Beginner's Guide
Which version of After Effects should I get?
The latest version of After Effects will always have the newest features and bug fixes, and assuming your computer meets the minimum requirements, there is absolutely no reason to start editing with anything older. This is a common misconception.
Here are a few examples,
After Effects 2023 added native H.264 rendering and a new properties panel.
After Effects 2024 featured new and improved AI tools such as Rotobrush 3 and reverse keyframe pasting.
After Effects 2025 brought a refreshed 3D workspace UI, and high performance preview playback which improves cache management for more efficient usage benefiting those with lower specs.
For more details regarding each update, you can browse through Adobe’s release notes on their website. Most new features will not affect the result of your work but the editing experience itself — you can think of them as “quality of life” updates.
Specifications
After Effects primarily relies on your CPU and RAM, but certain tasks and effects may utilize your GPU. For a balanced system, investing in both a decent CPU and GPU is recommended, along with 16GB or more RAM, aiming for at least 32GB for heavier effect usage. Free storage for cache is also required — 512 GB is the minimum suggested for editing, while aiming for 1TB if it falls under your budget.
You can read here regarding After Effects system requirements.
Newer versions of After Effects tend to be slightly more demanding, so if you’re on a lower-end PC or budget laptop, you may have smoother performance with something a bit older. However, if your system meets Adobe’s minimum requirements, you should consider taking advantage and installing a more up-to-date version.
Do keep in mind that After Effects projects are not backward compatible. You won’t be able to open project files or import presets originally made with a version of After Effects newer than your own, presets made with the same or older year are fine. You can downgrade a project file by going to File > Save As > Save a Copy As (version).
If you’re on Mac,
Read this to learn about Apple Silicon compatibility. Mac users have different factors to consider compared to Windows users.
Saving and importing presets
Presets allow users to save any adjustments they’ve made into a tiny file. Presets can help you save time by allowing you to easily recreate transitions or effects in just one click, all you have to do it import and apply. Editors will often share presets with one another, rather this be between friends, free online resources, or premium content.
.ffx presets
FFX presets, unique to After Effects, are the most common type of preset you’ll find yourself working with. With FFX files you’re able to save keyframes and effects.
In order to save a preset, highlight what you’d like to be saved, such as any keyframes or effect controls by clicking and dragging your cursor over them or holding shift. Next, click “animation” at the top and select “save animation preset”. Name your preset whatever you’d like to remember it by. Presets should be saved in:
Windows / MacOS: Documents\Adobe\After Effects (version)\User Presets
For better organization, users can create sub-folders in User Presets.
For example, one folder for color corrections and another for shakes. You can organize and name your folders however you’d like, as long as they’re located under “User Presets” it doesn’t matter. You’ll be able to drop down these folders, ultimately resulting in a clean list inside After Effects.
Incorrect guides online may use: Program Files (“Applications” on Mac)\Adobe\Adobe After Effects (version)\Support Files\Presets
While this location may work, it is not recommended as it is reserved for default presets. If used, your personal presets will sit next to default, rather than their own category. After Effects is also unable to save in this location, meaning presets you make yourself will be in separate locations, which is not ideal.
.mblook/.rgx presets
.mblook and .rgx presets are unique to Magic Bullet looks, a plugin used to create colorings. While some editors may choose to save all their MBL settings as .ffx, which is perfectly fine, others may prefer .mblook or .rgx as you can easily preview them inside the Looks Builder, rather than having to apply them one by one.
To save a custom preset inside Looks on any version, simply click the downwards arrow on the bottom left of your screen after you’ve created your coloring.
The way you import presets depends on your Magic Bullet Looks version as Red Giant switched their extension from MBLook to RGX in version 14 and higher.
Version 13 and older
To import .mblook files on MBL 13 or older, simply paste them (as a folder) in:
Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\LooksBuilder\Looks
MacOS: /Library/Application Support/LooksBuilder/Looks/
Older versions of MBL (13-) do not support .rgx files, nor is there any way to convert them. You won’t be able to use these types of presets unless you upgrade. You should upgrade, MBL 14 is 5 years old..
Version 14+
To import .rgx files on MBL 14 or newer, simply paste them (as a folder) in the following location:
Documents\Red Giant\Magic Bullet Looks\Presets
To import .mblook files, you’ll have to directly import them inside of Looks Builder, which will automatically convert them to .rgx for you.
To do this, select the folder you want them to save to, click the ➜ symbol on the top left, then select the files you wish to import.
The latest version of Magic Bullet can be found on our website.
What are plugins and which ones should I get?
Plugins are effects which aren’t native to After Effects, meaning you download them separately. By installing plugins you’re able to use hundreds of effects which you wouldn’t have otherwise. Which plugins you install depends on your needs and wants, not all plugins used in every editing style. Hoarding plugins is also not ideal for storage or performance. Below is a list of what the most “famous” plugins are, and what they do.
Below is a list of what the most “popular” plugins are, and what they do.
RSMB: short for Reel Smart Motion Blur, applies a type of motion blur to your footage
MBL: short for Magic Bullet Looks, an advanced color correction builder with plenty of tools to play with
Twitch: used to create twitch shakes, more specifically “jerky” like movements
Twixtor: famous for making “smooth” slow motion, by warping pre-existing frames together.
