Ok so my mistake here.  After a little more testing, trying to uninstall the 3d motion plugin
and rolling back to previous version of CTA, I discovered that the problem was I needed 
to open the scene composition in After Effects, for the layers to take up their Z positions.

Duh! That just shows I need to brush up on my AE skills :)

Thanks for the heads-up and the link to the thread with 4.4 issues.

Although my issue is probably related to the one already in the thread,
I also think it's different as I haven't used any 3d motion in my scene.
I even tried it on the demo scene that's available on the AE script page
which predates any 3D motion features and I get the same error in AE.

So this issue probably needs to be added to the list.

E1

RL wrote this:

[After Effects Workflow Issue]

1.
Issue: The Z-Axis failed to transfer to After Effects after having activated 3D Motion Converter's Z-Axis.

Workaround: Set the Z-Axis data directly in After Effects.

2.
Issue: When the "Body Flip" option is activated in Motion Link or 3D Motion Converter for and exported to After Effects, the character has a tendency to lean right when flipped in the side-view. 

Workaround: Manually adjust the object positioning in After Effects.

3. 
Issue: When a key is set on the Z-axis and the character is exported to After Effects, the linked accessories tend to drift away in the side-view.

Workaround: Manually adjust the position of the props in After Effects.

4.
Issue: When "Flip Root" is performed on linked props and sent to After Effects, only the character is flipped, not the props.

Workaround: Activate linking inside After Effects.

As seen in this thread:

https://forum.reallusion.com/465704/00-CTA-44-Known-Issue-How-to-Fix



Toystorylab on Vimeo :     Crassitudes (my "Alter Ego") on Youtube: 

I remember getting the script to work in cartoon animator 4.3, however I just upgraded to 4.4 
and when I export the scene to AE, I get the layers to export with the animation, but all the 
z info on the layers is gone.  Anyone else have this issue or know of a solution?

Thanks,

Iwan

Playing around with animation from Cartoon Animator using the After Effects plug in. I was easily able to change the overall colour of the scene, and add some camera depth so the background was blurred, while still maintaining focus on the character. This plug in has a lot of potential. 

Does this work with CS6 AE?

Highlights of some great new Cartoon Animator features including the new free After Effects plug in. 

https://bit.ly/3kIRFOV

#Reallusion #AfterEffects #2DAnimation #CartoonAnimator #CTA

I vote for the physics engine! Ive submitted that suggestion a numbe rof times myself over the years. Ima gine being able to have objects randomly animate and have collision detection. WOOHOO!

I will like to see other NON-ADOBE options with features like this.