Color Finesse Reserializing

 To force Color Finesse to ask for a registration code again on a Windows system, perform the following steps:

1. In the Windows Start menu, choose "Run..."
2. In the "Open:" text box, enter "regedit" and click OK.
3. You may get a prompt about needing permission to continue. If you do, click Continue.
4. The regedit application will open and you'll see a list of items on the left side of the window.
5. If not already open, twirl open the item labeled "Computer"
6. Twirl open the item labeled "HKEY_CURRENT_USER"
7. Under that, locate and twirl open the item labeled "Software"
8. Under that, locate and twirl open the item labeled "Synthetic Aperture"
9. You should now see a item labeled "Color Finesse 3". There may be multiple versions of Color Finesse installed, so be sure you locate the correct item for the version you want to re-serialize.
10. Right-click on the "Color Finesse 3" item. You should now see something similar to:

 

Choose Delete from the popup menu.

You'll be asked to confirm the deletion. Click Yes.

Close the regedit window.

Restart After Effects.

Open a project, select a layer and apply SA Color Finesse 3 to the layer.

You'll be once again prompted for the Color Finesse 3 registration code. Enter the correct one and you'll be up and running with no pink lines

Windows 7 Tips #2

Preview your files

You can open the preview pane in a window by pressing Alt+P. Items such as photos and PDF files will be previewed in this area when you click them.

Clean up Live Essentials

 If this causes problems later, or you just decide you don't need it, then Choice Guard may be removed by clicking Start, typing :
msiexec /x {F0E12BBA-AD66-4022-A453-A1C8A0C4D570} 
and pressing [Enter].

Recover locked-up apps 

When the lockup occurs, click Start, type RESMON and click the RESMON.EXE link to launch the Resource Monitor. 

Find your frozen process in the CPU pane (it should be highlighted in red), right-click it and select Analyze Wait Chain.

If you see at least two processes in the list, then the lowest, at the end of the tree, is the one holding up your program. If it's not a vital Windows component, or anything else critical, then save any work in other open applications, check the box next to this process, click End Process, and your locked-up program will often spring back to life.

Fault-Tolerant Help

Windows 7 includes a new feature called the Fault Tolerant Help (FTH), a clever technology that looks out for unstable processes, detects those that may be crashing due to memory issues, and applies several real-time fixes to try and help. If these work, that's fine - if not, the fixes will be undone and they won't be applied to that process again.
While this is very good in theory, it can leave you confused as some applications crash, then start working (sometimes) for no apparent reason. So if you'd like to check if the FTH is running on your PC, launch REGEDIT, and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\FTH - any program currently being protected by the FTH will be listed in the State key.
Experienced users may also try tweaking the FTH settings to catch more problems, and perhaps improve system stability. A post on Microsoft's Ask The Performance Team blog (bit.ly/d1JStu) explains what the various FTH Registry keys mean.

Preserve Underlying Transparencies

Right next to the [blending] MODE option of any layer is a little box simply labeled “T”. This is the “Preserve Underlying Transparencies” box. Click it to activate, and After Effects will take the alpha channel (or “transparency”) of the layer directly beneath and it apply it to the current layer.

 

For more info

http://sparksight.com/blog/quick-tip-for-motion-graphics-artists/

How to Extend or Reset Trial Period of any Software?

Steps to Reset or Extend trial Period of any Software

Delete Registry to Extend Trial Period

In this method you need to find and delete your trial software registry. After trial period is expired, uninstall the software and follow the steps.

• After uninstalling software, Open RUN (Windows key + R) and type regedit and hit Enter.
• Now Registry Editor Window will appear and here navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Your Software name from left pane of this window. If you find any Key name with your software name then just Delete that Key.
• Similarly navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Your Software name and if you find any key with your software name then just Delete it and close the Registry Editor window.
• Again go to RUN and type %temp% and hit Enter.
• Now Delete all the things in that folder. Don’t worry these are the temporary files and not necessary for your operating system.
• Now go to C:Usersyour username hereAppData. Under AppData open all three folders “Local”, “LocalLow” and “Roaming” and check. Under these three folders if you find any folder or anything with your Software’s name, just delete it.
• Now Restart your PC and install the expired software and you can use it again for trial period. If you install the expired software without following the above steps then you don’t get trial period back.

http://www.tricksforums.com/2013/11/how-to-extend-or-reset-trial-period-of.html

AFTER EFFECTS PARENT TAB GONE

Right click on the top portion of the tabs location and select "columns parent"

Or! Shift+F4 as the shortcut to reveal or hide this.F4 by itself is the shortcut for 'toggle switches' too.