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Vibe Coding in After Results: We created an AI plugin with NO coding expertise!

It’s now simpler than ever to make adjustments and add options to After Results with just a little assist from AI! After just a little investigation, we’ve tracked down the perfect instruments to create our personal expressions and plugins with AI, with completely no coding expertise.

Just lately we ran an article delving into vibe coding (Utilizing an AI assistant to code a program, web site or device). It’s a sizzling new time period that’s catching on quick, and its not only for web site design and gaming. Devs and dabblers in any respect ranges are turning After Results the other way up with AI-assisted scripts and patches, making it into their very own hot-wired, kit-bashed frankenstein of everybody’s favorite movement device.

What we love about vibe coding is that it will get AI engaged on the difficult right-brained backend of the software program, leaving the extra artistic components for us artistic people!

We seemed into What vibe coding means for movement design and how one can begin as we speak. Plus, we spoke to some business professionals about their tackle the colliding worlds of AI and AE.

Vibe coding isn’t a magic button—there’s undoubtedly nonetheless human effort concerned. However with the suitable AI instruments, you possibly can remedy difficult issues, pull off intelligent tips, and even construct instruments which may make you some money. Simply be prepared for just a little studying (and just a little endurance), particularly should you’re new to coding.

Venturing to the brand new frontier

Okay, again to the matter at hand. After just a little investigation, we recognized two distinct avenues for vibe coding in After Results: one easy and the opposite extra superior. Let’s use Adobe’s terminology and name them Instructions and Plugins respectively.

  • Instructions means writing expressions. Bits of code we are able to copy & paste into the properties of a layer like place & rotation.
  • Plugins covers something with a UI, like extensions, results and ScriptUI panels.

Beginning easy: Instructions

Writing instructions has change into exceedingly accessible. Utilizing low-cost and/or free AI assistants like ChatGPT, we have been capable of chat our solution to fixing a handful of artistic challenges in underneath half an hour. We managed with minimal coding expertise, however it helped to be conversant in After Results. In case you don’t know the boundaries, it may be laborious to push them, and understanding AE terminology helps loads. Right here’s what we requested Chat GPT to do (operating on a free account):

  • Draw strains between a number of transferring layers, and discover midpoints (or a precise % of the gap) between two layers.
  • Create a per-character textual content animation, however with variable fonts, compensating for letter measurement adjustments.
  • Create a radiating Mix between 2 shapes, the place the interpolated cases alter in realtime to place, measurement and rotation adjustments to the two base form layers.

How you can communicate to robots

Generic AI assistants haven’t any idea of how we would like them to talk, however as we found; an informal, pleasant and descriptive strategy to our prompts yielded essentially the most useful outcomes from ChatGPT. We additionally included options of strategies we expect ought to work:

The assistant could not get it proper the primary time, however in case you are clear about all of the transferring elements required, and clearly describe any points with the scripts it gives, AI can rapidly remedy challenges that may in any other case be deserted as too laborious or out of scope.

Chat GPT has an particularly good reminiscence of earlier interactions, and may repeat related options from earlier periods. That is very useful when constructing a relationship together with your synthetic assistant.One other device worthy of point out at this level is Klutz GPT from Hyper Brew, which brings Chat GPT proper inside After Results by way of a dockable panel.

Stepping it up: Plugins

As Movement Designers, We regularly want we might create a device that we are able to use repeatedly, share amongst teammates, and even monetize! That’s when plugins come in useful. There are a variety of approaches to creating plugins and we discovered that there are AI assistants ready to carry your hand wherever you go. Even should you don’t perceive the code, AI Brokers will let you know precisely what they’re doing and the operate of all recordsdata they create.

Software program

OK, so what in regards to the software program; what does one really do vibe coding with? Properly it may be any AI assistant, however the one which has everybody reeling proper now could be Claude*. Extra particularly Claude when used because the onboard assistant within the growth device Cursor. Cursor is an IDE (Built-in Improvement Instrument). IDE’s are apps that builders code with for myriad software program functions. Cursor’s a free desktop app, out there on-line, with paid subscriptions for superior options. There are a lot of completely different IDEs which do the identical issues (i.e. BS code, Visible Code, Windsurf & Tempolabs) however devs are flocking to Cursor for its value level, UX and integration with Claude.

*with Google’s Gemini a big contender.

