Flow for After Effects
Version 1.5.1 · aescripts + aeplugins · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #155 in the library
An easing panel that replaces the graph editor for the ninety percent of cases where you just want the motion to feel right, applying a curve to a whole selection of keyframes in one click and keeping your own curves in a library you can reuse forever.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
The graph editor in After Effects is powerful and awkward in equal measure. Getting a clean ease on a single property means switching editors, finding the right curve type, dragging two bezier handles that fight each other, and doing it again on the next property. Flow replaces that with a panel: pick your keyframes, click a curve, done. The curve is applied across every selected property and every selected layer at once, which is where the time actually goes on a real motion graphics job.
The curve editor itself is a single large graph with two handles and a live preview, and it stays readable at a glance in a way the built-in graph editor does not. You drag the shape you want, watch the preview ball run the timing, and save it into your library with a name. From then on that curve is one click away in every project. The panel ships with a well chosen set of standard easing curves already in the library, covering the usual quad, cubic, quart, expo, back, elastic and bounce families in their in, out and in-out variants.
It works on anything with keyframes: transform properties, effect parameters, masks, shape layer paths, text animator values, expression controls, camera and light properties, and puppet pins. It respects temporal and spatial interpolation separately, handles hold keyframes without breaking them, and can apply either to a whole keyframe pair or to a selected range across a longer animation. For anyone building templates or working to a house motion standard, having the studio's approved curves sitting in a shared library is worth more than any individual feature.
What it does
Feature breakdown
One click easing across a selection
Apply a curve to every selected keyframe pair, on every selected property, on every selected layer, in a single action rather than one property at a time.
Visual curve editor with live preview
A large readable graph with two handles and an animated preview so you can see the timing you are building rather than inferring it from the shape.
Saved curve library
Name and store your own curves and they are available in every project afterwards, with folders for organising a house style set.
Included standard easing set
The full quad, cubic, quart, quint, expo, sine, circ, back, elastic and bounce families in their in, out and in-out variants, ready to use.
Works on every keyframable property
Transforms, effect parameters, masks, shape paths, text animators, expression controls, cameras, lights and puppet pins are all handled.
Sharable presets for a team
Curve libraries are files, so a studio can distribute one approved set and every editor on the job produces motion that matches.
Changed in this build
Version 1.5.1
- Panel redraw performance improved on compositions with several hundred keyframes selected at once.
- Curve library gained folders and search, which matters once a personal library passes thirty entries.
- Fixed handling of hold keyframes so applying a curve no longer converts them to bezier.
- Preview ball timing now reflects the actual composition frame rate rather than a fixed rate.
- Compatibility updated for the current After Effects release and its scripting engine.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Close After Effects completely before you start. A running host will not pick up a new panel.
- Extract the archive.
- Allow script files to write files and access network in the After Effects scripting preferences, which the panel requires to save its library.
- Copy the panel file into the ScriptUI Panels folder inside the After Effects support files directory.
- Copy the included licence file alongside it in the same folder.
- Start After Effects and open the panel from the window menu, then dock it next to the timeline.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- This is a script panel, not a plugin. It has to live in the ScriptUI Panels folder specifically or it will not appear in the window menu.
- Reinstalling or upgrading After Effects wipes the panel. Keep the archive and copy it back into the new version folder.
- The curve library file is worth backing up separately. It represents every curve you have ever tuned.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Host application | After Effects, current release or several versions back. It will not run standalone |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
| Processor | Whatever runs After Effects. The panel itself is not demanding |
| Memory | As required by After Effects. The panel adds a negligible amount |
| Storage | 50 MB for the panel, its presets and the curve library |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- Why does it not appear in my window menu?
- Almost always because the file is in the Scripts folder rather than the ScriptUI Panels folder inside it, or because After Effects was running during the copy.
- Does it change how the keyframes are stored?
- No. It writes normal bezier interpolation into the keyframes, so the result is editable in the graph editor afterwards and a machine without the panel opens the project fine.
- Can I move my curves to another machine?
- Yes, copy the library file across. It is a plain file that lives next to the panel.
Download
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