Quick answers to frequently asked questions about animation and post-production

What After Effects versions are supported?

You can find the complete system requirements for Scene Tools here.


Where do I download the plugin?

The plugin, called Scene Builder, which is part of Idomoo's Scene Tools, is used to mark layers as placeholders and package scenes as IDM files to be uploaded to the Storybuilding Suite. You download Scene Tools from the Storybuilding Suite website at this location.


Does Idomoo support the latest version of After Effects?

Idomoo strives to support the latest version of After Effects. More often than not, though, there is a delay between Adobe's release of After Effects and Idomoo's release of a new Scene Tools version supporting the new After Effects version. A user should get a pop-up about the existence of a new version when loading Scene Builder or Scene Viewer.
In the interim it is possible to use the latest version of After Effects to animate and approve your video, then use the previous version of After Effects for packaging your compositions into scenes. You simply need to have both version of After Effects installed, then save the project for the previous version of After Effects, open the project in the previous version of After Effects, and package your scene there. Emerson College wrote a great article explaining all this called Adobe Creative Cloud - Managing Software Versions.


What are the supported After Effects layer features?

You can find a list of supported placeholder layer features here, placeholder layer behavior here, and composition features here.
It's a good idea to read the section for video creators, though.


When I try to upload an IDM I'm told it's too big

IDMs are limited to 400Mb. There's no way for Scene Builder to know what the final size of the file will be, so you will be able to create IDM files that you can't upload. In order to make your IDMs smaller, do one, or several, of these things, and export again:

  • The duration of the scene affects size the most. If you can split your scene into two or more scenes, that's possibly the easiest way to reduce IDM size.
  • Static comps increase IDM file size. Have less, or keep them shorter. If you have a background static comp that's just a flat color, replace it with a solid color placeholder layer.
  • Larger resolution compositions produce larger IDM sizes. If you are not going to be rendering your full resolution, output the necessary resolution IDMs instead.


There was a problem finding the font used

When trying to package a scene you get the error: "There was a problem finding the font used. Please restart After Effects and try again". But When you restart and try again you get the same error. This only happens on Windows, it seems, and the way around it is to move the fonts to a different location, which is specific to Adobe applications. This makes the font easier to find for Scene Builder.
follow these steps:

  1. With After Effects shut, take the font or fonts out from C:\Windows\Fonts
  2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Fonts. If this folder doesn't exist, create it.
  3. Place the font or fonts in there, restart After Effects, and package. The problem should be gone.


Unidentified developer - problem installing Scene Tools on Macs

Apple won't allow unidentified developers to run applications without a warning. Idomoo is considered an unidentified developer. You know us though, so you're safe.
To make your Mac run the installer (which is an application) follow these simlpe steps:

  1. After double-clicking the installer and getting the error, open System Preferences.
  2. Click Security & Privacy.
  3. You might need to click the lock icon at the bottom left of the panel and enter your Mac OS password to be able to make changes.
  4. Toward the bottom of the panel click the Open button.

The installer should now open automatically for you.


Couldn't find main entry point

main entry point.png

If on the Mac you're getting the error: Couldn't find main entry point for SceneBuilder.plugin, here's the reason and how to solve it.

A few years ago a plugin came out for VR workflows called SkyBox by Mettle. The plugin was bought by Adobe and since After Effects 2018 it's part of After Effects. However, if you have the old plugin still installed, it clashes with Scene Builder. You won't be able to use Scene Builder while the old Mettle plugins are installed.

To remove the old Mettle plugins follow the instructions on the Mettle website.


Another plugin that clashes with Scene Builder is by Insta360, another VR toolset. If you have that installed, please remove it so that Scene Builder can work.
To do so either use the Insta360 installer to uninstall, or remove the Insta360Importer file manually from one of these folder on your computer:

  • Mac
    • /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Plug-ins/7.0/MediaCore/
    • /Applications/Adobe After Effects 2024/Plug-ins/
  • Windows
    • C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\Plug-ins\7.0\MediaCore
    • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe