Feature Requests

Typography is an important part of many animations. With the great amount of options designers have with OpenType-Fonts every aspect of a font should be accessible in a modern animation software.Please add all OpenType-Options as seen in the Photoshop Character Panel to be natively accessible in After Effects.

Create symmetrical "smart" guides. Would be helpful if you can hold option+drag from the ruler to create a "smart" guide (maybe in red) that automatically mirrors from the opposite side as well. I'm constantly having to make sure assets are center-aligned on screen and regular guides aren'’t any help in this scenario. If a mirrored guide line was able to be pulled in from the same distance on both sides that would increase my workflow.

Previously requested but wanted to add a few addendums to this really desired item:Love the increasing native 3D capabilities of After Effects and I really wish the workflow of nesting compositions to build complex animations was reflected in the new Advanced 3D renderer. I would love to be able to select or reference a composition from the project panel to be used as a 3D layer's texture.As an animator / designer for screens for live events, we often use After Effects not only to build out large pieces of content (multiple synchronous 4K+ feeds) but also to previsualize in real-time what our content will look like. This is super helpful because we don't have to round-trip still frames or large renders between AE and another DCC. However, creating these previsualization setups can take a large amount of time, much of which having compositions UV-mapped onto 3D objects would save an immense amount of time. For instance, for a curved screen we often are cutting up a composition into mult

In Element 3d by Video Copilot, there is the option to use comps as materials for 3d models.It would be extremely useful if it were to be possible to set comps/precomps in the same active comp as a 3d model to be the material for that model or a texture for one of the materials in the 3d model.Do you (viewers of this post) think it would be useful/cool?

Make the (popped out) composition window fit to screen size by double clicking the top of the window (like every  other window on windows). This would create a more focused view and would help with bigger projects on two screen setups.

In After Effects when you convert an audio to keyframes and need to set markers on the beats it's kinda annoying to set markers on all of the beats manually. I know you can make an autobeat marker script for AE but this would be nice for beginners. A built-in auto beat marker.

After effects is great...  But some times I need a tool that is light weight IE starts up lighting fast and is easy to jump right into...  to convert or compress a movie file to differnt formates...  Or create a fast simple animation that is a simple tween.  or text fade in....  Aftereffect is great for high power video work...  But I miss flash for faster animation work...  Or It would be help to have a super light weight converstion and compression tool where you can convert and compress files... 

Hi there. When you work with texts in AE switching from one text to another could be a lot better if only you could directly click from one text field to another.Right now you have to click the a layer to “deactivate” the active text field. I know you can press “Esc” but for some reason, using “Esc” feels a bit Dangerous :) and is not a key i use on my keyboard.Why not enable that you can just click from one text field to the next and type :)That would be logical and make this old boy happy :). Cheers.

Currently, After Effects supports EXR rendering, but it does not offer a straightforward multi-pass option within the same EXR file. In our workflow, we often require multiple passes—for example, a chroma pass with a background version and a separate black-and-white matte (alpha) pass. Currently, we have to render these separately and provide them individually to clients. If After Effects could support multi-pass EXR rendering—where multiple passes (like beauty, alpha, etc.) are embedded into a single EXR—it would save significant time. Not only would it streamline the delivery process, but it would also reduce the overall render time—especially for 4K work.Adding this feature would not only enhance efficiency in my own projects, but I’m confident that many other professionals facing similar challenges would benefit as well. I hope the Adobe team can consider this in future updates.Thank you for your time and consideration.

When you have a complex project with many layers. Clicking on, lets say a text layer does not make it much easy to fint. Adding the abibity for AE to jump down in layer stack and highlight the layer would be a huge time saver.Bonus wish: Clicking the “top lock icon”, should unlock locked layers or lock all layers.

The current PSD (or any layered file) importer only allows importing the entire document, or selecting a single layer from the document to import. For those of us that work with regularly updated PSDs that have many new layers added, this can be very cumbersome. My suggestion is to modify the PSD import function with the ability to check off boxes for layers to import, allowing the user to import a specific set of layers in one step.  

