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FJ2000
Participant
April 3, 2026
Question

GLB import in After Effects: shape key animation not playing

  • April 3, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 10 views

I’m running into an issue importing a GLB file into After Effects and would appreciate any guidance.

Setup:

  • Blender 5.0 (exporting GLB / glTF)
  • After Effects 26 (importing GLB)
  • Character animation includes:
    • Armature (bone-based body animation)
    • Shape keys (eye blinking on head mesh)

What works:

  • The GLB imports into After Effects
  • The armature animation plays correctly
  • If I export multiple actions, AE detects multiple animation clips

Problem:

  • When exporting a single combined animation, After Effects shows only one animation (as expected), but:
    • The shape key animation (blinking) does not play at all
  • In Blender, the animation plays correctly (body + blinking together)

Export settings (Blender):

  • GLB format
  • Animation: ON
  • NLA Strips: OFF
  • All Actions: OFF
  • Shape Keys: ON
  • Always Sample Animations: ON
  • Force Sampling: ON

Question:
Does After Effects currently support shape key / morph target animation in GLB files?

Or is it limited to armature-based animation only?

If shape keys are supported: Is there a specific export or baking workflow required to make them work?

 

    1 reply

    Kevin J. Monahan Jr.
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    April 3, 2026

     

    Hi FJ2000,

    I looked into your issue and it appears that you came upon a response from the team stating that the animation type you are using is not supported in After Effects. Sorry about that. I’ll let the team know about your issue and will support any feature request made for shape key animation support.

     

    Appreciate your post and sorry for the frustration.

     

    Thanks,
    Kevin

    Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio