by Satori·VFX
Images © Satori. Used for product review; image policy.
Block Swap earns its place in the aescripts library for turning block-based shuffling into a controllable effect, with Time Shift, Mask Filter, and Composite on Original added in the 1.5.0 update.
Block Swap randomly shuffles image blocks in After Effects and Premiere Pro. You set block width and height starting from 1, which produces a noise-like effect, up to 4096 for large tiles. Shuffle Strength sets the percentage of blocks that get swapped, while Shuffle Spread controls how far apart the swapping occurs, from neighbouring blocks to the ones furthest apart.
Swapping can run anywhere in the image, only within rows, or only within columns. The effect applies to all channels equally, or to a single red, green, blue, or alpha channel. A Time Shift section pulls in blocks from other frames using a time step in seconds, from negative to positive values, and a Mask Filter restricts the swap operation to certain areas through a mask source layer.
It suits recomposing scenes randomly, clean-looking noise effects, blocky glitches, and transitions. Version 1.5.1 covers After Effects and Premiere Pro releases from CS6 through 2026.
Block Swap is best for recomposing scenes randomly, clean-looking noise effects, blocky glitches, and transitions.
Block Swap is completely free to download and use.
Block Swap runs in a wide range of After Effects releases, from CS6 through CC, CC 2014, CC 2015, CC 2015.3, CC 2017, CC 2018, CC 2019, and the annual versions 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. That coverage spans both older CS6-era projects and current releases, so most After Effects setups can run the plugin. For the exact installation package and any setup steps, check the developer's page.
Block Swap works in Premiere Pro as well as After Effects. On the Premiere Pro side it lists support from CS6 through CC, CC 2014, CC 2015, CC 2015.3, CC 2017, CC 2018, CC 2019, and the yearly releases 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. The same block-shuffling, Time Shift, and Mask Filter controls are available across both hosts. Refer to the developer's page for the current download and host-specific notes.
Block Swap 1.5.0 introduced a Time Shift section for shifting blocks in time, a Mask Filter section to control where swaps occur, and Composite on Original for outputting only the changed areas. It also raised the block width and height limit to 4096 and added a universal macOS binary with Apple silicon support plus multi-frame rendering. The later 1.5.1 release added an Align function and fixed several issues, including a watermark crash on compositions taller than 4096 pixels.
Block Swap ships with a universal macOS binary, which added Apple silicon support for Premiere Pro and After Effects starting with version 1.5.0, initially in beta. That universal build means the plugin runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs from a single package. The 1.5.1 release is signed and notarized, and its macOS build is also stapled, following the changelog notes. Since system requirements can change between releases, check the developer's page for the current supported macOS versions, the download, and any host-specific installation details before setting it up.
Block Swap is listed as free in this catalog, though pricing and licensing terms can change over time. For the current terms, the download, and any registration details, check the developer's page rather than relying on this listing. Note that the changelog references an unregistered-version watermark bug that was fixed in 1.5.1, which suggests the plugin distinguishes registered from unregistered use, so confirm the licensing steps directly with the developer before relying on the plugin in a project.
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