Adobe After Effects 26.0 adds new features and updates, focusing on enhancing motion design and compositing.
Key updates include:
Variable Type Animation– Users can now keyframe various aspects of variable fonts, such as weight, wiggle, width, and slant, allowing for dynamic text manipulation. All text axes can be animated with custom keyframes or expressions.
Native 3D Shape Creation– After Effects now supports the creation and combination of native 3D polygon shapes with robust customization options. It also features improved shadows for 3D models and access to over 1,300 free, customizable materials from Substance 3D.
Improved Illustrator File Support– The update introduces compatibility with SVG files, enabling motion design for graphic designs. Gradients from Illustrator files are now fully editable in After Effects, and compositions can be instantly cropped to fit asset sizes from Illustrator and Photoshop.
New Tools & Performance Updates– The video highlights a new unmalt effect for keying complex shots with solid color backgrounds, enhanced audio control with new gate, compressor, and distortion effects, and high-performance preview playback supporting lossless compressed frames for longer previews that save disc space. Additionally, it features reorganized preferences for easier settings as well as improved keyframe referencing for expressions, and native WinARM support for faster, more efficient performance on compatible Windows devices.
