MatterAE

changelog

What's new in MatterAE

Every meaningful change, newest first, with the two dates that shaped the whole story woven in. MatterAE moves fast, so this page does too.

v2.0.023 July 2026

The reason this took a while.

Added

  • Animators: stack procedural motion on any layer. No physics slider to touch. Wiggle drifts and shivers on its own, Float makes a layer light like a balloon, Pulse gives it a kick on every beat, Orbit circles the comp center or another layer, Swarm flocks a group together while keeping a polite distance, Return Home wanders a knocked-around layer back to where it started, Face Motion points a layer the way it is moving, and Look At Me turns it to face a target. Heartbeat and Inflate drive real Scale keyframes: a rhythmic pulse and a smooth grow-to-size. Duplicator, Cell Split, Pop and Crumble go further and create or remove real layers in the bake: Duplicator spawns copies of itself on a beat, Cell Split is honest mitosis (a cell dividing into a growing family), Pop bursts and shoves nearby layers away, Crumble breaks apart into scattered pieces. Stack up to 8 animators per layer, and most of them bake for free as ordinary keyframes with no extra bake time.
  • The Timeline: real keyframes, right in the panel. Arm gravity, wind, or any animator's own sliders with an After-Effects-style stopwatch, move the playhead, change the value, and MatterAE drops a real keyframe that drives the physics in preview AND in the bake. Drag a keyframe to move it, click a selected one to cycle its easing (Linear, Ease In, Ease Out, Easy Ease), Alt-click for a hold, Delete to remove it. Scrub the playhead and MatterAE re-simulates up to that exact frame, so what you see while scrubbing is exactly what the bake will produce.
  • The Shape Studio: draw physics shapes without leaving the panel. Rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, a freeform pen tool, drag handles to resize and rotate, a color per shape, and arrange tools to fix overlaps, duplicate or scatter a selection. A shape emitter spawns a stream of shapes over time with its own direction, spread, speed and size controls, and its own isolated preview so you can watch just the emitter at work. A Shape Studio-only project bakes into a fresh comp of its own; it never touches or duplicates an existing composition unless you also brought in real AE layers.

Changed

  • Force Field moved into the animator stack. It used to be its own layer-mode control; now it lives alongside every other animator. Existing Force Field setups keep working exactly the same, just from a different corner of the panel.
v1.8.29 July 2026

Added

  • Free educational licenses. MatterAE now takes a free EDU key right alongside the paid Pro license, verified entirely on your machine with no server call. While it is active the panel brands as "MatterAE Edu", baking runs at full length just like Pro with no 3 second cap, and you get a clear notice of the license's expiry date. When an EDU key expires the panel quietly drops back to free Lite mode at the next launch and points you to a renewal. Paste it into the same License field as a Pro key.
v1.8.17 July 2026

Fixed

  • Host connection failure right after updating to 1.8.0. A packaging bug in that build split the manifest's script-loading path across two lines, which stopped the host script from loading at all. Some people saw "MatterAE host script could not load" on every launch. Reinstalling this version fixes it, the panel connects to After Effects normally again.
v1.8.07 July 2026

A big one.

