Announcements

Today we’re introducing three significant updates to our vector workflows in After Effects beta version 26.0x8:   You can now import SVG files as native AE shape layers. Logos, UI mockups, and other vector assets are ready to animate – no conversion required. Improved Illustrator Layer Conversion: Illustrator layers now retain gradient fills, gradient strokes, and transparency when converted to native shape layers. New Gradient Controls: We’ve added animatable Scale and Rotation properties for gradient fills and strokes, giving you more control over vector styling and animation.   SVG Import     Client sends you a dozen SVG logos to use in a project? What once required a tedious, multi-app process is now fast and easy: SVGs import as compositions of ready-to-use native shape layers, no conversion required. Gradient fills, strokes, and transparency are preserved and fully editable.   There are a few limitations of SVG import: Because SVGs import directly as

Hello compositors and fans of transparent backgrounds! The After Effects team is excited to introduce a brand-new plug-in: a native Unmult effect.   We know... it's about time.    Starting in After Effects Beta version 26.0.08, you’ll find Unmult under the Effect > Keying menu or in the Effects & Presets panel > Keying category.   How Does it Work? Unmult removes solid black or white backgrounds from a layer to restore the original transparency from when your footage was captured.   For example, if you want to composite this fire element over a grill while people enjoy a barbecue in the background, Unmult converts the black areas to transparency and restores the original colors in semi-transparent regions. Instead of black fringing around the fire, you’ll see vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges.      Effect Parameters Some Unmult effects you may have used have one or two parameters, while others have none. These plug-ins work best with

Edit: Aug 17, 2025 — Quick Offset is now released in the official release of After Effects 25.4 Great news for After Effects users! Starting with version 25.4. build 50 of After Effects Beta, we're excited to introduce Quick Offset - an efficiency feature that makes staggering your layers and keyframes in your timeline much easier.   What's New  Quick Offset makes it easy to move each layer in your selection — and keyframes across multiple layers — with just a simple keyboard-modified drag. Just select several layers — or keyframes on different layers — and hold down CMD+OPT on Mac / CTRL+ ALT on PC while you drag your selection in the timeline to watch as your layers (or keyframes) distribute themselves across the timeline under your mouse cursor.  Creating cascading and overlapping animations was much more work than it needed to be, Quick Offset makes it much simpler now.    What it does:  Layer offsetting: Select multiple layers in the order you want to

Get hyped for variable type! We're excited to announce support for Variable Font Animation in After Effects! Stretch, squash, jitter and transform your text with the combined power of After Effects text animators and variable font axes.  You can now animate variable font properties like Weight, Width, Slant, and more directly in the Timeline using Text Animators, edit them interactively in the Properties Panel, and drive them through the Essential Graphics Panel + Mogrts, unlocking powerful new typographic animation possibilities.    Imagine animating your text from whisper-thin to ultra-bold with buttery smooth transitions, all the characters at once or with a gradual fade from one weight to another. Or making each character dance with its own unique style. Or driving font dynamics with expressions that respond to your scene. Now stop imagining—because it’s all real.   Any axis your variable font supports can be animated with the full power of After Effec

We're excited to share an update to the After Effects Preferences, starting with After Effects Beta 26.0x40. We've reorganized and refreshed the preferences to make it easier to find the settings you need, when you need them.   What's New The preferences have been thoughtfully reorganized into logical groups that reflect your workflow: Project & Workflow Startup & Repair - Configure how After Effects launches and handles project recovery Project - Manage workspace preferences, Dynamic Link settings, new project templates, solids folders, and auto-save options Composition - Fine-tune composition behavior, layer creation settings, double-click actions, mask preferences, and more Previews - Control preview quality, caching, and playback settings User Interface Appearance - Customize themes, UI scaling, colors, hardware acceleration, and visual display options Grids & Guides - Configure grid spacing, guide snapping, and safe margins Label

Hello, motionkind! Now in After Effects (Beta) build 26.0x40 and later, we are introducing two improvements for expressions & scripting.  Quickly find the keyframe or marker before or after a given time, without writing lengthy, repetitive logic.  Read the current text and the full list of dropdown menu items, so you no longer need to keep duplicate strings in your expressions just to show the text from a dropdown menu.    previousKey() and nextKey() in JavaScript expressions    This Beta build introduces new expression methods to quickly get the keyframes or markers before or after any given time:  Property.previousKey(time): Returns the keyframe or marker at or before time. If none exist before time, returns the first keyframe or marker.  Property.nextKey(time): Returns the keyframe or marker after time. If time is after the last, returns the last keyframe or marker.    These new methods are only available in the JavaScript

