5 Best After Effects Plugins: Create Like a Pro

Table of Contents:

• ORB — Your Essential Tool for Creating 3D Spheres and Space Scenes
• Duik: Powerful Animation and Rigging Plugin
• AE Pixel Sorter 2 — Unique Pixel Sorting Glitch Effect for Creativity
• Plexus by Rowbyte: Innovative Data Processing and Visualization with a Procedural Approach
• Saber: Creating Lightsaber Effects in After Effects

Adobe After Effects offers a wide range of features, but not all of them are user-friendly or suitable for specific tasks. In this article, we'll look at five useful plug-ins that will significantly speed up your workflow and improve the quality of your projects. These plug-ins optimize the functionality of After Effects, allowing you to more effectively implement creative ideas and improve the final results.

All plug-ins featured in our selection are compatible with versions CS6 and later. This ensures that users can effectively use these tools without worrying about incompatibility with their software. Choose plug-ins that meet your needs and improve your workflow with modern solutions.

ORB - Your Essential Tool for Creating 3D Spheres and Space Scenes

The ORB plug-in is designed for creating realistic planets and space scenes, making it an indispensable tool for developers and artists. It can recreate spectacular effects often seen in movies, including epic battles against the backdrop of majestic planets, enormous moons orbiting Earth, and dynamic meteor showers. Thanks to the powerful capabilities of the ORB plugin, users can easily create impressive visuals that add uniqueness and depth to their projects.

If you run a small animation studio and actively use 3D graphics in your projects, ORB is the optimal solution for you. This platform offers powerful tools for creating high-quality animation and visualization, which will help you elevate your work and attract more clients. ORB is ideal for 3D design professionals, providing high productivity and flexibility in the workflow.

• Integrates into the After Effects interface, no separate software installation required.
• Enhanced lighting with shadow masking capabilities — built-in light sources allow you to switch between day and night modes.
• Create a seamless 360° background environment — a great way to create a starry background.
• Convenient installation — the plugin can be quickly installed on multiple versions of After Effects.
• Use High Fidelity bump maps to add texture and depth details, allowing you to create mountains and other uneven surfaces for greater realism.

The ORB plugin is available for free download from Video Copilot. This is a great feature for anyone looking to improve their animation and visualization skills. Using ORB can significantly expand your creative possibilities and improve the quality of your projects. Don't miss the chance to try this tool and make your animations more expressive and professional.

Duik: A Powerful Plugin for Animation and Rigging

Duik provides users with unique capabilities typically found in 3D graphics. With this tool, you can easily create and animate complex characters using a wide range of features, including rigs, controllers, and bones. With an intuitive interface and powerful tools, Duik allows animators of all levels to create professional animations with minimal effort. This tool is ideal for both beginners and experienced animation professionals, providing the ability to realize creative ideas with a high degree of detail.

Check out the Duik Showreel 2019, developed by Rainbox Studio and presented on the Vimeo platform. This video showcases the capabilities and advancements of Duik, a popular animation tool for Adobe After Effects. You'll see a wide range of animation styles and techniques that can be used to create professional animations. Get inspired by Duik and learn more about its features on the official Rainbox website.

• A wide range of animation tools, including keyframe and interpolation control, as well as support for traditional animation.
• Advanced automation features such as wiggle, spring, and sway, which greatly simplify and speed up the animation process.
• Camera controls used not only by animators but also by editors to optimize video workflows.

Duik is a free, open-source plugin that can be downloaded from the official website. This tool offers a variety of features for animation and rigging in Adobe After Effects. Users wishing to support the developers can donate to the project website, which will help in the further development and updating of the plugin.

AE Pixel Sorter 2 - a unique pixel glitch sorting effect for creativity

AE Pixel Sorter 2 is an innovative tool for creating glitch sorting effects Pixel Sorter 2 is a powerful plugin for motion designers and video editors working in Adobe After Effects. This powerful plugin is widely used in television, music videos, video games, and photography, significantly expanding creative possibilities. With AE Pixel Sorter 2, users can easily add unique visual effects, making their projects more attractive and memorable. This tool has become indispensable for professionals looking to stand out from the competition.

• Intuitive interface - many features with simple settings.
• Full customization by keyframes - including gradients, rotation, and random element length.
• Extensive documentation - all the necessary training materials are available on the official website, allowing you to quickly master the plugin.

A license for AE Pixel Sorter 2 costs about $40. The free version of the program is limited to a resolution of 960x540 pixels and adds watermarks to the video. By purchasing and activating a license, users gain full access to all the plugin's features, eliminating limitations and allowing them to work without compromise.

Plexus by Rowbyte: Innovative data processing and visualization using a procedural approach

Plexus Offers powerful tools for creating unique particle combinations, giving designers and animators the ability to experiment with a variety of parameters. Its modular workflow allows for an infinite number of particle-based data visualization configurations. This not only improves the aesthetic appeal of projects but also enhances their functionality, making Plexus an indispensable tool for graphics and animation professionals.

• An intuitive tree-based interface that makes it easy to organize multiple Plexus objects on a single layer.
• The ability to add motion blur combined with depth of field to create cinematic effects.
• Integrated audio effector that can sample a sound waveform from a layer in After Effects and apply it to the positions, scales, or colors of objects.
• Custom visibility settings that allow you to smoothly fade out points, lines, or polygons as they move closer to or further from the camera.

A single-user Plexus license costs approximately $250. You can purchase Plexus on the official aescripts website, which also offers additional plugins and resources for After Effects.

Saber: Creating Lightsaber Effects in After Effects

The Saber plug-in for Adobe After Effects allows users to quickly and easily create the lightsaber effect known from Star Wars. Saber also allows you to generate a variety of visual effects, including lasers, neon lights, and electrical smoke. This tool is ideal for video editors and animators looking to add bright and dynamic elements to their projects. The plug-in features an intuitive interface and easy customization, making it accessible to both professionals and beginners. Using Saber, you can significantly improve the visual component of your videos and attract the attention of viewers.

• Create high-quality visual effects with realistic light rays.
• Dynamic dimming for a natural glow falloff.
• Advanced basic settings for detailed effect customization.
• Built-in distortions for depth effects.
• 50 ready-made presets for a quick start.
• Support for dynamic text and mask outlines for creating spectacular titles.

The Saber plugin is available for free download on the official Video Copilot website. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to develop their visual effects skills. Saber offers a wide range of features to help you create impressive effects and improve the quality of your projects. Don't miss out on this powerful tool.

• Hand-drawn animation - add a unique style to your projects.
• Multiple exposure - create complex visual effects.
• Glitch effect - distortion effect for modern design.
• Dripping text - suitable for creating the effect of aging or destruction.