Added

  • Images with transparency become real physics shapes. Drop a PNG (or any other still image with an alpha channel) in your comp and import it: MatterAE traces the visible pixels into a collider that follows the actual silhouette, no masking, no manual tracing. An image containing several separate elements (scattered stars, cut-out letters) becomes separate colliding parts, just like a multi-path shape layer. Masked layers and shape layers keep working exactly as before, and anything that cannot be traced (missing footage, a format without alpha) still imports with a simple rectangular collider instead of failing. Big images are downsampled before tracing, so even a 4000px PNG imports smoothly.
  • Force Fields: turn any layer into a magnet. Set a layer to Attract or Repel and it pulls or pushes every other dynamic layer within a range you set, with real physics falloff (heavier layers pull harder, the effect fades with distance) and a safety floor so nothing launches violently up close. An optional "only my collision group" filter keeps a field's reach limited to just the layers you group it with, and a range circle with direction arrows shows exactly where it reaches, right in the preview.
  • Sensor zones for triggering Kinematic and Sleeping layers. Drop an invisible rectangular zone into your scene and wire it to wake a sleeping layer or kick off a kinematic animation the moment something enters it, instead of relying on a direct hit. A guided "Edit Sensor Mode" dims everything else while you drag its corners into place, so you can never lose track of what you are editing. Sensors never bake into your AE comp and never push anything themselves.
  • Wind gets a direction dial and real turbulence. Drag a dial to aim the wind and set its strength, instead of tuning X and Y separately. Two new sliders, Turbulence and Gust Speed, turn a dead-flat push into natural gusting and swinging; leave Turbulence at zero and wind behaves exactly as before. Gusts are fully reproducible: baking the same comp twice gives you the identical result, and the bake always matches what you saw in preview.
  • Open stroked paths become solid colliders automatically. A line or drawn squiggle, just a stroke with no fill, used to have no collision area at all. MatterAE now expands it into a solid shape that matches the stroke's width and end caps (butt, round or projecting), so ropes, drawn lines and thin shapes collide properly with no extra steps. If the same layer also has a filled shape, both become one connected physics object like always.
  • Kinematic layers now follow expressions, not just keyframes. A layer with a wiggle, a loop, or any other expression driving its position, rotation or scale, even with zero keyframes, now imports as Kinematic and drives the sim exactly like a keyframed layer would.
v1.7.33 July 2026

Added

  • Zero-G world preset. One pick sets gravity to zero in both directions and leaves bounce, friction and air resistance at sensible values, so shapes float and drift instead of falling. A clean starting point for weightless, floaty scenes that you can fine-tune from there.

Changed

  • Kinematic layers push with real force while driven. A layer moving along its own After Effects keyframes now shoves the shapes it touches with force that matches how fast it is actually moving, instead of the soft, speed-independent nudge it gave before. The push now looks consistent right through the moment its keyframes end and it releases into physics.
  • Batch "Release into". With several kinematic layers selected, changing the "Release into" dropdown now applies to all of them at once instead of only the row you clicked, matching every other per-layer control.

Fixed

  • Shapes rotate at zero gravity. With gravity turned all the way down to zero in both directions, floating shapes used to freeze solid and stop reacting, so nudging them or dropping others onto them did nothing (setting gravity to a tiny 0.1 was the old workaround). They now stay awake in a true zero-gravity scene and tumble on contact, while normal gravity still lets resting shapes settle and sleep exactly as before.
v1.7.23 July 2026

Added

  • Scale is now supported on kinematic layers. Animate a layer's scale in After Effects and MatterAE grows, shrinks and stretches its collider right along with it, so a scaling shape shoves everything else around exactly as you would expect. Non-uniform stretches are handled too.
  • Choose what a kinematic layer does when its keyframes end. Release it into physics carrying its launch speed (Dynamic), freeze it in place so other shapes still bounce off it (Static), or freeze it and let everything pass through (Dead). It is saved, copied and undone like every other per-layer setting.
  • Keyframed layers arrive as Kinematic. Any layer with position, rotation or scale keyframes now imports as Kinematic automatically, so it drives the sim without you switching its mode by hand. Reloading or updating never overrides a mode you set yourself.
  • Rotate a start pose by hand. With one layer selected, hover just outside it and drag to spin its starting orientation around its own center. Hovering over the shape still moves it, and the rotation sticks through Reset and Play.
  • Cleaner text-to-shapes. Converting text names each new shape layer MAE-TXT and defaults it to a Convex Hull hitbox, which is the best collider for individual letters.

Changed

  • Tidier layer list. Hidden (eyeball-off) layers now group at the bottom of the list on import, so your active layers stay together at the top.
  • A calmer busy indicator. Quick jobs no longer flash a full-screen overlay, Play and Reset show a small corner spinner that never covers the running sim, and the overlay for the long jobs keeps animating so you can always see it is still working rather than looking stuck.

