by Steven Twigg·Workflow
Images © Steven Twigg. Used for product review; image policy.
Free Compose earns its place in the aescripts library by handling layer grouping without breaking expressions, parenting, or cropping, and its 2.0 release reworked the interface with a smaller footprint and three layout options.
Free Compose brings Photoshop-style layer grouping into After Effects. It groups layers without breaking expressions, parenting, or cropping, and behaves like a pre-compose you can toggle open in the same layer stack.
Track matte support lets you set a track matte for a group; on refresh, layers inside the group without a track matte update to match. When you ungroup or move a layer out of the group, any layer sharing that track matte with the group has it removed.
Version 2.0 introduced a new user interface with reduced UI size, redesigned icons, and three layouts — row, column, and 2-up — switchable from the help menu. Show/hide and select/deselect controls were consolidated into two toggles. The script supports After Effects 2026 through CC 2018, and a demo video is available.
Free Compose is best for after Effects artists who want to organize layers into groups without pre-composing, while keeping expressions, parenting, and cropping intact.
Free Compose is completely free to download and use.
Free Compose supports a broad range of After Effects versions, including 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020, plus CC 2019 and CC 2018. That range spans both current and older releases, so it fits projects on legacy installs as well as the latest builds. If you are unsure which version you have, check the About screen in After Effects, and confirm the current compatibility details on the developer's page before you install the script.
Free Compose works with track mattes. You can set a track matte for a group, and on refresh every layer inside the group that has no track matte updates to match it. When you ungroup, any layers sharing the same track matte as the group have it removed, and the same happens when you move a layer out of the group. This track matte behavior arrived in the 1.6.1 update, alongside quality-of-life changes to button states right after making a group.
Free Compose 2.0 introduced an all-new user interface. The UI size was reduced by up to 80 percent, icons were redesigned for clarity, and three layouts were added — row, column, and 2-up — which you can switch from the help menu. Show/hide and select/deselect were consolidated from four buttons into two toggles. The later 2.2 release added a bug fix for 'release groups' not working when in column layout, so the interface changes carried through to more recent versions.
Free Compose is listed as free in this catalog. Because licensing terms can change over time, check the developer's page for the current details before you download it. The script is maintained across many After Effects versions, from 2026 back to CC 2018, and updates through version 2.2 have focused on interface changes and bug fixes. A demo video is available as well if you want to look before installing.
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