🎬 After Effects MCP Server

🎬 After Effects MCP Server

✨ A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Adobe After Effects that enables AI assistants and other applications to control After Effects through a standardized protocol.

Table of Contents

• Features
  • Core Composition Features
  • Layer Management
  • Animation Capabilities
• Setup Instructions
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Update MCP Config
  • Running the Server
• Usage Guide
  • Creating Compositions
  • Working with Layers
  • Animation
• Available MCP Tools
• For Developers
  • Project Structure
  • Building the Project
  • Contributing
• License

📦 Features

🎥 Core Composition Features

• Create compositions with custom settings (size, frame rate, duration, background color)
• List all compositions in a project
• Get project information such as frame rate, dimensions, and duration

🧱 Layer Management

• Create text layers with customizable properties (font, size, color, position)
• Create shape layers (rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star) with colors and strokes
• Create solid/adjustment layers for backgrounds and effects
• Create camera layers with configurable zoom and position
• Create null objects for animation control
• Modify layer properties like position, scale, rotation, opacity, timing
• Toggle 2D/3D mode for layers
• Set blend modes (normal, multiply, screen, etc.)
• Track matte support (alpha, luma, inverted)
• Duplicate layers with optional rename
• Delete layers from composition
• Create/modify masks with feather, expansion, and opacity

🌀 Animation Capabilities

• Set keyframes for layer properties (Position, Scale, Rotation, Opacity, etc.)
• Apply expressions to layer properties for dynamic animations
• Batch set properties across multiple layers at once

⚙️ Setup Instructions

🛠 Prerequisites

• Adobe After Effects (2022 or later)
• Node.js (v14 or later)
• npm or yarn package manager

📥 Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Dakkshin/after-effects-mcp.git
   cd after-effects-mcp
   

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   # or
   yarn install
   

3. Build the project

   npm run build
   # or
   yarn build
   

4. Install the After Effects panel

   npm run install-bridge
   # or
   yarn install-bridge
   

   This will copy the necessary scripts to your After Effects installation.

🔧 Update MCP Config

Option 1: Using .mcp.json (Recommended for Claude Code)

The repository includes a .mcp.json file for easy configuration. Copy or reference it in your MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "AfterEffectsMCP": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["PATH/TO/after-effects-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Manual Configuration

Go to your client (e.g., Claude or Cursor) and update your config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "AfterEffectsMCP": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\Dakkshin\\after-effects-mcp\\build\\index.js"]
    }
  }
}

▶️ Running the Server

1. Start the MCP server

   npm start
   # or
   yarn start
   

2. Open After Effects

3. Open the MCP Bridge Auto panel

   • In After Effects, go to Window > mcp-bridge-auto.jsx
   • The panel will automatically check for commands every few seconds
   • Make sure the "Auto-run commands" checkbox is enabled

🚀 Usage Guide

Once you have the server running and the MCP Bridge panel open in After Effects, you can control After Effects through the MCP protocol. This allows AI assistants or custom applications to send commands to After Effects.

📘 Creating Compositions

You can create new compositions with custom settings:

• Name
• Width and height (in pixels)
• Frame rate
• Duration
• Background color

Example MCP tool usage (for developers):

mcp_aftereffects_create_composition({
  name: "My Composition", 
  width: 1920, 
  height: 1080, 
  frameRate: 30,
  duration: 10
});

✍️ Working with Layers

You can create and modify different types of layers:

Text layers:

• Set text content, font, size, and color
• Position text anywhere in the composition
• Adjust timing and opacity

Shape layers:

• Create rectangles, ellipses, polygons, and stars
• Set fill and stroke colors
• Customize size and position

Solid layers:

• Create background colors
• Make adjustment layers for effects

🕹 Animation

You can animate layers with:

Keyframes:

• Set property values at specific times
• Create motion, scaling, rotation, and opacity changes
• Control the timing of animations

Expressions:

• Apply JavaScript expressions to properties
• Create dynamic, procedural animations
• Connect property values to each other

🛠 Available MCP Tools

Command	Description
create-composition	Create a new composition
run-script	Run a JS script inside AE
get-results	Get script results
get-help	Help for available commands
setLayerKeyframe	Add keyframe to layer property
setLayerExpression	Add/remove expressions from properties
setLayerProperties	Set layer properties (position, scale, rotation, opacity, blendMode, threeDLayer, trackMatteType, enabled, etc.)
batchSetLayerProperties	Apply properties to multiple layers
getLayerInfo	Get layer info (position, 3D status)
createCamera	Create camera layer
createNullObject	Create null object for animation
duplicateLayer	Duplicate a layer
deleteLayer	Delete a layer
setLayerMask	Create/modify layer masks

👨‍💻 For Developers

🧩 Project Structure

• src/index.ts: MCP server implementation
• src/scripts/mcp-bridge-auto.jsx: Main After Effects panel script
• install-bridge.js: Script to install the panel in After Effects

📦 Building the Project

npm run build
# or
yarn build

Note: This project uses esbuild for fast builds, replacing the previous TypeScript compiler approach that could run out of memory on larger codebases.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.