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Names

1. How to Rename

You can rename any
placeholders
⁠
/
controls
⁠
/
groups
⁠
during the
Templater
⁠
wizard by clicking the relevant entry in the name column of
placeholder
⁠
/
control
⁠
list. (see screenshot below)
Alternatively, you can rename placeholders and controls using the
Author Mode
⁠
of the online editor.
In order to rename using
Author Mode
⁠
:
Enter
Author Mode
⁠
by clicking the button with the pen and paper icon in the bottom left of the
editor
⁠
. (regular users don’t see this option)
Navigate to the
placeholders
⁠
/
control
⁠
as you would when editing and click on the item you wish to rename. The control will expand into a list of additional options.
Type the new name in the text box labeled “Name”.
⁠
Screenshots
⁠
templater-rename.png
⁠
⁠
⁠
author-mode.png
⁠
⁠
⁠
author-mode-rename.png
⁠
⁠

2. General Naming Conventions

Always remember that ultimately a person without knowledge of After Effects will be editing the templates.
The names of your
controls
⁠
,
placeholders
⁠
and
groups
⁠
should imply the impact they’ll make and be understandable by people without extensive experience in video editing or motion graphics.
Always capitalize properly. Try
CapitalizeMyTitle
⁠
and use the APA standard (American Press Association).
Check your grammar and spelling. You can use
Grammarly
⁠
in your browser to help you out.
Don’t use abbreviations such as BG, type Background.
Never include extensions in the name, naming placeholders video.mp4 or Logo.png is not allowed.
For example, let’s take a look at proper naming for a template with a background video placeholder:
Correct Naming ✅
Background
Background Video
Background Media

Wrong Naming ⛔
BG
bg
BG Media
back ground
video
media
Video.mp4

3. Scene Naming Conventions

Always name scenes as “Scene” followed by a space and the scene’s number.
The scene numbers should correspond to their order of appearance.
You may name the first and final scene as “Intro” and “Outro”
For example, let’s take a look at proper naming for a template with 5 scenes ( | stands for OR ):
Correct Naming ✅
Scene 1 | Intro
Scene 2
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 5 | Outro
Wrong Naming ⛔
Scene 01 | Scene #1 | scene_01 | SCENE 1
Scene 02 | Scene #2 | scene_02 | SCENE 2
Scene 03 | Scene #3 | scene_03 | SCENE 3
Scene 04 | Scene #4 | scene_04 | SCENE 4
Scene 05 | Scene #5 | scene_05 | SCENE 5

4. Control Naming Conventions

Name controls as descriptively as possible, so that the user can have a good guess of what it will do, before trying it out.
When naming color controls, you should follow the
general naming convention
⁠
.
If possible, use a descriptive name to make it obvious where a color is used, e.g. Background Color, Text Color, Logo Color, etc.
Suggested Naming ✅
Background Color
Title Color | Text Color
Primary Color
Accent Color
Spectrum Color
Names Best Avoided ⛔
Color 1
Color 2
Color 3
BG Color

5. Naming
Placeholders
⁠
of the Same Type Which Change Through the Scenes

When a placeholder of the same type and placement appears in multiple scenes, name them as you would generally, followed by a number which marks the order of appearance.
For example, let’s take a look at proper naming for 5 video background placeholders which change for every scene.
Correct Naming ✅
Background Media 1
Background Media 2
Background Media 3
Background Media 4
Background Media 5
Wrong Naming ⛔
Media_001 | Media #1 | #1 Media | Media #001
Media_002 | Media #2 | #2 Media | Media #002
Media_003 | Media #3 | #3 Media | Media #003
Media_004 | Media #4 | #4 Media | Media #004
Media_005 | Media #5 | #5 Media | Media #005


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