TL;DR: These two are close, closer than any other pair on this blog. Both are light, both are friendly, and both follow the same basic loop. The real deciding factors are price and a handful of specific touches. ;)
Short answer: these two are close, closer than any other pair on this blog. Both are light, both are friendly, and both follow the same basic loop. The real deciding factors are price and a handful of specific touches.
Physim is a physics simulator for After Effects built around a simple workflow. You tag layers, play the simulation, tweak gravity and the per-layer settings live from its Body and World panels, and when it looks right you hit apply and it bakes the motion to keyframes on null objects. It can even pull your existing keyframes into the sim. In other words, the live-tweak-then-bake loop and the per-layer physics that MatterAE is built on, Physim does too.
Where they genuinely overlap
- Live preview with settings you adjust while it runs
- Per-layer roles: MatterAE's five modes, Physim's static, dynamic and active
- Per-layer density, friction and bounciness
- A bake to real, editable keyframes when you are happy
So if anyone tells you one of these does something fundamental the other cannot, be a little skeptical. They really are cousins.
Where they differ
- Price. MatterAE is free to use with a 3-second bake cap, and $35 to lift it, one time. Physim is $125 as a one-time buy, or you reach it through Plugin Play's subscription (roughly $13 to $15 a month) that bundles a whole stack of plugins.
- What MatterAE adds: collision groups so you decide who passes through whom, hitboxes that follow the real shape with corner rounding and padding, optional collision markers for sound design, and a kinematic hold-then-release for reveals.
- What Physim adds: pulling existing keyframes into the simulation, and its own approach to text.
- The bake target. MatterAE bakes into a fresh comp of keyframes. Physim bakes onto null objects. A small difference, but worth knowing if you have a preference.
| MatterAE | Physim | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs live inside After Effects | Yes | Yes |
| Live tweak, then bake | Yes, into a new comp | Yes, onto nulls |
| Per-layer physics | 5 modes, density, friction, bounce | static / dynamic / active, density, friction, bounce |
| Extras | Collision groups, exact-shape hitboxes, collision markers, hold-then-release | Import existing keyframes into the sim, text handling |
| Price | Free, $35 to unlock unlimited baking | $125 one-time, or Plugin Play subscription (~$13-15/mo) |
So which one?
If you want the cheapest one-time price and the extra control of collision groups, exact-shape hitboxes and hold-then-release, MatterAE is the easy pick at $35. If you are already living in the Plugin Play ecosystem, or you specifically want to feed existing keyframes into a sim, Physim makes good sense. Try both, they are cheap or free to test, and trust your hands.
Trust your hands
MatterAE is free to use with a 3-second bake cap, so put the tweak-then-bake loop on a real shot and see if it fits how you work.