by Scott Black·Workflow
Images © Scott Black. Used for product review; image policy.
Compstronaut earns its spot in the aescripts library by turning composition and timeline navigation into a browser-style history you can step through and click into directly. The 1.3 line focused on faster, more consistent timeline navigation and improved shortcut responsiveness.
Compstronaut is an After Effects panel that adds browser-style back and forward navigation to your project. Rather than searching for a composition you were just in, you can retrace your steps and jump to previously visited compositions and timeline positions. As you work, the plugin builds a browser-style history — an interactive timeline of your session that grows into a living map of the project for reviews and revisions.
The live panel shows your full navigation trail at a glance, listing comp names and timecodes. Clicking any entry opens that composition and time instantly, and dedicated buttons handle both timeline navigation (Navigate Back and Navigate Forward) and composition navigation (Previous Composition and Next Composition). You can expand the working history up to a maximum of 150 entries, and a Toggle Settings button gives quick access to the settings page. Audio and visual feedback — sound cues and mouse-linked notifications — can be toggled individually per action.
Compstronaut also ships with pre-configured Stream Deck profiles for the Classic, Mini, XL, and Plus, so its actions can be mapped to a physical control surface. The animated panel reacts in real time to your shortcuts, scrolling, and clicks.
Compstronaut is best for after Effects artists who work across many nested compositions and want to retrace their steps between comps and timeline positions.
Compstronaut is completely free to download and use.
Compstronaut lists support across recent After Effects releases. On macOS, both Intel and Apple Silicon processors are covered for the 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 releases. On Windows, the 2024, 2025, and 2026 releases are supported. The underlying operating system requirements are Windows 10 (64-bit) or later, and macOS 13 Ventura or later. If you run an older build, check the developer's page on aescripts to confirm your exact release falls within the tested versions before installing.
Compstronaut ships with pre-configured device profiles for Stream Deck hardware, covering the Classic, Mini, XL, and Plus. Stream Deck support was added as a major feature in an earlier release and has since received a fix for the bundled Stream Deck plugin failing to initialise when loading After Effects. This lets you trigger the plugin's navigation actions from a physical control surface. For setup details and the latest on Stream Deck behaviour, refer to the developer's page on aescripts.
Compstronaut lets you expand the number of working history entries up to a maximum of 150. As you navigate, your session builds a browser-style history — an interactive timeline of the compositions and timeline positions you have visited, each shown with comp names and timecodes. Clicking any entry opens that composition and time instantly. Raising the limit gives you a longer trail to step back through, which you can adjust from the settings page reached via the Toggle Settings button.
Compstronaut includes audio and visual feedback in the form of sound cues and mouse-linked notifications that keep you aware of each action. These are individually toggleable per action, so you can enable or disable feedback for specific navigation commands rather than all at once. The settings page, reachable through the Toggle Settings button, is where these options live. That lets you keep the panel's feedback as prominent or as quiet as you prefer while stepping through your composition and timeline history.
Compstronaut is listed as free in this catalog. Because licensing and distribution terms can change over time, the developer's page on aescripts is the place to confirm current terms before you download. Aside from cost, the plugin is tied to specific After Effects releases and operating system versions, so it is worth checking that your setup matches the supported configurations at the same time. That way you know both the licensing and the compatibility line up before installing.
Also in Workflow for After Effects.
by Motion Embassy
The Positioner is an After Effects script for aligning, pinning and auto-scaling layers to the edges of a composition or other layers, keeping them responsive as a design evolves through a visual interface.
by Back to Earth Digital
Wonder Panel Pro is a toolbar for After Effects from Back to Earth Digital that brings together color, alignment, anchor point, keyframe and render tools to speed up common workflow tasks.
by Scott Black
Control Groups is an After Effects panel for grouping layers and saving timeline bookmarks, driven by global keyboard controls built around fast layer recall and navigation within and between compositions.
by Rizal Julizar
Linkup Pro adds a native browser, an AI assistant, and an AI Agent directly inside After Effects. Browse the web with a real engine, ask AI providers, and let the Agent execute tasks in your project.
by Gary Reisman
Middle Measure is an After Effects tool for measuring and finding the middle within a comp using nulls, objects, layers and layer edges. It works in 3D and supports dynamic expressions.
by Salt Media
BlenderAe2 by Salt Media transfers 3D data and objects between Blender and After Effects in both directions, covering vertices, 3D layer transforms, camera data and layer synchronization.
by MAXON
Maxon One from MAXON bundles tools like Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Redshift, Red Giant and Maxon Studio into a unified ecosystem, letting artists move between applications and Adobe hosts such as After Effects and Premiere Pro without friction.
by MotionLand
AEVIEWER 2 is a media browser for After Effects and Premiere Pro from MotionLand. Preview, apply, and import projects and media files in one click. Listed here as free.
by MAXON
Maxon Teams Annual Subscription Licensing is a one-year named-user plan for teams working across After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Premiere Pro. It provides access to Cinema 4D, Redshift, ZBrush, and Red Giant's creative tools.
by Motion Array
Motion Array is an extension for After Effects and Premiere Pro that brings its library of templates, stock video, royalty-free music, and more into your Adobe Creative Cloud apps for one-click download and import.
by Thomas Zagler - pixelsucht.net
Free Stock Search is an extension for After Effects and Premiere Pro that searches unsplash.com, pixabay.com, and pexels.com for free stock photos, then downloads and imports a chosen image with one click.
