Batch Automation Advanced Action/Batch - Need help

[veryferry]

(Sorry moderator, for trying to post this multiple times on various wrong locations)


Dear Gurus,

I have multiple (400+) folders, each containing 3 .tga files. The names of those 3 files are the same in every folder (beauty, ambient & outline). I'm looking for a way to do the following:

Step 1: Open beauty.tga
Step 2: Use the alpha channel to duplicate the subject into a new layer
Step 3: Rename this layer to "beauty"
Step 4: Delete the Background layer
Step 5: Open ambient.tga
Step 6: Use the alpha channel to duplicate the subject into a new layer
Step 7: Rename this layer to "ambient"
Step 8: Copy this "ambient" layer to beauty.tga
Step 9: Set the layer style of the "ambient" layer to Multiply
Step 10: Open Outline.tga
Step 11: Use the alpha channel to duplicate the subject into a new layer
Step 12: Rename this layer to "outline"
Step 13: Copy this "outline" layer to beauty.tga
Step 14: Save beauty.tga as a .PSD file
Step 15: Automatically repeat these steps for every single one of those 400+ folders.

Actually, I did manage to get the first 14 steps working, but...
Now the "open" commands within the action refer to actual files, instead to filenames within a certain folder. So every time I play the action, it just uses the exact files I used when I was recording. Makes sense of course, but that way I can't apply the action to multiple folders.

Any ideas/solutions?

Thanks!

 

[dv8_fx]

Bumping up.....

Sorry for the inconvenience, veryferry. . Your post was marked for mod approval .

 

[veryferry]

No problem. Now let's hope for an answer

 

[colleague]

you could try to make an action that starts with the 3 files open (ambient beauty and outline)

and a script that opens 3 files ; does the action and continue with the next folder

I made an example-script that asks to browse to the folder with 400 subfolders
and it works only with the action with the name 'testing' and the action-set with the name "Set test"

// use it at your own risk;
#target photoshop
// select a folder;
var sourceFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select folder");
if (sourceFolder) {
var theContent = sourceFolder.getFiles();
//alert (sourceFolder);
// iterate through;
for (var m = 1; m < theContent.length+1; m++) {

var folderName = theContent[m-1].name;
var myNewFolder = new Folder( decodeURI(theContent[m-1].path) +"/"+folderName+"/");
//open the 3 files

app.open(File(decodeURI(myNewFolder)+"/"+"ambient.tga"));
app.open(File(decodeURI(myNewFolder)+"/"+"beauty.tga"));
app.open(File(decodeURI(myNewFolder)+"/"+"outline.tga"));
//alert(m);
//
doAction( 'testing','Set test' );
//Case Sensitive Action Name, Set Name
//close all documents
while(app.documents.length > 0)
{
app.activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
}
};
};

 

[veryferry]

Thanks! I will look into this when I have a new batch. The 400+ folders are already done by hand now
Well...still used an action, but it meant a lot of copy/paste