendering and then trying again fixes this.
Sounds likely, however the ProgramData folder doesn't normally need admin access to write to it.
Thanks for the fast reply! My comp name (abc) and filename (MetaNonMeta.aep) only have letters though, same with the path (excluding backslash, space, and colon chars) . Here's a screenshot of my gifsquid\bin folder (though the only antivirus I have is Windows Defender):
Here's the GIFsquid.log:
convert.exe: UnableToCreateTemporaryFile `E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffects Projects\WHATAMIGONNADO\abc.avi': No such file or directory @ error/delegate.c/InvokeDelegate/1876.
convert.exe: UnableToOpenBlob `C:/Users/Stephen/AppData/Local/Temp/magick-93516xuC9P0tpcKhx.pam': No such file or directory @ error/blob.c/OpenBlob/2705.
convert.exe: NoImagesDefined `E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffects Projects\WHATAMIGONNADO\GIFsquid_Output/abc.avi-2018-04-11_21-10-40.gif' @ error/convert.c/ConvertImageCommand/3257.
It's strange that this only happens in non-Turbo mode; does Turbo mode handle paths differently maybe?
very weird... do me a favor and try a regular (non-turbo) render, then open up "c:\programdata\squidyavi.bat" in notepad and paste the contents here. GIFsquid creates and runs this batchfile right after it renders the AVI. I want to see what it is trying to do. Note that c:\programdata is a hidden folder so may not be visible in explorer windows.
Here's what I found (used another project/comp, but same issue):
Successful (turbo):
cd\ cd "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels\GIFsquid\"
GIFsquidavi.bat 30 12000 "E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffectsProjects\WHATAMIGONNADO\Troi.avi" "E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffectsProjects\WHATAMIGONNADO\GIFsquid_Output" 0.5 800:-1 "" "Troi.avi" true
exit
Unsuccessful (non-turbo):
cd\ cd "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels\GIFsquid\"
GIFsquidavi.bat 30 12000 "E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffectsProjects\WHATAMIGONNADO\Troi.avi" "E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffectsProjects\WHATAMIGONNADO\GIFsquid_Output" 0.5 800x "" "Troi.avi" false
exit
Looking at the log file, now it's throwing new errors:
convert.exe: DelegateFailed `"ffmpeg.exe" -nostdin -v -1 -i "%i" -vframes %S -vcodec pam -an -f rawvideo -y "%u.pam"' @ error/delegate.c/InvokeDelegate/1919.
convert.exe: UnableToReadImageData `C:/Users/Stephen/AppData/Local/Temp/magick-31324qcORP4FuAA8U.pam' @ error/pnm.c/ReadPNMImage/1280.
convert.exe: NoImagesDefined `E:\Stephen\Documents\AfterEffectsProjects\WHATAMIGONNADO\GIFsquid_Output/Troi.avi-2018-04-12_21-04-51.gif' @ error/convert.c/ConvertImageCommand/3257.
Do you have FFMPEG installed on your computer? GIFsquid might be trying to use the one on your system instead of the one included with it. You could try upgrading FFMPEG. Do me a favor and send me your email address in a PM, I want to send you some stuff.
I think upgrading FFMPEG in GIFsquid\bin has resolved the issue; I'm generating large gifs with Turbo set to false with no issues. Thanks a lot for the troubleshooting help!
So, usually it ends up making a folder called "GIFsquid_Output" in the same folder that your last render went to. If you can't find it, try adding your comp to your render queue manually and check the output folder (no need to actually render, just check the path) and then check for the Output folder there. Another option is to search the drive for "*.gif" and sort by date modified. Usually the folder is opened for you after the gif is done rendering, but sometimes it fails to open the right folder. I've seen this happen when the project is saved in the root of a folder (like T:\project.aep)
There is no such thing as a 60fps gif file, unfortunately. Most 60fps "gifs" are actually mp4 files. GIF files don't use a framerate internally, they use a frame delay, which is how long to display each frame before moving on to the next. This delay can only be specified in 10ms increments, and 60FPS = ~16ms delay. If you are trying to make a smooth GIF file, I recommend no higher than 50fps.
Hey somberoww, I'm sorry you're having trouble! it seems like you're doing everything right here so I'm not sure what could be wrong. double check that virus scanners aren't interfering with the .exe files in the gifsquid/bin flles. somtimes updates can detect these files as harmful since i'm not a big time developer.
Hey I get the same error message with both GIFSquid and Project Cuddlephish- I've installed all the files and it's still giving me the same error message. To be clear, to install, I go to File-Scripts-Install UI Panel, and click on the .jsx file, correct? It's showing up in the window panel, but I get the same error code as soulforsoup. Windows 10, After Effects CC 2020. Any help would be appreciated.
No, that is not how you should install it. You should unzip the entire zip file to the Script UI folder, not just the jsxbin file.
when trying to squirt a gif using Project Cuddlephish or GifSquid.