Universe: comes with a handful of different effects, but is most popular for VHS and some glitches.
Sapphire: contains over 100+ visual effects, such as glows, glitches, warps, etc..
BCC: short for BorisFX Complete Continuum, comes with over 100+ unique visual effects and transitions, similar to Sapphire.
Trapcode: used for creating overlays and backgrounds such as particles, swirls, and burst.
Element 3D: used to create all sorts of 3d text, models and shapes.
Saber: used to create outlines and glows that look identical to light sabers, inspired by Star Wars.
Deep Glow: provides a beautiful glow effect, which looks better than any built in glow effect, great for text and pngs.
Optical Flares: used to create all sorts of flare transitions, highly customizable.
Some great plugins for glitch editing include: Signal, Pixel Sorter, Omino, Glitchify, and Datamosh
The majority of plugin developers have videos on YouTube which you can watch to get a better idea and actually see what they can do, you can also browse through examples found in editing tutorials.
We have over 80 plugins on our website!
Composition Settings
How to properly set up your first project file.
Resolution VS Ratio
Resolution refers to the number of pixels that exist inside an image. The first number represents the amount of pixels horizontally while the second number represents vertical. On the other hand, an aspect ratio refers to the proportional relationship between an image's width and height.
Editing in higher resolutions will require a powerful cpu, a good amount of RAM, and plenty of storage. It’s also worth noting that the majority of social apps such as TikTok don’t support 4k and will compress your video. 1080p is more than sufficient for casual work. Creators online will sometimes write “4k” in their description when it actually isn’t to gain views. Don’t fall for this band wagon.
FPS Settings
The most common FPS in video editing. FPS represents the amount of frames per second.
30FPS: Standard fps & can be used for most things. Editing pictures, animations, sports etc.60FPS: Best when editing video games or making an edit that revolves around time interpolation.23.976FPS: Best for cinema, real life footage and AMV’s. Most TV shows are shot in this fps, and editing in the same fps as your original footage looks so much better.15FPS: Used for an intentional “laggy” look, you can also experiment with any nearby numbers.
Want to edit in a fps lower than 30?
Instead of adjusting your FPS in comp settings, consider using posterize time (an effect in After Effects) to avoid potential playback glitches. By using this effect you’ll also have the ability to lower the frame rate of specific layers rather than having your whole project affected, plus, you can set keyframes.
Start & Duration
There are little situations where you’d need to change the start number, you should leave it at 0.
Set your duration to the length you want your edit to be. If you plan to edit to an audio that is 30 seconds long, you’d enter 0:00:30:00, additionally, your workspace will end at 30s.
If you were to import a video which is longer than your set duration, you won’t be able to preview all of it as it’ll be blocked off. You can always adjust your comp settings and workspace at any time by going to composition > composition settings.
Other Settings
For a stronger motion blur, you can go into the “advanced” tab and increase your shutter angle and samples per frame. Intense motion blur is not recommended while also using blur based plugins.
Your background color represents the color that will be visible when no other media is on the timeline. If you plan to do fades or flashes, you’ll normally want to set this color to black.
Make sure to name your comps something recognizable, otherwise you may end up overwhelmed. Give each of your edits a name unique to them!
After Effects Shortcuts
NOTE
The Mac equivalent of Ctrl is Cmd.
Spacebar = play/pause your preview
0 Numpad = RAM preview
I = go to first frame of the selected layer
O = go to last frame of the selected layer
B = set the beginning of your workspace
N = set the end of your workspace
(Your workspace is the area that plays when previewing)
Ctrl + Shift + D = split your layer
Alt/option + [ = trims your layer (beginning)
Alt/option + ] = trims your layer (end)
Ctrl + A = Selects all layers in your composition
Ctrl + shift + C = precompose
Ctrl + Z = undo your last action
Ctrl+ Shift + D = Redo last action undone
V = Select
H = Hand
S = Scale
T = Opacity
R = Rotation
P = Position
G = Pen Tool
Y / A = Anchor Point
U = View all Keyframe(s)
L = Audio Level(s)
M = View Mask(s)
L 2x = View Waveform(s)
Alt + Shift + S = Creates Scale Keyframe
Alt + Shift + T = Creates Opacity Keyframe
Alt + Shift + R = Creates Rotation Keyframe
Alt + Shift + P = Creates Position Keyframe
Ctrl + C = Copy
Ctrl + V = Paste
(You can copy and paste keyframes, effect settings, layers and more.)
Ctrl + S = Save
Ctrl + I = Import
Ctrl + O = Open
Ctrl + Y = New Solid
Ctrl + D = Duplicate Layer
Ctrl + T = New Text Layer
Ctrl + Alt + T = Enable Time Remap
Ctrl + K = Composition Settings
F9 / FN + F9 = Easy Ease Keyframes
F3 / FN + F3 = View Effects Panel
F4 / FN + F4 = Show/Hide Layer Switches & Modes columns
Ctrl + Alt + M = Adobe Media Encoder
Ctrl + Alt + N = New Project
Ctrl + Alt + Y = New Adjustment Layer
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Y = New Null Layer
Ctrl + Alt + Home = Center Anchor Point
Ctrl + Down Arrow = Select Next Layer in Stacking Order
Ctrl + Up Arrow = Select Previous Layer in Stacking Order