Use this site to see when features were added to Adobe After Effects.

For recent additions to After Effects, visit helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/whats-new.html.

Developer	Date	Icon	Version	Codename	Major features added
CoSA	January 1993		1.0	Egg	Layered compositing with mask, effect, transforms, keyframes; Mac only
	May 1993		1.1		More effects
Aldus	January 1994		2.0	Teriyaki	Time Layout window, image sequence support, motion blur, multi-machine rendering, frame blending, proxies
	May 1994		2.0.1		Power Macintosh version (PPC)
Adobe	October 1995		3.0	Nimchow	Render queue, bezier masking, time remapping, keyframe assistants (wiggler, motion sketch, smoother), multiple effects per layer, advanced keying, velocity graph, 1/2/4 point motion tracking, motion math, first Japanese version, layer transfer modes, continuously rasterize Illustrator files, Photoshop as comp import with layer/transfer mode/alpha channel support, 3:2 pulldown, non-square pixel support
	April 1996		3.1		File formats, multiprocessing; last Mac 680x0 version
	May 1997		3.1 (Windows 95/NT)	Dancing Monkey	First Windows version, contextual menus, first French and German versions; in November 1997, Path Text effect and Animated GIF output were released for free to registered users of 3.1
	January 1999		4.0	ebeer	Tabbed windows, movable time layout columns, multiple masks per layer, warping effects, particle playground, audio effects, transform effect, adjustment layers, align palette, rulers and guides, RAM preview, glows/blurs no longer clip at layer edge, Premiere import, Illustrator layers support, label colors in timeline; first simultaneous Mac and Windows release
	September 1999		4.1	Batnip	Flowchart view, watch folder, 3D channel effects, collect files command, auto deinterlacing, sequence layers, save favorite effects (.ffx), separate text fill/stroke, 30,000×30,000 image support
	April 2001		5.0	Melmet	3D layers, 3D lights, dynamic previews, parenting, vector paint, expressions, pick whip, draw/edit masks in comp window, integration of Atomic Power plug-ins (foam, wave world, card dance, shatter, vegas), 16 bits per channel color, Illustrator transparency support, SWF export, mask colors, mask motion blur, mask expansion, RAM Preview region of interest, Photoshop 6 vector mask import, PDF import, solo switch, scrubbable property values, custom workspaces, effect reordering, PAR correction, reveal file on disk, reduce project, trim comp to work area, >2GB movie output
	January 7, 2002		5.5	Fauxfu	Advanced 3D renderer, multiple 3D views, import camera data, colored shadows, projection layers, effects palette, post render actions, advanced lightning, adjustment layer lights, smart mask, looping via expressions, RealMedia output, expression controllers, Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator Classic bundled; first OS X version
	August 2003		6.0	Foodfite	Paint, scripting, text layers and animators, editable Photoshop text layers, OpenGL support, new motion tracker, Rotobezier, Keylight, Liquify, Scribble, Dust & Scratches, background rendering of RAM Previews
	June 16, 2004		6.5	Chambant	Advanced clone tool, presets gallery, grain management, integration of Cycore Effects plug-ins, Color Finesse bundling, disk caching, Firewire video output, interface light/dark controls, motion track with scale, Grain Surgery bundling, AAF and OMF support
	January 2006		7.0	Clamchop	New unified window UI, timewarp, graph editor, OpenGL 2.0 support, 32 bpc HDR color, 32-bit audio, Adobe Bridge support, display color management, dynamic link with Premiere Pro, script editor, auto save, Photoshop file creation, smart blur, lens blur, per-character text blurring, first Spanish and Italian versions
	July 2, 2007		CS3 (8.0)	Metaloaf	Shape layers, puppet tool, brainstorm, clip notes, Photoshop vanishing point import, adaptive motion blur, per character 3D text animation, real-time audio playback, simultaneous multi-frame rendering, SWF vector import, 32-bit linear blending, full color management; first Universal Binary Intel Mac version
	February 22, 2008		CS3 (8.0.2)	Loafdot	Panasonic P2 support; last Mac PowerPC version
	September 23, 2008		CS4 (9.0)	Chinchillada	QuickSearch in the project and timeline, mini-flowchart, breadcrumbs, live PSD 3D layer import, separate XYZ, Imagineer Mochabundled, cartoon effect, XFL export, XML export, XMP metadata
	December 10, 2008		CS4 (9.0.1)	Chinchidotta	RED R3D file support (via REDCODE v1.3 plugin)
	May 29, 2009		CS4 (9.0.2)	Lottadotta	Clip-level RED R3D support (via REDCODE v1.7 plugin), XDCAM HD (Avid-style MXF) support
	October 6, 2010		CS4 (9.0.3)	Yaddadotta	Fixes "locking existing frames" message delay at start of RAM preview, decreased performance due to Wacom driver conflict, aerender not shutting down background processes, and miscellaneous crashes especially on Mac OS X 10.5 during drag-and-drop operations
	April 30, 2010		CS5 (10.0)	Esgocart	64-bit native (mandatory) on OS X and Windows, Roto Brush tool, Refine Matte effect, mocha v2, LUT support, AVC-Intra import and improved RED (R3D) support, Align panel improvements, Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse 3, Digieffects FreeForm, auto-keyframe mode, animated GIF export functionality removed.
