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The first half of the year was action-packed for After Effects, with months of big features, AI and freemium competition, and 3rd-parrty news. The current release of AE is June 2026 release (version 26.3).
With various Fixed issues and Known issues, the June 2026 release (version 26.3) included:
- Create and use Depth of Field in the Advanced 3D renderer
- Copy and paste Illustrator and SVG content
- Updated Mask Tracker
- Copy a frame to the clipboard
- Curl Noise effect for swirling animated 2D patterns
- Quickly Find Variable Fonts by Axis
- Frame.io V4 panel
There’s some activity in the beta app in the runup to IBC and Adobe Max. Top features in beta include:
- After Effects AI Assistant
- New guides functionality in After Effects
- Disk Caching for Object Matte
- Stylize footage with Contour Paint effect
- Duplicate layers using Alt/Option-drag
- Change anchor point in a more efficient way
- Effect Controls panel modernization
- Color labels for effects
Of course the AI Assistant (announcement/forum) should be huge in the long run. The beta implementation helps you work on your project using natural language (you talk to AE), instead of following in-app workflows or manually navigating menus. It’s designed to feel like a conversation where you describe what you want, ask follow-up questions, or refine your request. The Assistant translates requests into actions within your project and composition. You can currently Organize your project, Work with expressions, and Generate images and videos.
SternFX has an introduction with After Effects Has an AI Assistant. Is It Any Good? flomotion has another intro, NEW FEATURE in AFTER EFFECTS – AI ASSISTENT.
Jake In Motion dives deeper in long live sessions: After Effects just got an AI Assistant (and it’s not what you think) and
There were other instances of leveraging AI in After Effects, including Atom and a Claude/Higgsfield extension. Davey Design says I built the first AI Agent for After Effects. He seems pretty busy making a bunch of other tools too.
Jake Bartlett likes Atom, but there doesn’t seem to be a comparison with Adobe’s version. Eran Stern tried Atom out last year; video below.
Plainly has a brief take on another assistant, and there’s a ton more videos from the many who have tried the Claude/Higgsfield extension. See Higgsfield AI plugin for Adobe After Effects (Honest Review).
Code Runner 2 is a free After Effects panel from Jake In Motion that turns what you might do 20 times a day into a single button. Run a script, apply an expression or a preset, run a menu command, or apply your own keyframe easing — all from one panel you that can shape around the way you work. It has a dizzying amount of features for a free plug-in. See Code Runner 2 – Free After Effects Plugin.
