STATES for After Effects

STATES for After Effects

Primary Keyphrase: layer states manager script

Description:
Download STATES for After Effects v1.0.0 on Windows and Mac, a revolutionary plugin designed to solve one of the biggest pain points in motion design and editing: managing revisions and creative iterations . STATES allows you to create and switch between multiple “states” without duplicating compositions or saving countless versions of your project . This powerful tool lets you experiment freely and keep multiple design variations organized in one place, preventing project bloat and timeline clutter .

Key Features of STATES v1.0.0:

• Non-Destructive Experimentation: Create and switch between multiple design “states” without copying comps or saving dozens of project files, keeping your workspace clean and organized .
• Simplified Revision Management: Store different design variations within a single project, eliminating the confusion of finding the right “final_v7b” version .
• No Performance Lag: Unlike expression-based solutions, STATES runs smoothly with no performance hit, ensuring a fluid creative process .
• Complete Creative Freedom: Experiment with motion, color, or layout changes, knowing you can instantly revert or compare variations without losing progress .
• Store Values & Create Presets: STATES stores values of properties, animations, and effects. Create reusable presets for individual layers or entire compositions to streamline your workflow .
• Render All States & Create Mogrts: Render out all your parameter animations and turn them into templates for Motion Graphics Templates (Mogrts), perfect for client presentations and template creation .
• Better Client Workflow: Showcase multiple ideas, track revisions, and adapt quickly without ever overwriting your work or losing progress .

Perfect For:

• Motion designers and animators who need to manage multiple creative iterations efficiently .
• Character animators creating complex rigs with multiple pose variations .
• Template creators building Mogrts with switchable design options .
• Anyone tired of duplicating compositions just to try out different design ideas .

System Requirements:

• Adobe After Effects (version compatibility per documentation)
• Windows 10/11 (64-bit) or macOS
• 4GB RAM minimum (8GB+ recommended)
• 50MB available disk space
• Enable “Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network” in Preferences > Scripting & Expressions

Installation:
Copy the script file to your After Effects ScriptUI Panels folder:

• Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects [version]\Support Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels\
• Mac: /Applications/Adobe After Effects [version]/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels/

Access via Window menu > STATES

Note: Version 1.0.0 is the initial release of this powerful iteration management tool . STATES is an essential plugin for any designer who wants to experiment freely while keeping their projects organized and efficient .

STATES stores values of properties, animations, and effects. Create reusable pre-sets for individual layers or entire compositions. Render all states ! Turn them to a template for Mogrts!

The States plugin is designed to solve one of the biggest pain points in motion design and editing: managing revisions and creative iterations inside After Effects. Normally, if you want to try different looks, experiment with animation ideas, or create multiple variations for clients, you’re forced to either duplicate compositions, save separate project files, or rely on complex expressions. That quickly leads to bloated projects, confusion, and wasted time.

What States does:

• Non-destructive experimentation – You can create and switch between multiple “states” of your composition without duplicating comps or saving endless versions.
• ️ Simplified revision management – Keep different design variations neatly organized inside one project. No more guessing which “Final_v7b” is the right one.
• No slowdown – Unlike expression-based solutions that can make previews sluggish, States runs smoothly without performance penalties.
• ️Creative freedom – Experiment freely with motion, colors, or layout changes knowing you can instantly roll back or compare variations.
• Better client workflow – Present multiple ideas, track revisions, and adapt quickly without risking lost progress or overwriting work.

In short, States acts like a “snapshot system” for your comps. Instead of cluttering your project with duplicates, you save “states” of your composition that you can switch between instantly. This keeps your workflow clean, flexible, and efficient—perfect for both experimenting creatively and managing endless client feedback cycles.

Whether you’re a designer exploring looks, an animator refining motion, a character artist syncing dialogue, or a templator building flexible systems, States keeps your project cleaner, faster, and more experimental-friendly. It essentially gives any After Effects user the ability to work like they have multiple timelines inside one comp — no duplication, no mess, just instant creative flexibility.

How To Use ?

1. Save Any Property Value

Every property in After Effects — position, scale, opacity, color, text settings, effects, even keyframe values — can be stored as a State.

• Example: You’ve animated a text layer’s position but want to try a different entrance. Save the first version as a State, tweak the motion, and save the new version as another State. Both are stored without duplicating the comp.

2. Combine Multiple Values into Layer States

Instead of just saving one property, you can group multiple property variations into a Layer State.

• Example: On a logo layer, you can save one Layer State with a “bounce scale-up” animation and another with a “fade-in + slide” animation.
• Switch instantly between those two animation sets without affecting anything else in the comp.

3. Build Full Project Styles from Layer State Variations

Here’s where it gets powerful: you can mix and match Layer States across your whole comp to create Project Styles.

• Example: Imagine you’re building a brand ad. You can have:
  • Style A: Clean typography, pastel color palette, smooth easing.
  • Style B: Bold typography, dark theme, snappy easing.
  • Style C: Playful typography, bright palette, bouncy animation.
• Each style is just a combination of saved Layer States — no duplicate comps, no extra project files.

4. Switch, Compare, and Iterate

Once your States are saved, you can:

• Instantly swap between different looks.
• Compare client feedback options quickly.
• Safely experiment without worrying about losing work.

It’s like having snapshots + versions + alternate timelines, all built into your comp, but way cleaner and faster.

Save properties → group them into Layer States → combine them into Project Styles → swap instantly.

Render all your global states with one click!

Create a template from your options with a single button! Great for MOGRTs

Quickly select the property you want to edit next!

Apply animations at Playhead time

Meta States! Animation presets on steroids!

Known Issues:

UI not draggable on Mac. Will be fixed soon.

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