Motion design · 6 min read
Using Claude with After Effects: expressions, scripts and when to skip AE
Practical ways to use Claude in an After Effects workflow: writing expressions, automating comps with ExtendScript, bringing animations in via Lottie, and when to skip AE.
By Claude Video Team ·
Claude cannot click around After Effects, but it can remove a lot of the grind. Here is where it helps most, plus an honest note on when you do not need After Effects at all.
Expressions
Expressions are JavaScript, and Claude writes them reliably when you describe the behavior, the property and the layer setup. Good candidates:
- Overshoot and settle on scale or position (inertial bounce).
- A wiggle that fades out over time.
- A number counter driven by a Slider Control, with thousands separators.
- Looping a keyframed animation with loopOut variants.
- Linking a layer’s opacity to another layer’s position.
// Ask Claude: "inertial bounce on scale, settles in about 0.6s"
// Paste the result on the Scale property and adjust amp/freq/decay to taste.ExtendScript automation
For repetitive work, ask Claude for a script you run from File → Scripts: build one comp per row of a CSV, replace text across versions, batch-rename layers or render-queue everything with the same settings. Ask it to add an undo group so a single Undo reverts the whole script.
Bringing After Effects animations into Claude Video
Export an animation with Bodymovin as Lottie JSON. Claude Video’s Lottie scene plays it frame by frame inside your video, in sync with the rest of the film and the music.
When to skip After Effects
For SaaS launch films, product tours, social ads and release videos, most of the AE work is the same every time: titles, stats, UI zooms, transitions, a CTA. Claude Video lets Claude direct that whole film from a URL, so After Effects stays for the bespoke brand work where it shines.