Every Autograf in QUE is managed from one place, the Autograf Setup dialog in Templater, and the whole job comes down to four buttons: Create, Update, Clone and Delete. Pick the right one and your QUE account stays tidy. Pick the wrong one and you end up with a duplicate, a stale template, or a Campaign that points at nothing.
This page is for the producer or developer who already has a rigged After Effects project and now needs it to live in QUE so that Campaigns and Jobs can use it. We will go through the four actions in the order you will need them, explain what each one does behind the button, and spend real time on the part the button labels do not tell you: what happens to the project file, what happens to your Campaigns, and what to do when a step fails.
What an Autograf in QUE is, and what you need before the first click
An Autograf is a video composition template whose layers have been prepared, or rigged, to accept dynamic data from Templater. Our longer guide to Autografs covers the idea in full. For this page, the only part that matters is what QUE stores. QUE does not store your After Effects project. It stores a description of the project, called a manifest, that says which layers are dynamic and how each one is configured. Because QUE holds that description, any Campaign or Job in your account can use the Autograf’s data.
The manifest is a JSON file. Before Templater sends it to QUE, it writes a copy named dataclay-autograf.json into the same folder as your project file. You can open that file in any text editor to see exactly what QUE is about to receive. Our post on what a QUE Autograf manifest is walks through the keys. One key deserves a mention here because it controls how Jobs find your project. The manifest records the full path where the project is saved on the machine that authored it (the env.filepath key), and QUE uses that value for a Job’s aep property when the Job does not specify one. That is a good reason to think about which machine you author the Autograf on, a point we come back to below.
Before you click anything, three conditions have to be true. Our documentation lists them as the requirements for adding an Autograf, and they are worth treating as a checklist for every other action too.
- The Templater Settings effect has been applied to every layer that is meant to be dynamic. A layer without that effect is invisible to the manifest, so it will never accept data from QUE.
- Column names or property keys in your data source match the names of the dynamic layers. If they do not match, the data has nowhere to land.
- A data source, a footage folder and an output folder are filled in under Batch Assets in the Templater panel.
Two more things are worth knowing before you start. First, your QUE account has to be authorized in Templater, because every one of these actions talks to QUE. Second, the QUE Dash is the other half of the picture. Log in at que.dataclay.com and open the Autografs tab, and you will see a high-level overview of each Autograf added to your organization’s account. Every time we say “refresh the listing” below, that is the screen we mean.
Before You Click
Three things to confirm before any action
- Apply the Templater Settings effect to every layer that is meant to be dynamic
- Match column names or property keys in your data source to the names of the dynamic layers
- Fill in a data source, a footage folder and an output folder under Batch Assets in the Templater panel
There is also a workflow reason to do this from Templater and not from the Dash. We add Autografs to QUE by using Templater running on a Satellite, which is a machine that renders QUE Jobs. That way you know the machine can load the Autograf and its dependencies without errors. If your Autografs and their fonts and effects need to exist on several Satellites, you need a way to deploy them to each one. A sync folder service such as Google Drive or Dropbox is one option, though you still have to install and activate the right fonts and effects on each machine yourself.
The four actions, in the order you will use them
All four actions start the same way. In Templater’s main panel, find the Batch Assets group of controls and click Autograf. That opens the Autograf Setup dialog. Inside it, the Autograf Manifest group holds the buttons we care about, and the Project Metadata listing shows the values Templater has stored in your project file. The one to watch is manifest_id. It is the ID of the Autograf stored in QUE, and it is the link between your project file and QUE’s copy.
Add: put a project into QUE for the first time
Click Create in the Autograf Manifest group. Templater parses the project, builds the manifest and syncs it to QUE. Wait until that finishes. Then refresh the Autografs listing in the QUE Dash and the new Autograf appears. From that moment you can use it when you set up Campaigns.
Two side effects are worth knowing about, because they are the reason the other actions work at all. The first is the dataclay-autograf.json file saved beside your project. The second is that the ID of the stored Autograf is written into the project file’s XMP data. That is where the manifest_id value in Project Metadata comes from. Templater remembers which QUE record belongs to this project by reading that value back later.
Four Autograf Actions
Use each button once, in this order
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CreateTemplater parses the project, builds the manifest and syncs it to QUE; the Autograf’s ID is written into the project file’s XMP data.
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UpdateReplaces the stored manifest in QUE with a fresh one built from your current project; check manifest_id exists first.
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CloneChoose a location and a name, click Save; Templater parses the new file, builds its manifest and syncs it to QUE.
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DeleteRemoves the Autograf from QUE and clears manifest_id from your project; move the Campaign’s default first.
