Any software comes with the availability to enhance some functionality through the use of plugins. After Effects is one such software that has no shortage of helpful plugins. Some of these plugins are really fancy. Some will enhance mundane tasks to make them work really well. Here’s a list of the top free plugins. Some have a “pay what you want” option, so consider buying a coffee for the independent developer.
10. AE Juice Gif
Starting off our prestigious list is a plugin called AE Juice Gif. After Effects doesn’t give you the option to export as a gif by default. AE Juice Gif is a plugin that allows you to render a gif of your comp in 1 click. AE Juice also offers a bunch of other free plugins that are just as handy, and even handier paid plugins to elevate your motion design.
9. ButtCapper
Strokes can be a pain to deal with. Selecting a layer and twirling until you get to the stroke options can get very tedious very quickly. Using the ButtCapper plugin lets you control and edit caps and any selected paths, layers, and strokes in a comp easily and fluidly.
8. Displacer Pro
Displacer Pro is a free upgraded version of the traditional displacement map. This one’s incredibly useful if you’re into data moshing. This allows you to displace using translation, rotation, and scale.
7. Bendy Nulls
Bendy Nulls is a free script that incorporates a dock-able panel that will allow you to apply a global ‘Bend’ effect to a selected layer. The trick is that it generates two nulls that are parented to your layer, so you can move the layer around and maintain the Bend effect.
6. Reposition Anchor Point.
Reposition Anchor Point is a quicker, better way to reposition the anchor point(s) of the selected layer(s), while keeping the layers in the same position in the comp. This works with the click of a button, the put the anchor point in the top-left, bottom-right, center, etc. of your layer, rather than clicking and dragging to get the same effect.
5. Hylian
Hylian is a plugin that features just a single button that duplicates your comp and everything in it.
4. Saber; by VideoCopilot
This is one of the plugins you’ve probably seen somewhere without knowing what it was. Saber’s great for energy beams, lasers, portals, neon lights, anything bright and flashy. The effect is incredibly high quality and realistic, and comes with all of the options you need to distort and edit your lights to get them perfect. It also comes with over 50 presets so you can just jump right in.
3. Duik Bassel 2
Duik Bassel 2 is a character rigging plugin. It’s incredibly comprehensive and contains any tool you need. For how much you can do with this, it’s a wonder how it’s available for free. Any of the primary rigging tools is included, like IK, controllers, and bones. There’s also other traditional animation tools available, like wiggle, spring, swing and wheel.
2. FX Console
Another one from Video Copilot, FX Console is a must have for anyone who uses After Effects on the daily. It is essentially a search bar for effects. This is one that has tremendously improved my workflow immediately after downloading. Just hit ctrl + space bar and the console will open up a dialogue box for you to type the desired effect.
1. Ease Copy
Ease Copy is a tool for those who like to manually get your hands on those easy ease points in the graph editor. This allows you to copy your easing graph and paste it to other layers with a simple click or two. The UI is super simple and intuitive. The panel is also very small and compact, so you can just leave it docked to the side, since you’ll be clicking the buttons pretty often.
And there’s the end of our list, the top 10 free plugins for After Effects are waiting for you to download them. If you’re interested in reading more articles, check out the newest Photoshop features, or the best free fonts for your next project.