Once added, an effect’s in and out times can be controlled by clicking open the effect’s submenu. These are fairly self-explanatory – In is for a transition at the beginning of a clip, Out is for a transitions at the end of a clip, and Effects are for effects handling part or all of a clip. There is an area for In Transitions, Out Transitions and Effects. In the top-right-hand corner is a small animation showing what each individual effect will look like. Effects are added in via drag-and-drop from the menus on the left. There are three different areas in which to drop presets. On the right is the area to drop your effects onto – instead of dropping them directly onto the selected clip in the timeline. For example, under Effects – 2D Layer Transformations there are submenus for Blur & Warp, Position & Rotate & Scale, Position & Scale, Position, Rotate, and Warp. Effects are divided into 2D Layer Transformations, and 2D Text Motion. Transitions are divided into three submenus: 2D Layer Transformations, 2D Text, or 3D Layer Transformations. On the left area are your transitions and effects, while on the left side are two tabs – one for effects, the other transitions.
Clicking it under the Window menu opens a new window on the screen. Animation Composer doesn’t show up in the Effects panel of After Effects, rather it can be found in its own window, which is located under the Window menu. I downloaded Animation Composer, installed it, and opened it up in Adobe After Effects. That’s why I get excited when a new plugin comes my way.
They let the animator speed up the time it takes to build an effect without having to re-invent the wheel every time. When it comes to Adobe After Effects, plugins are a huge help. Is it worth your time? Let’s take a look. Animation Composer from developer Mister Horse is an add-on for Adobe After Effects.