Adobe has released After Effects 26.0. The latest version of the program delivers new motion design capabilities along with performance improvements to help you build, animate and refine your work with greater speed and control.
Enhanced vector workflows
Adobe says that vector workflows in After Effects are smoother than ever. With the latest version of the program, you can import SVG files as native shape layers. This means that you can animate them while retaining full vector fidelity. Also, when you convert Illustrator layers to shape layers, any gradients and transparency are preserved and remain editable. This means that you can keyframe color transitions and animate gradient motion.
There are new gradient scale and rotation properties which give you more creative control for fills and strokes, as well.
Native 3D parametric meshes
If you want to design in 3D, you can now create parametric meshes from scratch inside of After Effects itself. You can choose to build with cubes, spheres, cylinders, cones, toris and planes, and customize them too.
Additionally, you can combine shapes just like building blocks to create stylized graphics or photorealistic set pieces. After Effects now features new Spot and Parallel shadow options to enhance the realism and dynamics of your 3D scenes, as well.
Free Substance 3D materials
In After Effects, you can now access and apply Substance 3D materials to both native meshes and imported models. This means that you can add depth and realism to your models with just a few clicks. The Substance 3D materials are dynamic and customizable so you can fine tune them to fit your vision as well. You can also use the offset, rotation and scale controls to dial in the look you want and animate any property of your materials to bring them to life. In addition, After Effects gives you access to thousands of materials via Substance Community Assets. This includes more than 1,300 free materials available for all users.
Upgraded motion typography
Adobe says that motion typography has been given a major upgrade in the latest version of After Effects. You can now animate every axis a variable font exposes with keyframes and expressions using the Text Animator. Plus, you can adjust the weight, width, slant, wiggle and any designer-defined font axes in the Properties Panel. You can then create flexible titles and templates with the Essential Graphics panel and Motion Graphics templates.
Other improvements
The new Unmult effect composites footage with solid black or white backgrounds by removing pixels based on brightness thresholds. This means that you can easily key complex clips that contain fire and smoke. There are also three new audio effects in After Effects: Gate, Compressor and Distortion. This means that you can clean up and shape your audio without having to leave After Effects.
High Performance Preview Playback is faster than ever by extending preview durations while using significantly less disk space but with no loss in visual fidelity. Adobe says it has reorganized preferences for quicker access to comp and project settings, and that keyframe referencing in expressions is now simpler, as well.
What we think
Adobe After Effects is a very powerful VFX, motion graphics and compositing program. With the latest update, After Effects just got even better. Users will welcome the option to use SVG files natively. The option to create 3D parametric meshes inside After Effects is also going to speed up your creative process when you are working with simple designs. In addition, the improved motion typography tools give you much more creative freedom when working with text and captions. If you work create After Effects you should upgrade your installation as soon as possible to start using all the new features.
Pricing and availability
After Effects 26.0 is available to download now. You will need an active subscription to Adobe’s Creative Cloud.