Fixed

  • The hand tool grabs where you click. Dragging a shape by its edge now keeps that exact spot under your cursor, instead of snapping the shape's center to the pointer the moment you start dragging.
  • Stretched kinematic scale stays put. A kinematic layer with non-uniform (stretched) scale no longer grows a little more on every preview reset, so it can never balloon into a giant shape that bakes wild, erratic keyframes when it releases into physics.
  • Importing keeps you in MatterAE. Bringing in parametric shapes (rectangles, ellipses and stars) no longer jumps focus to the Composition panel or hides a docked MatterAE tab behind it.
  • Inactive layers stay in the background. A layer imported with its AE visibility off (Inactive) now draws behind every other layer in the preview, instead of sometimes sitting on top of the shapes that are simulating.
v1.7.124 June 2026

Fixed

  • Convex Hull keeps its start position. Switching a layer to the Convex Hull hitbox no longer nudges where it starts in the bake. It bakes from exactly where you placed it, the same as an exact shape, and any drag you made is kept.
  • Convert to Bezier stays out of your way. Running "Convert shapes to Bezier" from the start screen no longer pulls focus and hides a docked MatterAE panel behind the Composition tab. The panel stays where it is.
  • Duplicate layer names. Two After Effects layers with the same name both come in correctly now, and each one bakes back to the right layer instead of one going missing or baking twice.
  • Works in localized After Effects. Text-to-shapes conversion and the baked constraint visuals (pins, springs, ropes and coils) now work on German, Dutch and other non-English versions of After Effects.
  • Steadier first action. Far fewer "Empty result from ExtendScript" errors on a fresh or minimal After Effects setup, and a sturdier first action while AE is still warming up. MatterAE waits a little longer, then quietly reloads its link to After Effects and retries instead of failing on that first call.
v1.7.021 June 2026

Added

  • Draggable anchors on every constraint. Rigid links, springs and ropes now show the same draggable crosshair anchors that pins always had. Grab one in the preview and it re-attaches to the exact spot on the shape under your cursor, with its own clear color so handles and lines stand out against your artwork.
  • Anchors that stick to the shape. A moved anchor stays glued to its spot as the body slides and spins through the sim, and a double-click snaps it back to the natural attachment point.
  • Self-measuring length. Let go of a dragged anchor and the constraint re-measures itself, so springs and ropes settle on a sensible length on their own.
  • Pin to Object, a real hinge. Pin one layer to another so it swings around a shared pivot. It is only offered when the two shapes actually overlap, so you cannot build a hinge that makes no sense.
  • A proper Rope constraint (it replaces Create Chain). Connect layers with an actual physics rope that swings and droops like the real thing, shown as one tidy rope: one row, one preview line, one baked result, instead of a stiff, faked sag.
  • Smoothness, Slack and Stiffness sliders for ropes. Smoothness sets how finely the rope is divided, Slack adds length over the straight gap (zero is taut and dead straight), and Stiffness runs from an unstretchy steel cable to a bouncy bungee.
  • Ropes start already settled. A new rope hangs in its natural resting shape on the very first frame instead of a straight line, and reset returns it to that shape.
  • Copy and paste rope settings onto other ropes, which re-fit and re-hang to match. Rope settings only paste onto ropes, never onto rigid links or springs.
  • Recalc Ropes button. When a gravity or wind change, or dragging a layer a rope is tied to, throws off a rope's starting shape, one click re-fits every rope to the new gap between its ends and lets them settle again.
  • Constraints can draw themselves in the baked comp. A new "Render Constraints in AE" option in the Bake panel, on by default, builds live visuals for your constraints right in the new comp after you bake.
  • Springs bake as a real coil that stretches, squashes and rotates with the two layers, with Coils and Width controls and an optional setting that thins the coil as it extends.
  • Chains and ropes bake as one smooth shape that follows every link like an organic rope, named after the two layers it joins (like MatterAE_Rope_Circle-Square). A slack rope sags into a natural curve that deepens as its ends come together.
  • Rigid links and hinges bake cleanly too: a rigid link as a straight line between its two anchors across the whole timeline, a hinge as a small pivot marker that tracks the joint.
  • Convex Hull hitbox. A new per-layer hitbox that wraps a shape in its simplest solid outline. It is the most stable option, ideal for kinetic text and other detailed shapes that spike or jitter as exact shapes.
  • Smarter shape handling. Shapes that are already close to convex come in as one clean body instead of being chopped up, and stray near-zero-thickness slivers are filtered out, so complex outlines stop shooting spikes.

