What It Does
Reduce Footage Layers scans your After Effects timeline and removes footage layers that aren’t contributing to the final render. Layer indexing, parent links, and expressions stay intact during the cleanup process.
The script identifies what’s actually being used in your comp and leaves it alone: guide layers, active track mattes, audio layers, precomps with active content, layers with file sources, compositions, and layers disabled by 0% opacity all remain untouched.
Key Features
Non-destructive removal. The script doesn’t break your project structure. Parented layers and expression references continue working after cleanup.
Footage replacement with solids. Version 1.24 added the ability to replace removed footage with solid layers, giving you a visual reference of what was cleaned.
Detailed cleanup reports. After running the script, you get a list showing which footage was replaced with solids and which was removed entirely.
Who It’s For
Useful for editors working with large projects who need to reduce file size before archiving or sharing. Also helpful when preparing projects for collect files operations or when you’ve imported reference footage that’s no longer needed in the final output.
Pricing
This is a pay-what-you-want tool with a suggested minimum of $10. Individual users can pay any amount they choose. Teams and businesses should pay the suggested price for a valid license.