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AEAfter Effects

Swiss Knife

by Motion Design School·Workflow

Images © Motion Design School. Used for product review; image policy.

Why we like it

Swiss Knife earns its place in the toolfarm library as a single script bundling 20 tools across parallax, interaction, placeholder, and support functions, with compatibility reaching back to CS6.

What is Swiss Knife?

Swiss Knife is a group of 20 tools for After Effects that can be combined in thousands of variations. The tools fall into four groups—parallaxer, interactor, placeholder, and support—covering character animation, video editing, templates, and UI/UX animation.

The parallax group covers Parallax 2D for a fake parallax effect with 2D layers, Parallax 3D for true 3D distribution between near and far distances you type manually, Extruder for extruding from placeholders, and Stack for linear stacks in 2D or 3D space.

Interaction tools put animations in dependence of other properties, positions, or markers, offset parameters with a time delay, and link object rotation to a main object. Placeholder tools handle footage placeholders, pin images to path vertices, and precompose selected layers with Time Remap. Compatible with After Effects from CS6 through 2025, this catalog lists Swiss Knife as free.

Who is Swiss Knife best for?

Swiss Knife is best for artists working on character animation, video editing, templates, and UI/UX animation in After Effects.

How much does Swiss Knife cost?

Swiss Knife is completely free to download and use.

Key features

  • Parallax 2D creates a fake parallax effect with 2D layers
  • Parallax 3D produces true 3D distribution between near and far distances you type manually
  • Extruder extrudes from placeholders, and Stack builds linear stacks in 2D or 3D space
  • Dependence puts any animation in dependence of any other property; Interactor uses positions between the last selected layer and others
  • Animarker links animation to markers, and Offset animates parameters with a time delay
  • Revolver takes object rotation and links it to the main object
  • Placeholder uses shape or picture layers as placeholders for footage stacks; Switcher precomposes selected layers, crops to the biggest layer, and turns on Time Remap

Tags

#After Effects#parallax#animation#motion graphics#workflow#scripts#Motion Design School

Frequently asked questions

Does Swiss Knife work with After Effects CS6 and current releases?

Swiss Knife supports a wide range of After Effects versions, including CS6, CC, CC 2014, CC 2015, CC 2015.3, CC 2017, CC 2018, CC 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. That span covers older installations still running CS6 alongside current releases. If your version falls within that list, Swiss Knife is compatible with it. For the latest supported-version details, check the developer's page from Motion Design School.

What are the four tool groups in Swiss Knife?

Swiss Knife organizes its 20 tools into four groups: parallaxer, interactor, placeholder, and support. The parallax group covers Parallax 2D, Parallax 3D, Extruder, and Stack. The interaction group includes Dependence, Interactor, Animarker, Offset, and Revolver. The placeholder group provides Placeholder, Piner, and Switcher, among others, and the support group adds further helper functions for projects. Together these tools can be combined in thousands of variations.

How does Swiss Knife handle parallax animation?

Swiss Knife includes two parallax approaches. Parallax 2D creates a fake parallax effect using 2D layers, which is useful when you don't want to move into 3D. Parallax 3D makes a true 3D distribution between near and far distances that you type manually. The parallaxer group also contains Extruder, which extrudes from placeholders, and Stack, which builds linear stacks in 2D or 3D space.

Is Swiss Knife free?

Swiss Knife is listed as free in this catalog. Licensing terms can change over time, so for the current details and any activation requirements, check the developer's page from Motion Design School. The changelog notes updates to its license framework and online activation, so the activation process may differ depending on the version you install. It's best to confirm the latest licensing directly with the developer before setting up.

Alternatives to Swiss Knife

Also in Workflow for After Effects.

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