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We’re excited to announce a new feature in After Effects: you can now Alt/Option-drag layers in the Composition panel to instantly duplicate them. This works in both 2D and 3D compositions and is a first step toward the broader “Alt/Option duplicate all the things” workflow the community has requested. With this update, we’ve also addressed the overlap between Alt/Option-drag for duplicating layers and its previous uses: In 3D compositions, Alt/Option-drag can either duplicate layers or activate camera navigation tools. You can choose your preferred behavior in Preferences, and a one-time dialog will help you set this up the first time you use it. Alt/Option-drag previously activated wireframe mode to prevent rendering while held. Releasing Alt/Option now renders the newly duplicated layers. Note: This feature currently only supports duplicating layers. We know many of you want to duplicate keyframes and other elements as well, and this is just the beginning.   We’d love your fe

Hello, i'm having this same issue: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-beta-discussions/rotobrush-2-selection-expansion-issue/td-p/11641878 only, literally nothing will fix it. i've used rotobrush many times for years, on this same laptop/version of ae (completely updated)  and I have never had this issue before. it has always worked fine until now. im using the same settings on my footage that I always do. I tried everything suggested in the linked discussion, and nothing has fixed it so far. this happens when i try both rotobrush 2.0 and 3.0, and im not interested in using 1.0... any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,   We're happy to announce that starting in Beta build 24.0x25, we have added 7 new scripting hooks related to variable fonts. You can see the full list here and their respective documentation: https://ae-scripting.docsforadobe.dev/introduction/changelog.html. Please remember that these scripting hooks are currently in Beta and are subject to change.   We've also created a demo script panel that exercises these new hooks to inspect installed variable font axes and apply animation controls to create dynamic variable font animations: https://github.com/AdobeDocs/after-effects/blob/main/samples/InspectVariableFonts_ApplyControls_ScriptUISample.jsx     The script is also attached to this post, but you must rename the file's extension from .jsx.txt to .jsx to run it inside AE.We're excited to see what you'll be able to do with these new variable fonts hooks and to hear any feedback you may have!

Dear Adobe TeamI recently switched my licensing to AcademicSoftware through my education, and since then I’ve unfortunately lost access to the beta versions of your applications. Previously, I was able to use the betas for InDesign, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, After Effects, and others. But with my new license/account/profile, all beta access has been removed.As I am working on an ARM-based laptop, having access to these betas is especially important for me.Would it be possible to restore my beta access under my new license? Please note that under this forum account, I have 2 profiles linked, one of which has access to beta (inactive license) and one that does not (active license, needs beta access.).Thank you very much for your time and support. I greatly appreciate it. Warm regardsMaurits

Here... what is this? 

I am trying to locate the beta version to download for use and it is not appearing in my creative cloud like it use to. Is this broken? I need the beta version so I can import 3D objects into a scene for a video. 

Hi develop team, It looks like the new Advance 3D renderer is built on USD/Hydra. Could we create a custom Hydra render delegate (an HdRendererPlugin) and have After Effects discover and use it via AE’s USD integration? If so, this could be a genuine game‑changer for compositing workflows and pipeline flexibility. If realized, this approach could enable Redshift or Cycles to run natively within After Effects; please consider including this as a roadmap item.

Whenever I save the After Effects Mp4 file from Media Encoder to my desktop, the file is not visible. I have attached a video of the same. Please help. 

We're excited to introduce Smooth Zoom in After Effects (Beta) version 25.2.0.113, a major improvement to zooming in After Effects that allows for precise, fluid magnification in the Composition, Layer, and Footage panels.     What’s New? Since the earliest versions of After Effects, zooming was limited to fixed magnification levels (33.33%, 50%, 100%, 200%, etc). That’s no longer the case! With Smooth Zoom, you can now adjust magnification to any valid value with decimal-point precision using a new hot text control in the viewer. All zooming tools in After Effects have been upgraded to incorporate this new capability: Precise hot text Magnification control directly in the viewer. Scroll wheel zooming with smoother, more precise adjustments. Redesigned Zoom Tool behavior for a more intuitive experience.   Additional EnhancementsYou can find new settings under Preferences -> Previews -> Magnification : Type: Choose between Smooth and Legacy. Behavior: Follow Cur

