After Effects Flow Plugin Review & Download

The Flow plugin for After Effects is great to improve your animations and helps to make better looking motion curves

December 19, 2024
After Effects Flow Plugin Review & Download

Flow is the plugin you NEED to animate anything! From text animations to transitions and layer shape movements, Flow if what you need to animate 10x better and faster in After Effects.

Flow Plugin After Effects

Flow is a powerful plugin that speeds up and simplifies up the way users interact with the graph editor in After Effects. With Flow, users no longer have to navigate the complicated and overwhelming graph editor, which can be slow and confusing, especially for beginners. Flow simplifies the animation process by allowing users to create curves effortlessly with a library of pre-made curves. So all you need to do is hit the apply button, and enjoy the results.

  • If you are also a music producer, Flow is basically the video editor's version of the popular Sidechain plugin known as Kickstart by Nicky Romeo.
  • If you're into web design, Flow uses the same CSS animation-timing-functions you're already familiar with. And if you're not, no worries, it's still easy to pick up. Flow's core is based on Lea Verou's cubic-bezier.com, which means you can copy URL values and paste them right into the tool for the same transition.

Key Features Of Flow

Intuitive Animation Curve Editor:

  • Makes curve adjustments easy with an easy-to-use graphical interface.
  • Offers accurate control over animation easing using cubic-bezier curves​

Preset and Custom Libraries:

  • Includes 25 pre-set motion curves based on popular easing functions.
  • Users can create, save, and share custom presets, promoting workflow consistency​

CSS-Like Functionality:

  • Allows copying and applying cubic-bezier values from web tools, ideal for replicating web animations​

Keyboard Shortcuts:

  • Hotkeys for quick adjustments, such as snapping curves, locking handles, and creating symmetrical movements​

Dockable Panel:

  • Offers a split-view for curve editing and preset browsing, optimized for different screen setups​

Responsive Overshoot/Undershoot Settings:

  • Enables dynamic tweaks for animations that need elastic or bouncy effects​

Expression Integration:

  • Offers support for expressions to create more complex animations directly within the plugin​.

Bezier Value Import/Export:

  • Allows importing bezier curves from web sources or design tools for seamless integration​.

KBar Support:

  • Integrates with KBar, a custom toolbar extension for After Effects, improving accessibility of saved presets

Precision Curve Manipulation:

  • Detailed controls for bezier handle angles and lengths, providing advanced users with unparalleled accuracy​

Compatibility

Flow is compatible with all versions of Adobe After Effects after 2015. If you are still on the 2015 version, you may want to consider upgrading to make this plugin function as per normal.

Preset Library & Shortcuts

Flow has a bunch of pre-set motion curves based on Robert Penner's Easing Functions. But if none of those suit your editing style, you can build your own library or import custom presets from other animators - like a whole sperate program to After Effects. The tool also supports keyboard shortcuts, which makes editing even faster. Use Shift / Alt / Ctrl in the library to set eases to Ease In / In & Out / Ease Out. And in the graph, snap handles in different ways or move them symmetrically.

Flow Plugin After Effects Free Download

There is no free version of the Flow plugin for After Effects, however, ToolFarm does offer a demo version which can be downloaded after you signup. Just keep in mind that the demo version will not have the same functionality as the Flow when paid in full.