	September 3, 2010		CS5 (10.0.1)	Esgodot	RED updates (color science v2, ROCKET, RMD metadata), improved LUT compatibility (.3dl with floating-point values or 3DMESH/Mesh keywords, or saved from ASSIMILATE SCRATCH systems), updates to bundled third-party plug-ins
	April 8, 2011		CS5 (10.0.2)	Esgodoh	Fixes an "Unexpected data type" error opening project with missing effects, a crash with Directional Blur and other effects on computers with 16 or more logical processors, and a crash opening a composition created by Automatic Duck Pro Import AE.
	April 11, 2011		CS5.5 (10.5)	Codname	Warp Stabilizer effect, Camera Lens Blur and camera layer improvements for depth-of-field and bokeh, source timecode support and Timecode effect enhancements, stereoscopic 3D rig creation and improved 3D Glasses effect, light falloff, CinemaDNG import, expanded RED (R3D) features, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD output, integration with Adobe Audition CS5.5, save project as CS5.
	June 30, 2011		CS5.5 (10.5.1)	Codot	Fixes for delay when typing in a text layer if mouse pointer was above the Composition panel, and inability to use an upgrade serial number.
	April 23, 2012		CS6 (11.0)	SpinalTapas	Global Performance Cache, 3D Camera Tracker, ray-traced and extruded text and shapes, variable-width mask feather, Automatic Duck Pro Import for importing projects from other applications, including Final Cut Pro and Avid software, new and improved GPU acceleration features, Rolling Shutter Repair effect, Mocha for After Effects CS6, new and updated effects. Live PSD 3D layer import was removed.
	May 25, 2012		CS6 (11.0.1)	BigDottom	Support for Nvidia GeForce GTX 680, AtomKraft.
	October 12, 2012		CS6 (11.0.2)	NoneMoreDot	Support for more Nvidia cards and Intel HD Graphics, new memory handling preference allowing reversion to CS5.5 behavior.
	June 17, 2013		CC (12.0)	Sconehenge	Maxon Cinema 4D Lite and Cineware integration, Refine Edge tool, Refine Soft Matte, layer snapping, Warp Stabilizer VFX
	October 31, 2013		CC (12.1)	Plabt Blue Ribbon	OS 10.9 and Retina support, mask tracker, Detail-preserving Upscale effect, property linking, improved snapping
	December 13, 2013		CC (12.2)	Pinot Butter	Automatic creation of folders for image sequences, command to convert parametric shape layer paths to Bézier paths, more snapping improvements, many small "polish" improvements
	June 18, 2014		CC 2014 (13.0)	Goatmeal Stout	Key Cleaner effect and Advanced Spill Suppressor effect, After effect text templates created in After Effects editable in Premiere Pro, compositing options for each effect including ability to confine the area affected by each effect with masks, import of Sony RAW footage (raw files from F5, F55, and F65 cameras), import of MPEG-4 SStP (Simple Studio Profile) Sony SR MXF files, video preview on external monitor using Mercury Transmit
	September 7, 2014		CC 2014.1 (13.1)	Hefe Marathon	High-DPI content and UI (Mac OS, Windows), refreshed "blue" UI, Copy With Relative Property Links command, color management for Dynamic Link, Maxon CINEMA 4D Lite R16 and CINEWARE 2.0, Collect Files for CINEMA 4D assets, native GoPro CineForm codecs, scripting improvements for text layers
	December 16, 2014		CC 2014.2 (13.2)	Finish Lime	More scripting improvements for text layers, expression access to dynamic layer bounds, new keyframe icons.
	June 15, 2015		CC 2015.0 (13.5.0.347)	Mussel Car	Uninterrupted playback, new Adobe Character Animator (Preview 1), support for Creative Cloud libraries, face tracker, Maxon CINEWARE v2.0.16, smooth experience and interaction for the user even when rendering is in progress.
