Adobe releases After Effects 25.0
Adobe has released After Effects 25.0, the latest version of the compositing software.
The update introduces a new interface design with multiple visual themes, “declutters” the UI when importing 3D models, and adds new options to control text styling via Expressions.
New, more modern, more legible UI design
The main changes in After Effects 26.0 are to interface design and performance.
The firm describes the new UI design as “more modern” and more consistent with other Adobe software, with “cleaner fonts and typography for better legibility”.
In keeping with Adobe’s current Spectrum 2 interface design guidelines, users can also switch between a range of visual themes for the UI.
Some are intended to improve visibility under different lighting conditions, and there is also a high-contrast accessibility mode for users with visual impairments.
The update also improves hardware acceleration on Windows, making the interface “significantly faster”, although Adobe doesn’t put a figure on the performance improvement.
‘Decluttered’ 3D model import
The ongoing overhaul of After Effects’ 3D toolset continues, although this time, the changes also only affect UI design.
The update “declutters” 3D model import, with only the main model file appearing at root level in the Project panel, not supporting files like textures.
New options for styling text using Expressions
There are also updates to the typography toolset, with users now able to use Expressions to control text styling on a per-character basis, as well as for an entire text layer.
The update also introduces new attributes for paragraph styling, making it possible to control text direction, justification, first-line indents and margins.
Price and system requirements
After Effects 25.0 is available for Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+ on a rental-only basis. Single-app After Effects subscriptions cost $34.49/month or $263.88/year.
In the online documentation, the update is also referred to as the October 2024 release or After Effects 2025.
Read more about the new features in After Effects 25.0 in the online release notes
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