It would be great if the asset thumbnail in the top left corner of the Project Window would be scalable, or even better draggable to any custom location and size. It's quite impossible to make out any detailed visual information from the tiny image.Below is an example of me going through a set of hundreds of generically titled images from a photo shoot, trying to find the best expressions and poses for the job:

要望過去バージョンの After Effects に対して、長期的にアクセス・利用できる仕組みを設けてほしいです。具体的な実装は LTS版のリリース、Creative Cloud デスクトップアプリでの旧バージョン提供期間の延長、特定バージョンの長期サポート指定など、Adobeのご判断にお任せします。重要なのは「ユーザーが過去バージョンを必要なときに使い続けられる」という結果が担保されることです。なぜ必要かAfter Effects の本当の強みは、アプリ単体の機能ではなく、長年積み上がってきた学習リソース・教材・プラグイン資産・制作フローの厚みにあると思います。しかし過去バージョンへのアクセスが時間とともに失われる現状では、この資産が定期的にリセットされてしまいます。実害が出ているシーンは以下の通りです。学習者:書籍・チュートリアルを見ても画面が違って詰む。学習コストが上がる 制作現場:数年前のクライアント案件を、当時のバージョンで再現できない チーム制作:メンバー間のバージョンを揃えにくく、ファイルの相互運用に支障が出る 教育機関:授業資料・教材を毎年作り直す必要があり、運用コストが膨らむ「最新版を使えばいい」への補足最新版の進化を止めてほしいという話ではありません。新機能の恩恵は受けています。最新版の進化と、過去バージョンへのアクセスは両立できるはずです。CS6永続ライセンスや、過去のCCデスクトップアプリでの旧バージョンインストール機能のように、Adobe自身が以前は実現していたものでもあります。業界標準であるからこそ、過去の蓄積を継承できる設計を、改めてお願いしたいです。 RequestPlease provide a mechanism for long-term access to past versions of After Effects. The specific implementation — an LTS release, an extended availability window for older versions in the Creative Cloud desktop app, or designating specific versions for long-term support — is up to Adobe. Wh

The Problem:Currently, the Align Panel only works for Top-Level Layers. If I have a single Shape Layer containing multiple shapes (e.g., a "Small Square" and a "Large Square"), I cannot use the Align tools to center the small square perfectly inside the large one.To do this now, I have to manually math out the "Offset" values or use "Group" transforms, which is slow and imprecise. This is a major bottleneck when building complex UI mockups or geometric visualizations within a single layer. The Requested Feature: Align Panel Support for Shapes: When double-clicking into a Shape Layer, the Align Panel should allow me to align selected "Rectangles" or "Paths" relative to each other or the Layer's bounding box. CSS-style Expression Methods: Provide a simple way to align shapes via code. Similar to how we use Flexbox or Grid in CSS, we should be able to write expressions like: content("Rect 1").align("center", "middle", "Rect 2"); content("Rect 1").position = align("left", "top");

In after Effects, it is easy to drag a layer in time. For compositing, this can give problems, when it happens accidentally. Please make a ‘smpte’ lock - that keeps Layers on their time whatever happens. The current layer lock locks all modifications - that is not suitable to prevent time change, while working on color and effects.

The Problem:Currently, there is no way to link only specific character properties (like Font Face) between text layers without using complex expressions that overwrite everything else (Size, Color, Tracking).When creating technical animations or "edutainment" content with many text layers, I often want all layers to share the same Font, but I need them to have different Sizes or Colors for visual hierarchy. Right now, using the .style expression is "all or nothing"—it forces every layer to look identical, or requires me to manually hard-code overrides for every single layer, which is a massive time-waster. The Requested Feature:I would like to see a "Pickwhip" or a dropdown menu in the Character Panel or Text Properties that allows us to: Link Font Face only: Change the font on a "Master" layer and have all "Child" layers update their font while keeping their unique sizes. Individual Property Access: Be able to use an expression like text.sourceText.style.font or text.sourceText.styl