Hello everyone, With After Effects (Beta) build 24.3.0.20 and later, there are now several new scripting attributes available for Box Text layers. These new attributes—listed below—control how and where your text is arranged and aligned inside of its box, and are not currently available in the UI.We need your feedback on how these new options might be put to use in your projects and where you would expect them to be found in the interface of After Effects. For those of you familiar with Illustrator, most of these new attributes are equivalent to the Offset and Align options found in the Area Type Options dialog.The new attributes for Box Text are: Vertical Alignment — The existing default value is always Top, but in Beta, you can now use TextDocument.boxVerticalAlignment to set the alignment to Center, Bottom, or Justify. Justify will equally space out the lines in the vertical space of the text box. First Baseline — This controls the distance between the top of the text box and the b

Exciting news for After Effects users! Say goodbye to RAM limitations and hello to smoother, longer playback!    We are thrilled to announce that Improved Caching for Longer Playback is now available for After Effects Beta users beginning in version 25.2.0.079. Gone are the days where you need to buff up your system with massive amounts of RAM to preview your comp. This exciting update transforms how playback works in After Effects, moving beyond the constraints of RAM Preview to a more efficient disk-based system.    What’s New  Improved Caching for Longer Playback enables you to render and play back your entire composition without being constrained by RAM allocation. By utilizing the disk cache more efficiently, After Effects can now:  Deliver longer playback durations  Improve performance especially on systems with lower specifications    Why Does it Matter to You  Previously, After Effects would stop rendering when memory was ex

Is there any way, after I've set a text layer to be Paragraph Text and changed the size/shape of the text box, to then reset the text box back to its default size/shape/position? I know (found this today: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-beta-discussions/new-text-box-options-available-in-scripting/m-p/14409110) it's possible to set some of these things via scripting, but I'm just after a simple way to do what I sometimes have to do:Convert a paragraph-text-layer back to point textDelete any returns that have been addedReset the transform of the layerConvert it back to Paragraph Text...which effectively resets the text box's parameters. If this isn't a thing, could it be implemented please? A simple right-click of the text layer and "Reset Bounding Box" option next to "Covnert to Point Text" would be nice. And expressionable access to the text box's parameters would also be nice. As would variable fonts!

I can choose the New Masking option in After Effects.But can not find the tools.The section new in this beta mentions the feature for Premiere Pro. Has anyone found it in After Effects?

v 25.6.0.036, released on August 19th, for Adobe After Effects (Beta) will not update after repeated attempts over many days. I've been able to update every other Adobe software. I also updated my PC.  I can start the process and it says "Updating" all the way up to 99% before resetting to the status seen in the screenshot attached.

Hello, I had installed beta version of AE 25.6.0 Build 36 via Creative Cloud, however not even able to launch it. Attaching images here  

After Effects (Beta) v25.6.0.036 (2025-08-18) update bug AE starts updateing, and when everything done successfully 100%, after a few seconds the same update shows up. I experience it on two completely different computers, on Win10 and on MacOS 15.6.1 the very same, so this is independent of computer and/or OS! 

Hi everyone, We are very pleased to announce the addition of a new preference for maintaining your current workspace when opening projects, available in After Effects (Beta) 25.2.0.88. With this new preference enabled, your workspace will no longer be changed when opening a project that was saved with a different workspace.     You'll find this new preference in the General section of the Preferences dialog: What we would love to hear from you Will this be useful in your workflow? When might this not be useful in your workflow? Would you consider this a "set and forget" preference or something you would toggle often? Would you want this preference to be enabled by default?   And, of course, any other feedback you might have is hugely appreciated. Please let us know how this new preference is working for you in the Beta builds!   Thanks again for your feedback.

