Link
Any path, any layer.
- Masks on any layer, shape paths, or keyframed motion
- Link one or many layers in one click
- Switch path any time, timing kept
- Moved, scaled and parented path layers work
Coming soon Panel for After Effects
Any layer. Any path.
Select your layers, pick a mask or a shape path, press Link. One 0–100 slider moves them along it at a steady speed, turned to follow it. Space several out, put text on a path, reshape or animate the path and everything follows.
1click to link
0–100Progress slider
3ways to space layers
0keyframes on the path
How it works
Select. Link. Ride.
No pasting keyframes into masks, no fixing speed by hand. Link once and drive everything from one slider.
The tour is on its wayVideo placeholder · PathIt in actionComing soon
Select
Pick the layers you want to move: one, a few, or one layer per letter.
Link
Choose a mask or shape path, or turn keyframed motion into a path. One click.
Ride
Drag Progress from 0 to 100, or let PathIt key it with your easing and loop.
Everything inside
Four sections. Everything a path needs.
Ride
One slider drives it.
- Progress 0–100 at a steady speed
- Animate for me: duration, easing, stop, loop or go back
- Offset and Reverse
- Paths that animate are followed live
Style
Turns, spacing, scale.
- Turn with the path, rotation offset, Bank
- Several layers by gap, evenly or by delay
- Side offset, scale start to end, fade at the ends
- Text on a path, one layer per letter
Export
Native and editable.
- One PathIt effect per layer, plain expressions
- Projects render without PathIt installed
- Bake to keyframes
- Unlink and keep every layer where it is
The details
Made for real projects.
Steady speed, always
PathIt measures the path, so 50% is halfway along it, not halfway between two vertices.
Reshape and it follows
Drag a vertex, animate the mask, move the path layer: everything riding it updates.
Text on a path, properly
Each letter is its own layer, spaced along the path and turned with it, so you can still animate them one by one.
Trains, orbits, swarms
Space layers by a gap, spread them evenly round a closed path, or delay each one.
From your keyframes
Turn a position you already animated into a path, reshape it, and drive it with the slider.
Same family, same feel
PathIt sits next to MotionKit, RigKit, BlendIt and SplashIt: the same panel design, the same way of working.
Install
Three steps, one minute.
PathIt is a signed extension, like the rest of MotionLabs. No Terminal, no developer tools. Same steps on macOS and Windows.
Get PathIt
One signed .zxp file. Coming soon — join the MotionLabs Discord to hear first.
Install it with one drag
Get the free ZXP Installer from aescripts, open it and drag the .zxp onto the window.
Open it
Restart After Effects, then Window → Extensions → PathIt.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is it out?
Not yet. This page shows the prototype: the previews run the same maths the panel will use.
Do I need PathIt to render the project?
No. It writes plain expressions and one effect per layer, so the project opens and renders anywhere.
Can the path move?
Yes. Animate the mask or move, scale or parent the path layer, and the linked layers follow.
Can I still keyframe things myself?
Yes. Key Progress however you like, or bake everything to normal keyframes.
Which versions of After Effects?
After Effects 2023 and later, on macOS and Windows.