Feature Requests

Conclusion: ExtendScript needs an update, and Adobe should officially publish its type definitions. Why has ExtendScript not been updated?Right now, ExtendScript is still based on ES3, an extremely outdated JavaScript standard. Expressions, on the other hand, have been properly modernized and now support ES2020-level syntax. If Expressions can be updated, shouldn’t ExtendScript be modernized as well?Yes, updating ExtendScript may break backward compatibility and cause some existing scripts to stop working. However, ExtendScript also contains many long-standing bugs—such as issues with the conditional operator—that would be better off fixed even if it means some adjustments for script authors. In addition, why does Adobe still not publish official type information for ExtendScript (such as .d.ts files)?The community is collecting type information through steady efforts, but there is still a lot of missing type information.Types-for-Adobehttps://github.com/docsforadobe/Types-fo

You know how awesome Compound Blur is? I want that power everywhere.   That is, it would be extremely powerful to be able to switch a parameter to be "driven by" another layer.   You would set your minimum and maximum values and pick the layer it's pointed to. Just like how Compound Blur blurs more or less depending on the luminance, this would drive whatever the parameter was by the luminance of the referenced layer. (You could also include the ability to posterize it and soften it.) Oh, and the min and max values would be keyframeable too, of course.   Some use cases: Drive the complexity of a Fractal Noise layer by a depth map. So you have big fog up close and denser, more complex fog the further away it is. Some very cool, stylized effects by driving the size of the Venetian Blinds effect by footage. The size/density of CC Ball Action balls Mosiac sizes Glow size and intensity being driven by a different layer would be neat Stylized directional blurs where the blur

Most freelancers (most artists really) rarely check or change color space settings when exporting their renders.  Especially in a crunch when they have to quickly open somebody else's  file, make a small change and render.  This is particularly problematic when a project is in ACES.   This small check box in the project settings would eliminate that issue.  They might not even realize the project is in ACES and it wouldn't matter.  This small checkbox (see attached) would be very much appreciated.     

How about instead of making everything worse every year and breaking things for no reason, the Devs spend their time fixing the countless bugs and we can get back to doing our jobs without janky tools? Just a thought 

Something I find myself wishing for more and more is the ability to import compositions from other AE projects as components.   For example, I have a selection of end card animations that need to be adjustable for localisation, but also need to be kept consistent across multiple projects. When I make a change to the end card, that needs to be reflected in each of these projects.   I'd love to be able to have a single 'Endcards.aep' project and be able to import comps from that – then, when I place them into another composition, they would act as pre-comps with any essential properties exposed. The only difference is that they would not be openable or editable.   Later, if I make a change in 'Endcards.aep', and then re-open my other projects that refer to this, the end card comps would be automatically updated (in the way that other footage files are automatically updated).   Essentially – Mogrts inside After Effects. This would allow component libraries that are alw

i love the Layer Styles panel in photoshop , and i use the same effects in after effects in most projects . i just wish there was a bit more in depth options on some of the effects ; bevel and emboss contour options , gloss contour , etc . 

It would be extremely helpful to have a dropdown in the Pre-compose dialog that lets you assign a label colour to the new precomp as you create it.  

When versioning up a precomp the current workflow is something like this. 1 - Find precomp in project (right click -> reveal in project) 2 - Duplicate precomp3 - Alt drag precomp back on top of layer to replace. Sometimes (too often) I'll duplicate a pre-comp and then forget to replace it. Also this is a lot of clicks when it would be great to have a context menu option that was esentially "duplicate and replace with new copy / version" Proposed feature "Replace with New Copy Shortcut": 1 -  click on comp in timeline 2 - cmd+alt+shift+D - comp is replaced with a new copy -- unlinking it from wherever else it was used. 3. profit  This would eliminante some annoying mistakes and also speed up a common task.  While we are at it can we make "true comp duplicator" a feature of the app instead of a script I always have to install. 

Could we have an updated version of Content-Aware Fill, please?The new one would utilize more than one reference frame. It would also be more precise even at the cost of calculation speed.The current version is rarely useful due to poor content generation.Thanks.