Hello After Effects users!   We have a cornucopia of new features entering public beta today in version 26.0x8, and we’re excited to share what’s on the way:   3D workflow enhancements   Parametric Meshes Parametric Meshes are the 3D version of shape layers. Create spheres, cubes, cones & more; customize and animate their size, shape and appearance. Easily make meshes look plastic or metallic by adjusting simple, physically-based material properties, or assign a Substance 3D material to take things to the next level.   Substance 3D Materials Build beautiful 3D scenes rich in shape and texture natively within After Effects. Substance 3D Materials (.sbsar files) are dynamic, adjustable materials capable of giving 3D models and parametric meshes almost any look, from photo-real to highly stylized. Get access to thousands of free materials through Substance Community Assets.   Learn More Expanded vector support     Import SVG files as native shape l

The Shapes of Things to Come     After Effects beta users, time to start building!    We are excited to introduce two new 3D features that work well individually but even better together: Parametric Meshes and Substance 3D Materials. With their powers combined, you can now design beautiful 3D scenes rich in shape and texture natively within After Effects.    AE’s growing toolbox of useful 3D features now includes an assortment of Parametric 3D Meshes, which is a fancy technical description for 3D shapes that you can use as building blocks for your compositions. These meshes include a Cube, a Sphere, a Plane, a Torus (mmm, donut), a Cone and a Cylinder, all of which can be customized to create a wide variety of looks.   Combining Parametric Meshes with Substance 3D Materials (aka SBSARs) can give your 3D meshes and models an exciting new look. SBSARs are dynamic, adjustable materials that can look like almost anything, natural or man-made—constructio

We’re thrilled to introduce Lossless Compressed Playback, now available in After Effects beta (starting with version 26.0x8).  This new feature takes composition playback to the next level — letting you preview longer durations while using significantly less disk space. How? After Effects now compresses cached frames without any loss in visual quality.    What’s New  With Lossless Compressed Playback, After Effects automatically stores cached frames in a compressed, lossless format on disk.    This means you can:  Preview much longer segments of your timeline.  Store more frames within your allocated disk cache limit.  Compression happens automatically in the background — saving disk space without changing your workflow or image quality.    Getting Started  On by default: The feature is enabled automatically for all Beta users.  To view or modify the setting, go to Preferences → Media & Disk Cache, and check

Starting with After Effects Beta build 26.0x8, we are introducing 3 new built-in audio effects, the first time in more than 20 years that new audio effects have been added to After Effects.   Gate - Your Audio Noise Door The Gate effect silences audio that falls below a certain volume threshold. It's perfect for cleaning up noisy recordings, removing background hiss, or creating dramatic audio cuts.     Key Parameters: Threshold (dB): Range -60dB to 0dB (default: -60dB). Audio below this level gets muted. Set it just above your background noise level. Attack (ms): Range 0-1000ms (default: 10ms). How quickly the gate opens when audio exceeds the threshold. Fast attack = immediate opening, slow attack = gradual fade-in. Hold (ms): Range 0-2500ms (default: 40ms). How long the gate stays open after audio drops below threshold. Prevents rapid on/off switching. Release (ms): Range 5-4000ms (default: 220ms). How quickly the gate closes once the hold time expires. Fast release

We are excited to announce the public beta release of Windows on ARM emulation support in After Effects 25.4 build 34! This marks the first time After Effects supports the Windows on ARM platform. In order to ensure After Effects works in emulation, please first download and install the most recent Qualcomm Adreno GPU driver for Snapdragon X Platform here: https://softwarecenter.qualcomm.com/catalog/item/Windows_Graphics_Driver?osArch=ARM64&osType=Windows&version=250304031.0.96.0After downloading the driver, unzip and run the .msi installer. After the installation completes, run After Effects (Beta).   If you receive a warning about the driver version, you will need to follow these steps to manually select the new driver. Close After Effects (Beta). Open the Device Manager in Windows. Twirl Open "Display Adapters" to show the Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU. Right-click the GPU and select "Update driver". Click "Browse my computer for drivers". Click "Let me pick from a list of ava