Button Reference
When to use each Autograf action
| Action | When to use it | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Create | Project not yet in QUE | Adds manifest to QUE; writes manifest_id to project XMP |
| Update | manifest_id exists; project changed | Replaces stored manifest in QUE |
| Clone | Need a sibling or variation | Saves new file; adds its own manifest to QUE |
| Delete | Retiring the Autograf | Removes from QUE; clears manifest_id from project |
If Create fails, our documentation gives three things to try, and the order makes sense. You may already have added this Autograf to your account, so try Update instead of adding a new one. If that does not fit, try Clone, which creates a copy of the Autograf and syncs it to QUE. If neither works, delete the Autograf and create it again with the steps above. The first fits a project that was added before, since the project would already have a record in QUE.
Update: push local changes to the Autograf QUE already has
You added the Autograf last week. Since then you changed a layer, added a dynamic text field or fixed a typo in a layer name. QUE still holds the old manifest. Update replaces it with a fresh one built from your current project.
Open the Autograf Setup dialog and look at the manifest_id value in Project Metadata before you do anything else. That check is the whole point. If a manifest ID exists, Templater knows which QUE record to replace. If it does not, our documentation says you may need to add the Autograf first. Then click Update in the Autograf Manifest group, wait while Templater parses the project and syncs, and refresh the Autografs listing in the Dash to see your changes.
Here is the trap. Update changes the Autograf stored in QUE, and nothing else. The documentation does not say that Jobs already sitting in a Campaign are rewritten, and we would not assume it. After you update an Autograf, open a Job that uses it and check that the data still lines up with the layers you changed. If a data column no longer matches a renamed layer, that is where you will see it.
Clone: start a second Autograf from the first
Sometimes you do not want to change the Autograf. You want a sibling. Maybe the vertical version of an ad needs the same data with a different layout. Maybe a client wants a variation. Cloning lets you tweak or extend the original Autograf’s setup into a new one, so you are not rebuilding the rig from nothing.
Click Clone in the Autograf Manifest group. Templater asks you to choose a location and a name for the clone, so give it a name that tells your team which variation it is. Click Save. Templater then parses the newly saved Autograf, builds its manifest and syncs it to QUE. Refresh the Autografs listing and the clone appears next to the original, ready to use in Campaigns.
The reason to clone, and not just add the same project twice, is that you choose a new location and name, so the copy is saved as its own Autograf. Our documentation also lists Clone as a fallback when Create errors out, as noted above.
Delete: remove it from QUE and clear the link
Delete is the action with consequences, so it gets its own section below. The short version is that Delete removes the Autograf from QUE and clears manifest_id from your project. After that the project file is just a project file again, ready to be added fresh.
Deleting an Autograf safely: Templater versus the QUE Dash
You can delete an Autograf in two places, depending on your user privileges. Our documentation says plainly which is better. It is best practice to use Templater, because that way the Autograf is deleted from both QUE and the project file’s metadata. Nothing is left half-connected.
In Templater, the steps are short. Open the Autograf Setup dialog from the Batch Assets group. Look in the Project Metadata listing and confirm there is a value for manifest_id. If it is empty, Templater cannot delete the Autograf from QUE, because it has no way to know which record to remove. Then click Delete in the Autograf Manifest group and click Yes to confirm. The Autograf is gone from QUE and the project’s manifest_id is cleared.
In the Dash, log in at que.dataclay.com, open the Autografs tab, find the Autograf, click its Delete icon and click Yes, I’m Sure. This route does not need the project open. It has one cost. Deleting from the Dash does not touch your project file, so the old manifest_id stays in its metadata. Our documentation says you can use Templater later to delete that manifest_id from the project. Do that before you try to add the project again. Otherwise the file still carries an ID that points at a record that is gone. That is general practice, not a documented failure, but a leftover ID is not something you want in front of the next Create or Update.
Delete From Where?
Templater delete beats Dash delete
- Removes Autograf from QUE?
- TemplaterYes
- QUE DashYes
- Clears manifest_id from project file?
- TemplaterYes, automatically
- QUE DashNo, stays in metadata
- Project file needs to be open?
- TemplaterYes
- QUE DashNo
It is best practice to use Templater, because that way the Autograf is deleted from both QUE and the project file’s metadata.
Whichever route you take, read the warning in the documentation before you confirm. Any QUE Campaign that uses the deleted Autograf as its default must be updated to use a different default Autograf. A Campaign’s default is what Jobs inserted without a specified Autograf will use. If you remove the default out from under it, the Campaign needs a different one. So the safe order is to open the Campaign in the QUE Dash, go to the Campaigns view, click the Edit icon, set a different default Autograf, and save. One more detail from the Campaign editing page: changed defaults apply only to Jobs inserted afterward. Jobs already in the Campaign are not updated. Then delete the old Autograf.
A worked example, and where this process does not fit
Here is a hypothetical, labeled as such. A production team has a lower-third template rigged in After Effects. They add it to QUE with Create and build a Campaign around it. Two weeks later the client asks for a second version with a taller layout, and the team also fixes a spelling error in one dynamic layer’s name.
