After Effects 25.1 is the current version, with no big recent announcements. After Effects didn’t get AI at Max 2024.

Here are the newish features, described in Is that really it? After Effects updates | Adobe MAX 2024 from Tom Graham for Envato Video:

* Leaner 3D model import
* GPU-accelerated UI on Windows
* New Adobe Spectrum interface look (for reasons now unclear 1,  2), 3, etc.)
* Per-character text and paragraph styling expressions
* Color management improvements

Note: The October 2024 (25.0.1) release includes important fixes that enable you to work more efficiently in After Effects.

Top beta features are now:

• Accepts Lights switch in Advanced 3D,
• Customize Transparency Grids,
• Customize panel background colors,
• Quick Set Anchor Point, and
• 8 Blend Modes Receive 32-bpc Blending Support on GPU.

Motion Science posted Use C4D Lite and After Effects to Create Gritty Cinema, on how to transform a simple Cinema 4D Lite animation into a more cinematic scene using After Effects to combine 3D renders with 2D graphics.

BallerFX – Sports Motion Design shared Make Your Text Effectors Editable – After Effects Type Tutorial. He shows the use of expressions to drive text effector animation no matter the length of the text.

Mograph Mindset creates tools for After Effects and Premiere Pro, and has a bunch of tutorials on titles, including Wavy Subtitles – After Effects & Premiere Pro Tutorial. He also likes Type Jazz by @JakeInMotion, so check out his review.

See also his vanilla AE tutorial Format Numbers – Comma, decimal, and money symbols | After Effects Tutorial.

In Terrorific Title Treatments – Motion Design Hotline from Adobe Live, Even and Kyle hang out a cauldron of texty title tips.

Awhile back, Bold&Break explored the creative use of the Venetian Blinds transition plug-in in Quick Tips 8 – Venetian blinds(After Effects). See also his After Effects – Make this Sci-Fi UI Animation which used the built-in Wave World plug-in to drive the base level animation and effect.

In VFX and Chill: The Original Unscripted Visual Effects Adventure
Hashi, Seth and Michael break down effects from movies and TV. A recent episode is Ballerina/John Wick-Inspired Action VFX, which Showa arm extension fixes for fight scenes, and a problematic creation of shattering glass.

Manuel does Motion shows quick-assemblage of Abstract Lines Animation in After Effects | Tutorial.

Comp Buddy is a cheap tool that simplifies the process of creating an edge blur and/or light wrap in After Effects. Here’s a look at why one fast obvious solution won’t work, Comp Buddy vs Channel Blur:

Jake In Motion had a reminder in 2022 so you’ll never have to worry about a missing plug-in: Unmult is built-in to After Effects. There used to be a lot of fuss about unmult, as seen in an old overview, “Unmult” with and without special plug-ins here on AEP.

SOM demoes (after 8:00) a “garbage matte key” (simple key, reverse choke, then serious plug-in), which was done similarly back in the day as “Super Tight Junk Mattes” by Aharon Rabinowitz.

SternFX shared a secret recipe to neutralize unwanted color casts in Color Recovery Magic: Fix Impossible shots without plugins!

Cinematic 3D Stroke Logo Intro in After Effects | No Plugins from SonduckFilm demonstrates how to turn a 2D logo into a 3D shape layer, add a stroke, and animate it using the trim paths property. The tutorial also covers how to add lighting, camera angles, and depth of field to create a cinematic look.

Stern Fx helps you Make Your Logos Shine! He animates a logo with glowing edges, and depth-of-field effects, while keeping things simple and elegant to create stylish openers, interludes, or screensavers.

Stephan Zammit continues his recent themes in another meaty tutorial with Reactive 3D? Motion Graphics Tutorial After Effects.

One @AdobeAE 😁 alternative gets added, and another Fable is folding. Fable was an interesting money pit that would make a logical addition to some generative video thingie.

Pikimov 1.0 is out, if you want a 2D/3D motion design and video editor: “Free. No sign up. No AI.” It’s like the handy image editor Photopea but for video; all 3 are browser-based apps.

School of Motion posted Build an Interactive Spinner in Rive! (You CAN’T do this in After Effects!). Rive is the app for interactive animation, akin to the old Flash and Director apps of yore that saw EOL at Adobe.

Bog shared The CapCut Experience (as an Adobe user). It’s sufficient to note that Capcut (not browser-based) is quite capable and familiar enough, and has very good audio noise reduction AI in the “pro” version.

Create FAKE CAMERA MOVEMENT in Post Production FAST! by Premiere Gal goes to Premiere and AE to share a conveyor belt effect or transition.

Corridor Crew’s I Learned How To Fake Water Exactly Like Hollywood is fun.

Also good is their VFX Artists Expose Ai Scams that plague the modern internet landscape.

There’s always lots of AI news, and there’s been several big released for AI video in recent weeks.

Naomi Brockwell TV has some advice on How To Use AI PRIVATELY.

AI Search says that AI video just got better! Updates you need to know about include Minimax image to video, Pika 1.5 and Kling.

There’s always a ton of video AI news; the last week was packed. Theoretically Media has deeper dives on big updates from Midjourney and Runway.

“Level Up” with the AI news roundups AI News: Autonomous Agents & New AI Video Tools by Matt Wolfe or There’s No Turning Back Now… from Curious Refuge.