GREAT AFTER EFFECTS TOOLS

Time to Open Up that Piggy Bank

PUT AFTER EFFECTS INTO OVERDRIVE

You’ve bought the software, now it’s time to add in some accessories. Here are a few tools we use all the time

in our Motion Graphics workflow.

DUIK

Price: FREE

DUIK is a crowdfunded animation tool that has made character animation in After Effects 1000x better. DUIK is a rigging and

IK tool in After Effects that can save users dozens of hours on each animation project. If you think that you may want to go into

Character Animation do yourself a favor and download DUIK.

ELEMENT 3D

Price: $199

Element 3D might literally be magic. In a nutshell Element 3D allows users to import, model, texture, and stylize basic 3D objects

in After Effects. You don’t have to know Cinema 4D at all. It is the fastest way to get 3D text and shapes into your project in After

Effects. But remember! Element 3D isn’t an alternative to learning Cinema 4D, it’s simply a tool that you can use if you’re in a rush.
 GREAT AFTER EFFECTS TOOLS
Time to Open Up that Piggy Bank

EXPLODE SHAPE LAYERS

Price: $30

Explode Shape Layers isn’t quite as epic as the name implies, but it is super helpful if you work with a lot of shape layers in After

Effects. Essentially the tool can take a complex shape layer and break each part up into individual layers. It may seem like a

strange feature, but if you work with a lot of Illustrator files it can be a real life-saver.

MOTIONPULSE

Price: $149

Sound has the power to cut right to the emotions of your audience. It’s just so unfortunate that most free sound effects sound like

they were recorded on a Dora-the-Explorer karaoke machine. So if you want good sound effects you’re going to have to pay for

them. Luckily for us VideoCopilot has commissioned professional SFX artists to create a comprehensive pack called MotionPulse.

These SFX can lean a little more towards VFX over MoGraph, but they are still super useful.
 GREAT AFTER EFFECTS TOOLS
Time to Open Up that Piggy Bank

FLOW

Price: $30

We can’t overstate the importance of easing keyframes. It really is the best way to get smooth, organic movements. But if you’ve

used the Graph Editor a lot than you probably know that easing keyframes can take a while. So instead of easing your keyframes

by hand, there’s an awesome tool called Flow that allows users to quickly smooth out their keyframes with only a couple mouse

clicks. It’s a life saver.

RAY DYNAMIC TEXTURE

Price: $40

Textures are an essential tool for any Motion Designer. Just look at a few of your favorite MoGraph pieces and you’ll probably find

dozens if not hundreds of textures. Textures are cool, but texturing can take a lot of time. So instead we recommend using Ray

Dynamic Texture to quickly apply textures to your layers in After Effects. Textures can be still images or a looping GIF sequence.
 GREAT AFTER EFFECTS TOOLS
Time to Open Up that Piggy Bank

OPTICAL FLARES

Price: $124

Lens flares are definitely overused in modern cinema, but you will still need to use them from time-to-time. The best option for

adding in lens flares to your projects is Optical Flares. The plugin from VideoCopilot is basically industry standard at this point

and used in Hollywood films all the time. And since the built-in flares in After Effects look amateurish, you really don’t have any

other choice.

GIF GUN

Price: $30

As a Motion Designer you’re going to create a lot of GIFs. Unfortunately you can’t directly export GIFs in After Effects. We’re just

as sad as you... So instead of exporting video and converting in Photoshop, we recommend using GIFGun. It’s a powerful tool that

directly saves GIFs from After Effects in literally 2 mouse clicks. It’s amazing and definitely worth the price.
 GREAT AFTER EFFECTS TOOLS
Time to Open Up that Piggy Bank

RAY DYNAMIC COLOR

Price: $30

If you don’t use color palettes on your MoGraph projects go ahead and slap yourself on the wrist. Did that hurt? Well it should…

Having a good color palette is an essential part of the Motion Graphics workflow. Cohesive colors can dramatically change the

way in which an audience perceives your project. Practically speaking, colors can be kinda tricky to work with in After Effects,

but with Ray Dynamic Color users have the ability to quickly apply and link color pallets to layers in the timeline. If you want to

change a color in the future just adjust one of the swatches and all of the corresponding layers will be changed in the timeline.

EXPRESSIONIST

Price: $40

There comes a time in every young Motion Designer’s life when they decide to venture out into the world of expressions.

Expressions are basically small snippets of code that are used to perform utility tasks in After Effects. Over time you’ll begin to see

the potential use for expressions, but for now just know that when you decide to jump into the world of expressions Expressionist is

a helpful tool to use. It’s the best tool for organizing, troubleshooting, and testing your expressions and scripts.