A performance question:If I have two comps I'm in a hurry to render, is it generally quicker to send one to Media Encoder, and render the other directly in AE simultaneously, or wait for one to finish then start the other? I'm sure the answer would be "it depends", but is there a general guidance? Does AME and AE share the same background task when rendering, and just divvy up its performance between the two apps, or is it more efficient than that? If I have plenty of RAM (128GB), 16 cores on my 4.6GHz processor and 24GB VRAM, does AE+AME use these efficiently(ish) when both rendering? Like many other users, I'm often frustrated when I send something to render, and see that AE or AME is only using a small fraction of my PC's capabilities, so it stands to reason that if I set more than one thing rendering, AE could use 10% of my CPU while AME also used 10% (and I'd still have 80% left over for writing this long post! With AE+AME currently rendering, my CPU usage is around 21%, RAM

A new option for pasting text from one text layer to another text layer is now available in AE Beta 25.2.0.117.   The Paste Text and Match Formatting menu option, available under the Edit menu as well as in the right-click menu when editing a text layer, will paste the copied text into a text layer using the font and style as set in the destination text layer. The existing Paste option will continue to paste text using the copied font and style.   From the Edit menu, choose Paste Text and Match Formatting when editing a text layer.   Right-Click in a text layer while editing and choose Paste Text and Match Formatting.   Please try it out and let us know how it works for you.

Hi everyone, We're excited to announce a new feature in After Effects Beta version 25.4x44 that makes it easier to learn about effects!   With this new update, we've added an information icon next to supported effects in the Effects & Presets panel. Simply click this icon to access information about the effect.     This information will open in your default web browser, making it easy to reference while you work. Our goal is to streamline your workflow by providing quick access to effect information that was previously hidden within the app or required online searching.   Please give this feature a try and let us know what you think. We're looking forward to your feedback!Edit: Aug 19, 2025 — Effect Info Buttons is now officially released in After Effects 25.4

Hello,Can you make the Layer Control effect animatable? I'd like to be able to reference different layers over time in an expression. Since this effect isn't currently animatable, I'm using the Dropdown Menu Control effect using a script to pull all the layers into the list. This is quite laborious, all because there's no stop watch on the effect.Thanks.

If  you routinely work with lots of 3D layers, we’re proud to announce a new feature in AE Beta 25.4.062 that is designed to simplify and speed up your workflows.   In case you haven’t heard the term before, the “gizmo” is the widget that appears on a 3D layer and allows you to move, scale and rotate the element.   THE PROBLEM If you have a large number of 3D layers, and you need to select them all, you may have encountered something like this:     OUR SOLUTION We decided to solve this by only displaying a single gizmo when multiple layers are selected. This reduces visual clutter, and greatly speeds up the UI when working in 3D.     SOME DETAILS The gizmo is displayed on the last selected layer. So if you use a keyboard shortcut for select all, the bottom item in the timeline will feature the gizmo.   If you want to override the layer that displays the gizmo, it’s as simple as deselecting and reselecting the desired target layer. In the comp

Hello i was trying to edit some stuffs and suddenly it crashed. idk how to fix it

Using the AE Beta version on a trial basis. Attempting to go from Pr to Ae in order to remove unwanted copy machine from a video. I rotbrushed the copy machine when on a subsequent pass the freeze button no longer appears. It also repeatedly propagates frames over and over again. Each time the number of frames seems to vary, for example; 2-26, then 1-56, then 2-24 and never seems to stop. I shut down and went to sleep. The next morning the same thing occurs, so re-booting did not help. Thank you for any help you can give   ...   Sam

Greetings After Effects Beta users — Paul here from the AE Quality Engineering Team.We have a bit of a mystery with AE that I'm hoping to get some insight around.Within our crash reporting system we see a significant number of force quits occuring in AE during or just after launch. For most of these, we do not see anything having occurred previously that would have required the user to force quit. We don't see a hang or any error having happend. Everything looks fine.We are concerned there is a problem or failure that we're missing here.Now, a question and a request:1. How frequently are you force-quitting (Mac) / terminating (Win) AE during or just after startup for reasons other than a hang or other problem occuring with AE. Could be for any reason other than something wrong with AE that required you to force-quit it2. If you do encounter an issue requiring a force quit or termination, could you please make a short reply to this post indicating what happned with AE that made it neces