Changed

  • The Spike Filter is now "Simplify", and reworked. It smooths complex outlines more predictably across font sizes and shape scales, reads in real pixels (default 0.1, up to 2), and takes a typed value straight in.
  • Steadier multi-select, and constraints link in order. You can chain layers together in the exact sequence you click them.
  • Linked layers stop fighting each other. Connecting layers automatically turns off collisions between the linked bodies, so a chain or rope no longer jams itself up.
  • Corner Rounding only where it helps. Rounding is now offered on the hitbox types where it looks good (Convex Hull and the auto rectangle and circle) and hidden on Exact Shape, where it only thickened and roughened the outline.
  • A tidier Constraints panel. Click a row to select it and open its settings from the caret, with Copy, Paste and Delete moved up to the shared action toolbar. Layers and Constraints are now both collapsible sections with the toolbar pinned above them.
  • Fewer helper layers after baking. All the baked constraint visuals now share a single control layer instead of one per anchor point, so your timeline stays clean even with a many-segment rope.

Fixed

  • Anchor reset is reliable now. Double-clicking to reset an anchor returns it to its true original spot, and pin anchors no longer drift along with the shape when you reset them.
  • No more crash while drawing baked constraints. Fixed an error during constraint rendering that could interrupt a bake.
  • Constraint rows stay put while you tune them. Dragging a rope or constraint slider no longer snaps the open row shut, and the settings panel opens again from the caret (it had become unclickable after the panel rework).
  • Shift-click select keeps working after Reload All Layers. The preview's mouse handlers were stacking up on each reload and double-firing your selection.
  • Steadier startup on newer After Effects. The panel now waits long enough for a slow scripting engine to come online instead of giving up early and losing contact with AE.
v1.6.314 June 2026

Added

  • Marquee select in the preview. Drag a box across empty space to grab every shape inside it. Hold Shift to add to what you already have selected.
  • Drag to select in the layer list. Click and drag down the rows to grab a whole range of layers at once.
  • Auto-scroll. Click a shape in the preview and the layer list jumps straight to that layer, so comps with 100+ layers stay easy to move around.
  • Multi-pin. "Pin to World" now works with several layers selected and pins them all in one go.
  • Copy and paste constraint settings. Copy one constraint's tuning and paste it onto other constraints of the same type, including onto several at once.
  • An instant loading overlay for the heavy jobs (bake, update layers, save project). It pops up right away, shows a progress bar, and cycles through physics-themed one-liners while it works, then closes itself when it is done.

Changed

  • Kinematic layers now reliably wake sleeping layers on impact. A dozing layer that gets hit by a kinematic layer moving along its keyframe path wakes up and reacts straight away, while still being allowed to sleep the rest of the time to keep things smooth.

Fixed

  • Hardened the action toolbar so a missing element can no longer crash the panel.
  • Cleaned up the bake routine under the hood for more reliable bakes.
v1.6.211 June 2026

Changed

  • The free version now lets you simulate and preview for the full length of your timeline. Only the bake to AE is still capped at 3 seconds.
  • Set a duration longer than 3 seconds in the free version and you get a clear heads-up about the bake limit, instead of the field snapping back on you.
  • A reminder now sits in the Bake panel while you are unlicensed and over 3 seconds, so nothing about the limit catches you out.
  • The "Licensed to:" text is now a calm gray instead of a green badge, so it blends into the panel.
v1.6.111 June 2026

Added

  • New Spike Filter slider per layer. If a tricky shape shoots out weird spikes, nudge it up. If it looks too blocky, nudge it down. Live preview while you drag, double-click to reset, and it applies across a whole selection.