	November 30, 2015		CC 2015.1 (13.6.0)	Currant Time	Character Animator (Preview 3), refinement of playback performance and interaction, multi-touch gestures, stacked panel groups, new Lumetri Color effect, additional ICC profiles, two new Cycore FX plugins.
	January 27, 2016		CC 2015.2 (13.7.0)	Fibonachos	Maxon CINEWARE v3.0 (R17) (including support for the Take system, OpenGL renderer, and syncing timelines between After Effects and Cinema 4D), option to auto-save when starting Render Queue, improvements to Cache Before Playback previews.
	June 21, 2016		CC 2015.3 (13.8.0)	Abbacore	New playback architecture, Maxon Cineware 3.1, export 3D text and shape layers to Maxon CINEMA 4D, GPU accelerated effects (Lumetri Color, Gaussian Blur, and Sharpen), improved caching and playback of image sequences, send compositions from Render Queue to Media Encoder, Character Animator (Preview 4)
	November 2, 2016		CC 2017 (14.0)	Codfather	CINEMA 4D rendering engine for 3D compositions, Creative Cloud Team Projects (Beta), Real-time playback of unaltered source media, more GPU accelerated effects, Live Text Template improvements, Date & Time Tokens, Also includes: Better UI retina support, improved markers, scripting enhancements, Adobe Media Encoder export improvements.
	January 18, 2017		CC 2017.1 (14.1)	The Codfather Part Tuna	Ability to save Team Projects as local projects.
	April 19, 2017		CC 2017.2 (14.2)	Plabtjacks	Essential Graphics panel and Motion Graphics Templates feature introduced, Lumetri Scopes, Effect Input Layer Options, Camera-shake deblur, multiple GPU optimizations.
	June 13, 2017		CC 2017.2 (14.2.1)	Blueberry Plabtjacks	Performance improvements and bug fixes.
	October 18, 2017		CC (15.0)	Darth Tater	Data-driven animation and JSON import, expression access to path points, immersive/360 VR tools (formerly Mettle Skybox), GPU accelerated motion blur, new font menu, font ligature support, keyboard shortcut editor, Maxon CINEMA 4D Lite R19.
	January 22, 2018		CC (15.0.1)	Tater Dots	ARRI ALEXA Mini MXF/ARRIRAW format support, HEVC (H.265) QuickTime support, variable frame rate footage audio sync improvements, GPU memory optimization for VR, and bug fixes.
	April 3, 2018		CC (15.1)	Annivercelery	Master Properties for nested compositions, Advanced Puppet Engine, Data-driven animation .CSV and .TSV support, Property Link pick whip, Adobe Immersive Environment (VR head-mount display support), new Video Limiter effect, improved video camera raw format support (RED IPP2, Canon Cinema RAW Light, Sony Venice X-OCN).
	April 24, 2018		CC (15.1.1)	Marching Ants on a Log	Bug fixes.
	July 16, 2018		CC (15.1.2)	Peanut Dotter	Improved raw video format support and bug fixes.
	October 15, 2018		CC (16.0)	Double Expresso	Puppet Tool Advanced Pins and Bend Pins; depth passes for 3D compositions; Adobe Animate CC project (.FLA) import; new JavaScript expressions engine; Responsive Design – Time; CSV and TSV spreadsheet controls, font controls, and groups in Motion Graphics templates; Lumetri Color selective color grading curves; new Mocha AE CC plug-in; hardware-accelerated decoding of H.264 and HEVC on macOS; additional GPU-accelerated effects.
	December 10, 2018		CC (16.0.1)	Macchidotto	Export Apple ProRes on Windows, import HEIF files, import ProRes HDR footage, and bug fixes.
	April 2, 2019		16.1	Cloak-o-nut	Content-Aware Fill for video, customizable Expressions Editor, import/export guide lines, automatic Adobe Font sync, and bug fixes.
	January 24, 2020		17.0	KoalaTea	Preview and playback performance improvements, enhanced EXR Workflows, faster shapes, graphics and text enhancements, expression improvements, expanded format and better playback support, new Cineware renderer and Cinema 4D Lite R21, content-Aware Fill for video improvements.
	May 19, 2020		17.1	Hummingbread	Tapered shape strokes, Concentric shape repeater, ProRes RAW import support, Minimax effect GPU acceleration, Set Channels effect 32-bpc color support, Team Projects copy media to shared location, Automatically update audio devices (macOS only).
