LYRIC BLITZ — After Effects Panel
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(Open "START HERE.html" for the friendlier version of this.)


INSTALL
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1. A .zxp file is NOT double-clickable. Get the free ZXP Installer:
       https://zxpinstaller.com

2. Drag LyricBlitz.zxp onto the ZXP Installer window.

3. If it warns about an "unknown publisher", that's expected. Continue.
   (Self-signed certificate — standard for independent panels.)

4. QUIT AND REOPEN AFTER EFFECTS. It will not appear until you do.

5. Window > Extensions > Lyric Blitz


USING IT
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1. Open your music video comp (or press "New lyric comp" with your song
   selected in the Project panel).
2. Paste the lyrics - one line each. LRC and SRT files keep their timing.
3. Pick a style. The tiles are live previews.
4. Timing: select the song layer, play it, tap * on the numpad as each line
   starts (or on every word). Or type the BPM, or use the file's timestamps.
5. Blitz it. One undo (Cmd+Z on a Mac, Ctrl+Z on Windows) takes the whole
   build back out. The panel says whichever one your machine uses.

Every word gets a marker on its line's layer. If a word is early or late,
drag its marker - the animation follows it.

The Motion sliders (and the "LB Controls" layer in your comp) keep steering
every line: speed, stagger, distance, blur, overshoot, drift, float, beat pulse.

Leave "Motion blur" ticked. It switches on the comp's motion blur as well,
and the moves are made to be seen with it.


3D CAMERA TRACKING
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1. Tick "3D letters" before you build (flat lines work too - Attach
   converts them).
2. Track the shot: Effect > Perspective > 3D Camera Tracker.
3. Right-click the points where the words should sit >
   Create Null and Camera.
4. Select the lyric layers and the Track Null together, press
   Attach to track.

The words land on the point, sized to read the way they did flat. Tick
"Keep the words facing the camera" for floating text; leave it off for words
lying on a wall or floor. The animation lives inside the text, so it plays
the same tracked or not.


TIPS
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- Start a line with {fly} to give just that line the Fly In look.
  There are 59 looks; hover a tile in the panel to see its id - for example
  rise, fade, smear, whip, pop, bounce, cascade, typewriter, assemble, flip,
  turn, fly, push, wipe, track, sway.
- No numpad? "Rough in as markers" lays the lines on the timeline for you
  to drag onto the vocal.
- "Listen to the song for Beat Pulse" makes the words swell with the music.
- "Remove mine" deletes only layers the panel made.


TRIAL AND KEYS
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Without a key the panel builds the first 6 lines of whatever you paste.
Everything else is open - all 59 looks, the markers, the sliders, the camera
track - so you can judge it properly on a hook before paying for anything.

A key turns the cap off:
   Enter key (bottom of the panel) > paste LB1-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX > Unlock

It checks once with the server, then remembers for 30 days and keeps working
for another 14 if you are offline. One key covers 2 computers - a desktop and
a laptop. Changing machines for good? Email me and I'll move it across.

Lost the key? https://willrosekelly.com/recover-key


REQUIREMENTS
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After Effects 2019 - 2026, macOS or Windows. Apple silicon and Intel both.

Fonts: the Look menu only lists fonts you actually have. On Windows that
means Arial Black, Impact, Segoe UI Black, Bahnschrift and friends; the Mac
faces simply won't appear, and anything else you own can be typed into
"Other..." by its PostScript name.


TROUBLE
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Installed but not showing?   Fully quit AE and reopen. Window > Extensions.
Windows installer refused?   Run the ZXP Installer as administrator.
Font missing?                The panel only lists fonts you have installed.
3D words in the wrong place? A comp camera sees them - attach them to a
                             Track Null, or untick 3D letters.
Still stuck?                 williamrosekelly@gmail.com
                             Include your AE version and what you were doing.