I’m looking at leveraging existing UI but with js libraries that allow for output to Web as native js files or rendered in AE if raster output is required.  TeamAE would provide a few Script UIs to create assets as well as leverage on existing infrastructure such as Shapes and Text Layers.  This feature should also be foundational to developing more features such as direct output to Lottie and Rive and even OGraf if it manages to achieve traction. A Web-based app with ability to download the project file will be a bonus.  OH! Before I forget, since Maxon has released Autograph, may we know the dates for the following -  i - Adobe adding Substance 3D Apps as a free add-on to the AE subscription ii - TeamAe announcing improved 3D rendering features such as improved speed, ray-tracing and reflections etc  ;-)  

Scrollable Comp Panel for Canvas Feature is a feature that allows an AE Comp Viewer to be used as a Visual Placeholder for other comps and assets. This will allow users to use a Canvas Composition to -- create visual storyboards- place multiple output sized comps into a single Canvas Composition for checking- create a visual canvas for the different levels of a MoGraph Design SystemDoes not require realtime playback BUT will be good to be able to marquee select an area using Region of Interest to define a preview area.Structurally, Canvas Compositions can be thought off as a Page-based System that allows the user to navigate from one Canvas Composition to another using a Page-Number or Name with visual links to Compositions and Assets and even Group of Layers within a Composition.And add support for breakpoints so the user can easily go from/to vertical to/from horizontal views. 

Insert keyframes based on audio analysis, for example:1) Dialogue (based on specific words, inserting an animation keyframe when the word "hello" is spoken).This way, we can zoom in on the image when the word "hello" is spoken.2) Select a piece of music, analyze it, and specify that keyframes should be placed on that bass drum or kick. The analysis is based on the selected region, as in iZotope RX 11.

Reference frames return from Photoshop with a wrong color profile assigned. Have to be assigned manually over and over. Please make the Adobe apps communicate efficiently.

Feature Request: Keyboard Shortcuts for Graph Editor Fit CommandsSummary Please make the Graph Editor's "Fit all graphs to view" and "Fit selection to view" buttons assignable as keyboard shortcuts in Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. Both functions already exist as buttons at the bottom of the Graph Editor, but neither can be bound to a key, and there is no scripting equivalent via ExtendScript.Requested change Expose both existing commands in the keyboard shortcuts editor so users can assign keys to them:Fit all graphs to view Fit selection to viewWhy this matters / use case When fine-tuning curves, I frequently disable Auto-Zoom Graph Height so I can zoom into specific regions of an F-curve. With Auto-Zoom off, the only way to reframe the view is to reach for the mouse and click the small buttons at the bottom of the panel — which breaks flow during detail work where the rest of the interaction (selecting keyframes, adjusting handles, nudging values) is already keyboard-driven. Shortcut

Users of Blender will feel right at home.While changing something it's common to feel like this action is unnecessary. So after it's done all of us just use ctrl+z.But there is a great alternative that saves time: while changing any value just press right mouse button and return to where you were.It can also be used when entering a number in any box or moving/rotating/scaling an object in the viewport. 

Illustrator has done it right.- dragging guides out of the rulers is easy- guides snap and show relations via smart guides- guides can be selected and moves via the keyboard & the position value can be easily adjusted in pixels- smart guides help when positioning and resizing layers- snapping helps to change the origin for the ruler- elements snap to guidesIts also an Abobe tool, so please copy this behaviour over. In comparison illustrator feels like a very old, outdated software, even though you obviously know how to do it right.Cheers

From what I’ve seen (and I’d be delighted to be proven wrong), since cloning and paint have to occur in the layer viewer, there is no way to actually see the composition while working on these things. (You can/have to open a second viewer and watch there, but that should not be considered an acceptable workaround.) These features should either be able to work on layers while still in the composition viewer, or there should be some way to view the entire composition while in the layer viewer. This is one of those “how-the-heck-haven’t-they-fixed-this-after-20-plus-years” things.

*feature request*Blackmagic announced support for drag and drop .af files into DaVinci Resolve, including access to individual layers via “Split Layers into Place” in Fusion. Much like the way Resolves supports .psd files. I’m receiving more and more affinity files. Would be good if Ae and Pr supported .af natively too. Now I need to open the .af in Affinity and use the save as psd option.