Free After Effects, or freemium loss leaders

Written by Rich Young

April 24, 2026

Despite Adobe going full bore on feature releases (especially in After Effects), its subscription model is still very unpopular...

After Effects: How to animate flashing neon light patterns

Written by Chris Zwar

February 22, 2026

We all have to-do lists, and sometimes working through them takes longer than we expect.  Roughly 15 years ago,...

ZWARCHIVES – After Effects tutorials from the past 10 years

Written by Chris Zwar

February 2, 2026

Here's a collection of After Effects articles and tutorials that I've written over the past 10 years

After Effects Guru Meditation: 2GB / 30000 pixel layer limits error

Written by Chris Zwar

January 26, 2026

There was a poster on the wall at my high school which said “To err is human, but to...

After Effects: Track Mattes vs Set Matte

Written by Chris Zwar

November 30, 2025

After Effects is a timeline based compositing app, and its primary directive is to composite multiple layers of video...

Color Management Part 24: Corporate Branding Colors and video production

Written by Chris Zwar

November 25, 2024

Adobe After Effects is the industry standard app for motion graphics, and yet working with color management can strike...

After Effects and chicken parmigiana are the same

Written by Chris Zwar

August 14, 2023

I can’t say for sure, but I think I’m the first person to compare After Effects to Chicken Parmigiana. ...

After Effects: Using Deadline for a Render Farm

Written by Chris Zwar

February 1, 2023

For commercial 3D animation, having a render farm is almost a basic necessity – but After Effects render farms...

Color Management Part 14: Combining OCIO and After Effects

Written by Chris Zwar

December 7, 2022

OpenColorIO is the industry standard color management tool for animation and visual FX.  After Effects also has its own,...

Color Management Part 13: OpenColorIO and After Effects

Written by Chris Zwar

November 26, 2022

OpenColorIO is, currently, a plugin for After Effects.  It’s free, it’s open source, it’s the industry standard tool for...