It's a minor thing, but often I have longer filenames and have been using comments to keep track of some things as well. However, if the text is too long, the source / file name gets an ellipsis at some point in the middle of the text, and comments are simply truncated (and sometimes it is not even obvious that this is happening). Making the columns wider helps, but then takes up valuable screen real estate.  Would be great to show a tooltip with the full text when the mouse hovers over these. It honestly is a feature that seems standard in many UIs, and I was expecting one to appear initially when I first started messing with After Effects. (I had initially posted this to the beta forum but this seems like a better place for it!)

hican you guys add Film Impact Transitions and effects to After effectswhen i do Dynamic link from Premier i want to use them but theres not much in after effect( its like what Boris FX did with there transitions they come as effects in AE)

It’d be amazing if After Effects could save my workspaces to my Adobe account. I’ve spent years perfecting my panel layout and custom script UIs and every time I change computers or reinstall AE, I have to rebuild everything from scratch. Ideally, my workspace would live in my Creative Cloud profile, so when I log in on a new machine, everything’s back exactly how I left it. Panels, extensions, scripts, all in place. Bonus idea: if AE detects that a panel or script UI used in my workspace isn’t installed yet, it could just notify me instead of leaving an empty space. That’d save a ton of time and confusion.In short:Save/sync workspaces in the cloudRestore automatically when signing inAlert me if a panel or script is missing This would make switching machines or reinstalling After Effects so much smoother like how keyboard shortcuts or prefs used to sync.

I wrote an expression that gets After Effects on its knees directly after opening or importing the project. It would be great when Safe Mode had an option to disable expressions, so the user can correct or remove the culprits.

Desarrollar un botón,  similar a la opción de capa tímida, que defina un rango de capas sobre las cuales haya un desplazamiento vertical específico, es decir: Por ejemplo: Tengo un proyecto con 50 capas de las cuales requiero un desplazamiento constante entre un grupo continuo de 20 de ellas para la selección de fotogramas clave o definición de otras propiedades. Entonces arrastro desde la primera capa hasta la ultima con clic sostenido y la selección de capas se sigue hasta más allá de la última capa deseada. Con este botón pued oponer el rango de que al hacer este tipo de movimientos ocurra entre las 20 capas que necesito. ¿Por qué es útil? 1.- Porque no siempre se desea precomponer un grupo de capas que se seguiran modificando en una composición principal.  2.- Porque La tecla shift funciona para la selección de capas pero no para la selección de los fotogramas en sus propiedades, mucho menos cuando se requiere seleccionar múltiples propiedades como esc

Right now in After Effects, if you select a bunch of comps in the render queue and try to change their output path, only the first one updates and the rest keep their previous paths. It’d make way more sense if selecting multiple items in the render queue and setting a new output path applied to all of them. My current workaround is clunky: I set a path for the first comp, then go back to the project panel, select the rest, and add them again so they inherit the new path. But that shouldn’t be necessary. This would save a ton of time when batch rendering. Especially for people exporting dozens of comps at once.

Many of use use expressions all the time, but the tools for writing those still feel like a beta version. The CTI overlaps the expression, the expression is contained in the timeline, which can cause confusing situations, errors are not positioned in the right location etc.How great would it be to edit expressions in a separate panel, with a and modern clear UI?

A long time wish: The Fill effect becomes much more versatile, when it could blend with the layer it is applied to. In the current version, it replaces the layer content completely. The effects Opacity setting acts as layer Opacity rather than the effect's Opacity.

Hello.Thank you for considering this suggestion.When working with character animations inside After Effects, it often happens that some motion paths overlap each other (for example when a character swings its arms or moves its hand).The very serious issue is that After Effects does not provide a way to handle the keyframes themselves precisely.Most of the times, when I select a keyframe in the viewport, After Effects selects an other one close by,  making ajusting keyframes that are in very close proximity borderline impossible.Even worse, when I try to adjust a bezier handle, it never gets the right one, and selecting each keyframe to adjust in the timeline doesn't help either.I'm basically asking for a revision of this system, as it makes character animations inside After Effects needlessly sloppy and frustrating.One solution would be to enable a toggle to only display the currently selected keyframe, or alongside it's previous and next ones.I provided an example of what I'm tal

Pwease and Thank You.

It's become so tedious constantly centering the anchor point. (which there is no easy way to do without a 3rd party tool anyways). I'd love an option or mode to keep it centered regardless of the various tunes that are made to the text layer. 

When creating series of graphics, it is nice to check the number of e.g. created Comps. It would be nice if After Effects shows the number of selected items in the upper left of the  project panel.

I wish I could pause or deactive a set of keyframes. That way, I don't need to delete them, if I decide I want to use the effect at a later point.Anybody know of a plugin that lets you do this?

I wish we could copy/paste media between projects without them being offline or shown as missing assets. This would be a huge time saver. 

I'd love to have a stop watch next to the material drop down menu for linking materials over multiple meshes.Thank you 🙂

I'm not sure whether there's a work around for this but it's something After Effects hasn't always done. At somepoint over the last year or two the Project window has taken to 'jumping' position, vertically, once the name of a sequence, layer or general asset has been re-named. Or when a new folder or sequence has been created. When working with a large project, with a lot of assets, this can cause a lot of frustration and slow the process down considerably as I try and re-find the area of the folder structure I was working in. Not sure whether it's just my system, or whether there's a solution, but I would love it if it justr stayed where it was.