Changed

  • Smoother shapes out of the box: complex outlines come in less angular than before.
v1.6.011 June 2026

A big one.

Added

  • Collision groups (1 to 8). Layers in the same group pass through each other but still hit everything else. Colored badges in the list and outlines in the preview show who is grouped with who, and a "Select Group" button grabs the whole group in one click.
  • Per-layer hitboxes. Use the exact shape, or swap in a circle or rectangle for speed. Pad the collision edge in or out, round off corners so things roll, and MatterAE even reads your stroke width so stroked shapes collide on their visible edge.
  • Chains, springs, rigid links and pins. Build a rope or necklace, spring things together, or pin a shape to a point and let it swing. A max-stretch limit keeps things from flying apart.
  • Three timing modes for Kinematic layers: follow your AE keyframes from their original time, start straight away, or hold until something hits it.
  • Text workflow. Bring in text and MatterAE offers to turn it into shapes, split it into one layer per letter, or leave it. Plus a Split Shape Layers tool that turns one busy shape layer into separate physics objects.
  • A smarter import grid: reload selected, reload all, refresh geometry while keeping your settings, or add new layers without touching what is already there. Hidden layers come in as Inactive automatically.
  • Collision markers on bake, so your sound design lines up to the frame.
  • A Sync button that pulls your comp's duration into the panel.
  • Copy and paste a layer's full setup onto any other layer, and randomize weights across a selection.
  • World presets: Default, Bouncy Castle, Slippery Ice, Moon Gravity, Heavy Sludge. Plus Static Friction and Sleep Threshold sliders, a reset button, and tooltips all over.

Changed

  • The layer panel got a full redesign into compact, AE-timeline-style rows.
  • Friendlier names throughout: Bounciness, Air Resistance, Weight and Corner Rounding, instead of the technical terms.
  • Kinematic layers now wait for their first keyframe by default.

Fixed

  • Plenty. Shift multi-select is reliable now, layers no longer spawn stuck together, kinematic bodies never fall asleep mid-sim (so hold-then-release always works), padded hitboxes no longer break collisions, and complex letters fall back gracefully instead of turning into a mess.
★ Milestone8 June 2026 · 18:13 UTC

We took it to Reddit

One honest post on r/AfterEffects, asking whether to just release the plugin for free after the marketplace said no. The thread blew up, the advice in it shaped the free-with-a-bake-cap model, and the encouragement carried MatterAE to where it is now. This milestone belongs to the redditors.

I built a physics plugin for After Effects, got rejected by the biggest AE marketplace, and now I'm thinking of just releasing it for free. What do you think?
by u/dufkens in AfterEffects
v1.5.55 June 2026
  • Undo 30 steps deep, the hand tool for repositioning shapes, typable slider values, and per-layer weight affecting fall, momentum and bounce.
v1.5.41 June 2026
  • Cleaner shape reading and a scrollable layer panel.
v1.5.327 May 2026
  • Better handling of nested shape groups.
v1.5.221 May 2026
  • Rotation bake fixes.
v1.5.016 May 2026
  • Inactive layer mode, mode colors in the preview, multi-path shapes, import all layers, and convert to bezier.
v1.4.02 May 2026
  • The split-panel layout, welcome screen, Kinematic mode, save and load inside your AE project, and the "show outside comp" view.
★ Milestone24 April 2026

Rejected by the marketplace

The biggest After Effects plugin marketplace turned MatterAE down for "duplicate functionality". It stung for about a day. Then it became the pitch, and it is still the first line on the home page.

v1.3.014 April 2026
  • The real physics engine landed, with file-based bake transfer and smoother simulation.
v1.0.030 March 2026
  • First release: read shapes, preview live, bake to a new comp.

Drop something. Watch it land.

Free to try with the whole plugin in your hands, or unlock it fully for $35, once, no subscription.

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