LyriSynclyrisync

Install the After Effects panel

Send a finished alignment straight into your composition. No manual export, no dragging a script file into After Effects by hand.

01

Download the panel

One file, and it is the same one on Mac and Windows. An After Effects extension is not a compiled program, so there is no separate build to pick between.

Download the panel
lyrisync-ae-panel.zxpversion 1.0.7
Direct linkhttps://lyrisync.com/downloads/lyrisync-ae-panel.zxp
02

Install it

A .zxp needs a small free installer utility to place it correctly. There is no OS-level double-click handler for the format on its own.

Get ZXPInstaller
03

Connect it

Open Window -> Extensions -> LyriSync, press Connect, and approve the code it shows at lyrisync.com/device. The code is there so you never type a password into a panel.

Installing on macOS

  1. Get ZXPInstaller if you do not have it already. On its page choose the OS X download, open the .dmg, and drag ZXPInstaller into Applications. It is free, and one utility covers every Adobe extension you will ever install.
  2. Open ZXPInstaller and drag the panel onto its window. It confirms when the install is finished.lyrisync-ae-panel.zxp
  3. Quit After Effects completely and start it again, then open Window > Extensions > LyriSync. An extension added while After Effects is running does not appear until it restarts.

Installing on Windows

  1. Get ZXPInstaller if you do not have it already. On its page choose the Windows download and run the installer it gives you. It is free, and one utility covers every Adobe extension you will ever install.
  2. Open ZXPInstaller and drag the panel onto its window. It confirms when the install is finished.lyrisync-ae-panel.zxp
  3. Quit After Effects completely and start it again, then open Window > Extensions > LyriSync. An extension added while After Effects is running does not appear until it restarts.

ZXPInstaller is a small, open-source utility, not something LyriSync builds or hosts. It is the standard way small After Effects panel makers ship an extension. If your OS shows an "unidentified developer" warning on first open, that is expected for a self-signed panel: right-click and choose Open on a Mac, or click "More info" then "Run anyway" on Windows.

ZXPInstaller did not work? Install the panel by handStep by step for macOS and Windows, no installer needed

This puts the panel where After Effects looks, without any installer involved. It works on every machine After Effects runs on, and it is what to reach for if ZXPInstaller will not open the file, will not run, or reports that it installed the panel and nothing appears.

By hand on macOS

  1. Rename the downloaded file so it ends in .zip instead of .zxp. Finder asks whether you are sure; say yes. If you cannot see the extension on the end of the name at all, turn on Finder > Settings > Advanced > "Show all filename extensions" first.lyrisync-ae-panel.zip
  2. Double-click the .zip. You get a folder called lyrisync-ae-panel. Rename that folder to the extension's own id:com.tjcreate.lyrisync.aepanel
  3. In Finder press shift-command-G, paste this, and press Return. Create any folder in that path that does not exist yet: on a Mac that has never had an Adobe extension installed, Adobe, CEP and extensions are all missing.~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions
  4. Move the renamed folder inside. CSXS and index.html must sit directly in com.tjcreate.lyrisync.aepanel, not one folder deeper -- if you can see a second folder of the same name, go into it and move THAT one instead.
  5. Open Terminal and run these three lines. They let After Effects load an extension it did not install itself, for both of the versions this panel supports, and then restart the preference daemon so the change is seen immediately.defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.11 PlayerDebugMode 1 defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.12 PlayerDebugMode 1 killall cfprefsd
  6. Quit After Effects completely and start it again, then open Window > Extensions > LyriSync.

By hand on Windows

  1. Rename the downloaded file so it ends in .zip instead of .zxp. If you cannot see the extension on the end of the name at all, turn on View > Show > "File name extensions" in File Explorer first.lyrisync-ae-panel.zip
  2. Right-click the .zip and choose Extract All. Rename the folder you get to the extension's own id:com.tjcreate.lyrisync.aepanel
  3. Paste this into File Explorer's address bar and press Enter. Create any folder in that path that does not exist yet: on a PC that has never had an Adobe extension installed, Adobe, CEP and extensions are all missing.%APPDATA%\Adobe\CEP\extensions
  4. Move the renamed folder inside. CSXS and index.html must sit directly in com.tjcreate.lyrisync.aepanel, not one folder deeper -- Extract All often makes a second folder of the same name, and if you see one, go into it and move THAT one instead.
  5. Open Command Prompt and run these two lines. They let After Effects load an extension it did not install itself, for both of the versions this panel supports.reg add "HKCU\Software\Adobe\CSXS.11" /v PlayerDebugMode /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f reg add "HKCU\Software\Adobe\CSXS.12" /v PlayerDebugMode /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f
  6. Quit After Effects completely and start it again, then open Window > Extensions > LyriSync.

What that last command changes, in plain terms: After Effects normally refuses to load an extension it cannot verify, and a folder you copied in by hand is not one it can verify. The setting tells it to load the folder anyway. It applies to every extension in that folder and not only to this one, so treat that folder as somewhere you only put things you meant to put there. Nothing else on your machine is affected, and installing the panel with ZXPInstaller instead never needs it.

Once it's open and connected, export from any finished alignment and choose "Send to After Effects" instead of downloading a file.