	October 20, 2020		17.5	Quarantuna	Roto Brush 2, 3D design space with improved cameras and 3D transform gizmos.
	January 11, 2021		17.6		More accurate Content-aware fill, color space and gamma changes for RED footage.
	February 8, 2021		17.7		Bug fixes.
	March 10, 2021		18.0		Media Replacement in Motion Graphics templates and Essential Properties, Real-Time 3D Draft Preview, 3D Ground Plane, Improved Composition Toolbar, Team Projects performance improvements
	April 12, 2021		18.1		Bug fixes.
	May 11, 2021		18.2		Bug fixes.
	June 20, 2021		18.4		Bug fixes.
	October 26, 2021		22.0	Cores on the Cob	Multi-Frame Rendering for previews, render queue export, and Adobe Media Encoder export; Render Queue UI improvements; Render Queue notifications; Composition Profiler; Speculative Preview; hardware-accelerated decoding for 10-bit 422 HEVC; tetrahedral LUT interpolation; version number unified with Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder.
	December 14, 2021		22.1.1		Universal text engine, Cinema 4D R25 support.
	February 8, 2022		22.2		Bug fixes.
	April 12, 2022		22.3		Native Apple silicon support, Frame.io integration, Scene Edit Detection, 3D Extended Viewer, Binning indicators for 3D layers, coach marks, constrained shapes by Shift + double-clicking.
	May 10, 2022		22.4		Separated dimensions preference, IME text input for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
	June 21, 2022		22.5		Bug fixes.
	August 23, 2022		22.6		Keyframe color labels.
	October 18, 2022		23.0	Track Latte	Selectable track matte layers; native H.264 encoding; updated composition presets; 50+ new animation presets; new keyboard shortcuts for timeline navigation (Shift + J/K); installation of Maxon Cinema 4D is now optional.
	December 6, 2022		23.1		Bug fixes and support for Maxon Cinema 4D 2023.
	February 7, 2023		23.2		OpenColorlO and ACES color management.
	March 29, 2023		23.3		Bug fixes.
	May 9, 2023		23.4		Properties Panel, Effect Manager, Startup & Repair in Preferences, Improved file sorting in the Project panel, 3D Gizmo position snapping, Revamped Track Matte pick whip icon.
	June 14, 2023		23.5		Bug fixes.
	August 10, 2023		23.6		Essential Properties in the Properties panel.
	October 10, 2023		24.0	Charcuterthree	Next-generation Roto Brush, OpenColorIO Look Transform and CDL Transform effects, text scripting enhancements.
	December 6, 2023		24.1		3D model import, Advanced 3D engine, Environment lights, refreshed animation presets.
	February 22, 2024		24.2		OBJ model import, EXR Environment lights, 3D models cast/accept shadows, Displacement in CC Ball Action, video thumbnails for MOGRTs, export H.264 in a MOV container.
	March 27, 2024		24.3		Scripting APIs for per-character text styling.
	May 10, 2024		24.4		Copy & paste keyframes on multiple layers, Paste Reversed Keyframes, improved performance when Freezing Roto Brush spans, color swatches in the label menus, I/O key navigation now works with multiple layers selected.
	June 19, 2024		24.5		Shadow catchers, embedded 3D model animation support, & depth data added to the Advanced 3D engine. OBJ import from Libraries. New presets for monospaced numbers counters, infographics, backgrounds, and dynamic text boxes & frames. Camera and Light properties in the Properties panel. Scripting hooks for managing fonts.
	August 22, 2024		24.6		Many bug fixes, more scripting hooks for font management, import a file directly to a folder in the Project panel, Aspect Ratio render token property, added File Name and Location Template presets for "Comp Name and Aspect Ratio" and "Render Next To Project File".
	October 15, 2024		25.0	Spectcrumb Cake	Refreshed interface, Windows UI performance improvements, per-character style control via expressions, decluttered 3D model import
	December 5, 2024		25.1		Accepts Lights switch for 3D layers in Advanced 3D renderer, 3D model preview thumbnail, Cinema 4D 2025 upgrade, GPU support for additional blend modes in 32bpc with motion blur, Mocha AE updated to v11.5.2, scripting hooks for more effective management of fonts and for UI theme.
	April 2, 2025		25.2		High Performance Preview Playback, HDR monitoring, animated Environment lights, FBX Import, 3D quick actions, enhanced Null workflows for controlling positional points, preference to maintain the workspace layout when opening a project, customize comp viewer and transparency grid colors.
	April 14, 2025		25.2.2		Bug fixes.