How you can communicate to robots, half 2: Making a plugin

We determined to provide the Claude+Cursor workflow a attempt ourselves and have been amazed at how rapidly we have been capable of create our personal impact, operating as an extension proper inside After Results. We informed Claude within the chat window that we had no coding expertise, however we had the Adobe SDKs helpful. The chatbot helped us by means of every thing and we solely needed to retry a number of occasions (human error), with Claude suggesting a lot of fixes till it struck upon the a file naming error and our impact was working!

With the intention to begin easy, we started with the next immediate, mentioning a CEP, (bundle of recordsdata) as a result of it was one thing we got here throughout in our transient analysis: I’m attempting to create an impact panel for Adobe After Results. I think this might want to take the type of a CEP. I have no idea a lot coding and can want lots of assist.

At this level we didn’t specify a operate for our panel, as an alternative letting Claude dream up an concept. This freed us to concentrate on strolling earlier than we tried operating. The AI Agent got here up with a panel that may animate a blur on and off, primarily based on a few parameters:

Now it’s only a matter of nice tuning. That is a type of issues you are able to do 90% of within the first day, then the final 10% can take weeks, relying on how a lot of a perfectionist you’re.

Creation of our personal plugin: AEShapeFilly

Having efficiently created a Plugin of Claude’s invention, it was our flip. We determined to aim making a plugin that may take any form object and fill it with circles and squares of various sizes.Simply for example, we tried making a device to fill present shapes with a sample of circles. Let’s name it “Form Filly”.We began by creating a brand new native folder named “AEShapeFilly” and opened it in Cursor.

To open the Claude assistant in Cursor:

  1. Toggle open the AI Pane.
  2. Choose Claude-3.5-sonnet from the drop-down menu as your Agent.


We downloaded the After Results Panel SDK (right here) and added it to the folder (you must convert the pdf to rtf, or it might’t learn it), We then requested Claude to learn it and populate the folder with the required bundle of folders to start an After Results Plugin:

It pays to inform Cursor to not do something extra till requested.Subsequent we outline the meant Plug-in. Attempt to be particular and transient. Ask Claude to repeat it again earlier than continuing and counsel any additions, which you’ll be able to comply with or veto.

Claude got here again to us with an incredible abstract and some extra options, plus some ultimate affirmation earlier than creating the primary model of our new plugin.As per the SDK, it created an index.html file and the right folder construction with every thing in its proper place, in addition to a readme file.It explains every thing it has accomplished throughout the chat so that you don’t really want to take a look at the code, until you actually know what’s occurring underneath the hood.We confirmed that it sounded nice and requested the best way to set up. Claude gave us directions.

Typically it has to ask you to run a command to create some components. simply hit Run Command until it’s asking to destroy all people or one thing.We adopted a number of prompts from Claude, like including a CEP listing in our After Results Extensions folder, and presto, it was time to check our new Plugin!

The UI seemed nice, however once we hit apply nothing occurred. Time to report again to Claude and begin troubleshooting.

At this level, Claude often provides an error log to assist sniff out the problem. It additionally forgets to really reinstall the up to date builds as we undergo testing, so make sure to remind it.After just a little again and fourth, we received a outcome—our form layer was populated with dots, as requested! However there have been 2 points to repair: overlapping dots, and empty areas close to the curved borders of the form:

Within the subsequent few iterations, we went again and fourth with the AI, ironing out points round distribution of the dots till we had one thing that was wanting fairly neat!

The ultimate model of our Extension Panel: Form Filly, made with AI! In fact, we needed to attempt it out with the Envato brand.

The way forward for vibe coding is vivid

In case you’d wish to see what vibe coding on this planet of constructing web sites appears like, take a look at our brief course with Adi proper right here:

And this ultimate takeaway from James Whiffin actually sums up our investigation into vibe coding for After Results:

“The limitations are lowering yearly, however I feel AI instruments have sped this up considerably […] AI is only a device (a really highly effective one) however it’s how you utilize it. I might suggest individuals use it to get their toes moist in device growth, however to essentially dig deeper past counting on LLMs if they’re critical.”

We might say this expertise has impressed us to discover this avenue additional and discover extra prospects of Vibe Coding for After Results. It has additionally clarified the knowledge that Movement Designers will need to have a base understanding of code if they’re to outlive the long run we see for the self-discipline.