What It Does
Local Hero copies network assets to your local workstation so After Effects can stream them faster, then restores the original network paths when you’re done. Useful when working with high-resolution footage over slow network connections.
Key Features
Localize. Finds network assets in your project and copies them to your local drive. After Effects then references the local copy instead of streaming from the network.
Delocalize. Removes the local copies and restores the original network file paths. Your project reconnects to the network storage as if nothing changed.
Proxy Mode. Sets the local file as a proxy for the project item. You can enable or disable the proxy like any other proxy in After Effects.
Replace Mode. Directly replaces the project item’s file path with the local version. To revert, use the Delocalize function.
The script handles image sequences, even those with non-standard filenames or explicitly chosen frames. Version 1.1.0 improved efficiency and fixed crashes related to unusual sequence numbering.
Who It’s For
Motion designers working at studios with network storage. Also useful for producers bundling projects for freelancers, since it preserves original file paths better than After Effects’ built-in Collect Files.
Pricing
Pay-what-you-want pricing. Free trial available, limited to localizing 15 items. Currently listed at a special price of $18.75.