The team handles the spelling fix with Update. They open the Autograf Setup dialog, confirm manifest_id is present, click Update and refresh the Dash. Then they check one Job, because a renamed layer is a change that can leave a data column with nothing to match. For the taller layout, they use Clone. They save the copy under a new name, wait for the sync, and see both Autografs in the listing. Months later the first version is retired. Before deleting it, they edit the Campaign and switch its default to the clone. Only then do they delete the old one from Templater, so both QUE and the project file are clean.
Notice what that team did not do. They did not delete and re-add to make a small edit, which would have thrown away the link they already had. They did not rely on the Dash to delete a project they still had open. And they did not remove a default Autograf without moving the Campaign first.
Now the limits. This workflow assumes you are the person with the project in After Effects and Templater open. If you only have access to the QUE Dash, you can inspect a manifest and, with the right privileges, remove an Autograf. Our documentation describes adding, updating and cloning only from Templater. Our documentation also does not describe a way to rename an Autograf in place, so if you need a different name, Clone is the route that lets you choose one.
The documentation also leaves some questions open, and we would rather say so than guess. It does not state what happens to Jobs that reference an Autograf after you delete it, beyond the warning about Campaign defaults. It does not describe version history for Autografs. If either matters to your pipeline, test with a small Campaign first. For a view of how QUE and Templater divide the work, see QUE and Templater: how they work together, and for Campaign cleanup done from code instead of the Dash, see running a QUE Campaign from code. The wider order of operations, which starts with adding an Autograf and then a Satellite, is covered in what a QUE Satellite is and how to add one.
One more thing about where you work. Because QUE uses the authoring path for a Job’s aep property when the Job does not name one, an Autograf created on a laptop and rendered on another machine could point Jobs at a path the renderer does not have. Our documentation does not describe this case, so check it with one Job. If your Autografs live on a shared or synced folder, author them from there, and make sure each Satellite has the same fonts and effects installed. The manifest lists the fonts and effects the Autograf depends on, which gives you a checklist to compare against each machine.
The bottom line is short. Use Create once, Update when the project changes, Clone when you want a sibling and Delete from Templater when you can. Check manifest_id before every action, because it tells you whether Templater and QUE agree about what exists. And before you delete anything, move the Campaign’s default first.
We covered the buttons and the traps above. Before you click Delete on a live Autograf, these answers are worth a minute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I add an Autograf to QUE?
In Templater, not the QUE Dash. Open the main panel, click Autograf in the Batch Assets group, and click Create in the Autograf Manifest group of the Autograf Setup dialog. Before you do, apply the Templater Settings effect to every dynamic layer, match your data column names to those layer names, and fill in the data source, footage folder and output folder. When processing finishes, refresh the Autografs listing in the QUE Dash and the new Autograf appears.
How do I know whether to use Update or Create?
Check the manifest_id value in the Project Metadata listing of the Autograf Setup dialog. If a manifest ID exists, the Autograf is already in QUE and Update is the action that replaces its stored manifest with your current project. If no ID exists, our documentation says you may need to add the Autograf first. If Create errors because you added it before, try Update instead of adding a second copy.
What does Clone do that Create does not?
Clone makes a new Autograf from one you already built. You click Clone, choose a location and a name, and click Save. Templater parses the new file, builds its manifest and syncs it to QUE. It is the route for a variation that extends the first setup. Our documentation also lists it as a fallback when adding an Autograf returns an error.
Should I delete an Autograf from Templater or from the QUE Dash?
Our documentation says to prefer Templater. Deleting there removes the Autograf from QUE and clears the manifest_id from the project file’s metadata, so nothing stays half-linked. The Dash is the other route, depending on your user privileges. After a Dash delete, you can use Templater later to clear the leftover manifest_id from the project.
What happens to a Campaign when I delete its default Autograf?
The documentation warns that any Campaign using the deleted Autograf as its default must be updated to use a different default Autograf. Do that first. In the QUE Dash, open the Campaigns view, click the Edit icon, choose another default and save. Changed defaults apply only to Jobs inserted afterward, and existing Jobs are not updated, so check any Job that was relying on the old one.
Why can Templater not delete my Autograf from QUE?
Look at Project Metadata in the Autograf Setup dialog. If manifest_id has no value, Templater cannot delete the Autograf from QUE, because the ID is the link to QUE’s record. This can happen if the ID was already cleared. In that case, delete it from the QUE Dash if your privileges allow it.
Where is the manifest file saved, and can I read it?
After you add an Autograf, Templater saves a file named dataclay-autograf.json in the same directory as your project. It describes how your project is set up with Templater, and you can open it in a text editor. The stored copy can also be read from the QUE Dash by expanding the Autograf and clicking Read Manifest. The stored copy carries a few extra keys such as the ID and the dates.
