by Alon Shemer·Workflow
Images © Alon Shemer. Used for product review; image policy.
Automation Toolkit Free earns its place in the aescripts library for the breadth of its action set, spanning layers, compositions, projects, render settings and file handling, all wired into buttons you define yourself. Version 2.0.4 added CSV data support and 42 new properties.
Automation Toolkit Free lets you create your own custom buttons with their own functionality inside After Effects. Alon Shemer describes it as a "Whatever You Want!" button maker, and the action library is broad: layer properties such as position, rotation and time remapping, composition and project actions, render queue and output module settings, plus file and folder operations.
Beyond the built-in actions, it can run JavaScript code with variable inputs and code results, work with CSV data from Google Sheets or Excel, and handle keyframe tasks like retiming, offsetting and copying keys. You can precompose, add solids, nulls, cameras, lights and shape layers, apply animation presets, send comps to the render queue or Adobe Media Encoder, and apply render templates.
Some things are out of scope: shapes and masks can't be accessed, text layers support only source text, font, font size and justification, and certain keyframe properties such as interpolation and hold can't be changed, though keyframe values can. It ranks 58 on aescripts and runs on After Effects 2023 back through CC 2018.
Automation Toolkit Free is best for after Effects artists who want to build custom buttons that bundle repetitive layer, composition, project, render and file tasks into a single click.
Automation Toolkit Free is completely free to download and use.
Automation Toolkit Free runs on After Effects 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, CC 2019 and CC 2018. Version 2.0.4, released March 7, 2023, added support for After Effects 2023 on Mac, along with search inside dropdowns and dropdown tooltip support on Mac. If you work across several After Effects installations, the same button setups target this range of versions. For the current, definitive compatibility list, check the developer's page before installing on a release newer or older than those named here.
Automation Toolkit Free does not support shapes or masks — those cannot be accessed. For text layers, it works with source text, font, font size and text justification, but text animators are not supported. This keeps its scope on layer, composition, project, render and file actions rather than vector or mask editing. If your automation depends on manipulating shape paths, mask paths or text animators, those tasks fall outside what the toolkit can reach, so plan your custom buttons around the properties it does expose.
Automation Toolkit Free can run JavaScript code, taking JavaScript variable inputs and returning a code result, so you can extend a button beyond the built-in actions. It also works with CSV data from Google Sheets or Excel, a capability added in version 2.0.4 along with a loop option over elements in a collection. Those additions sit alongside the standard actions for layers, compositions, projects and files, letting a single button combine scripted logic with the toolkit's own property and action set.
Automation Toolkit Free cannot change certain keyframe properties: keyframe interpolation and the toggle hold keyframe setting are out of reach, though the value of a keyframe can be changed. Within those limits it still offers keyframe control — retiming selected or all keyframes, offsetting selected or all keyframes, copying a keyframe, deleting keys, and reading counts such as number of keyframes. It also handles speed and influence in and out, expressions, and whether an expression is enabled.
Automation Toolkit Free is listed as free in this catalog. Because licensing terms can change, check the developer's page for the current details before you download. The version tracked here is 2.0.4, last updated March 7, 2023, covering After Effects 2023 back through CC 2018. That release also brought 42 new properties and support for all render setting and output module settings, so the free listing reflects a fairly deep feature set for building custom automation buttons.
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