What It Does
Force Auto-Save addresses a critical flaw in After Effects’ native auto-save: it doesn’t always work. The script was born after the developer lost two days of work when AE’s auto-save failed to save to a secondary drive. It forces After Effects to execute auto-saves using AE’s existing settings, ensuring your work actually gets backed up.
The script has no configuration. Drop it in the Scripts\Startup folder and it runs automatically. It uses whatever auto-save interval and location you’ve set in After Effects preferences.
Key Features
Uses native AE settings. The script piggybacks on After Effects’ built-in auto-save preferences. You don’t need to configure a separate save interval or location.
Toggle on/off with Shift. Hold Shift while running the script to enable or disable it. If both the script and AE’s internal auto-save are off, you’ll get a warning.
Waits during playback. Like AE’s native auto-save, Force Auto-Save won’t interrupt preview playback. It waits for the next save cycle. The difference is it actually saves when that cycle arrives, where AE’s system sometimes skips it.
Fixes known issues. After Effects auto-save has documented failures: not saving to secondary drives, skipping saves during playback, and problems with touch interfaces like Wacom tablets. This script works around those bugs.
Who It’s For
Anyone who’s lost work to AE’s unreliable auto-save. If you work on large projects that AE decides not to auto-save because you’re using a stylus, or if you’ve discovered auto-save didn’t write to your backup drive, this script removes that uncertainty.
Note that on very large projects, auto-save can take time. You can always disable it (the script or AE’s setting) if save times become disruptive.
Pricing
This script is pay-what-you-want. It’s no longer available for purchase on aescripts, but was distributed as a freemium product where users could name their own price, including free.
