Adobe After Effects 2024 - Over 7 NEW Features & Benefits!

Adobe has announced the latest 2023 update for After Effects. Version 23.1 includes several new features, some of which include performance fixes, new tools and even improved compatibility with Cinema 4D!

February 11, 2024
Adobe After Effects 2024 - Over 7 NEW Features & Benefits!
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What Are The New Features & Improvements In Adobe After Effects 23.1?

With the start of the new year, Adobe has released yet another version of their internationally renowned VFX Software known as After Effects. In this latest release, we're lucky to experience new tools and features such as color-coded keyframes, more text formatting options, several bug fixes (very interesting, I know), Cinema 4D rendering directly from After Effects and 7 more cool new characteristics!

If you're considering downloading the software for the first time, or upgrading from the previous version, this article will cover every piece of information you'll need to know to keep you up to date on what's new.

How to Create Realistic 3D Animations in After Effects 2023 Using the Improved Cinema 4D Lite Integration

In this version of After Effects, a free but feature-restricted version of Cinema 4D called Cinema 4D Lite is included. You'll also be able to use the Cineware plugin to open and save Cinema 4D .c4d project files without having to navigate outside the software. As a result of these two features, creating realistic 3D animations in After Effects can now be done more efficiently and as a result, it will be less time consuming. The integration allows you to seamlessly import and manipulate 3D models and animations from Cinema 4D, giving you more control over the look and feel of your animations.

So as a recap: You'll easily be able to import a 3D model, create a new 3D layer, animate the model by adjusting its position, rotation, and scale, add lighting and texture to make it more realistic, and finally render the animation using the appropriate settings and format. Did I forget to mention that you can do all this from within After Effects? Well know you know!

Color-Code Keyframes For Better Organization

After Effects 2023 now provides you with the ability to change the color of selected keyframes. While it may sound simple at first, there are actually several benefits involved with this basic improvement. Here are some of the things that become easier with colorful keyframes, listed off the top of my mind:

Improved Identification + Animation Visibility

Keyframing becomes easier to distinguish between animations, especially when creating complex animations that involve plenty of keyframes.

Increased efficiency - AE 2023 new features in workflow

Since the keyframes can be identified more easily, you'll spend less time finding the keyframes you're looking for when adjusting animations.

Better organization

By using different colors to represent different types of keyframes, users can better organize and group their keyframes in a way that makes sense for the animation.

Easier collaboration

Say you're working on the same project with other editors, you can use color code animations to identify who did what to the project. For instance; John uses the color red whilst Rebecca uses the color blue for her keyframes. Now you can find out who really stuffed up the project!

Enhanced workflow when sharing project files

Color-coded keyframes can help editors quickly understand the structure and flow of their newly downloaded pre-made template, this can help them to make adjustments and changes more easily, making their workflow more efficient.

Keyframe Shortcuts

The keyframe shortcuts from the previous versions of AE, were a set of keyboard functions that allowed users to create, edit, and navigate keyframes more efficiently. They improved workflow by enhancing keyframe precision, as well as providing greater flexibility. They also gave users the ability to access frequently used keyframe-related commands quickly and easily, which saved so much time (from personal experience as it was my most frequently used shortcut). I only mentioned that because I have a follow-up assertion: in this update of After Effects, you now also have the ability to edit, change and adjust your keyframes with even more keyboard shortcuts. While there isn't a 100% confirmation on what these shortcuts are, I will say that they'll be helpful in speeding up the workflow the same way the previous shortcuts did.

1 New Preference Option

A new preference setting has been added that allows position properties to be separated by default. This feature may be useful for users who prefer value graphs. Other than that, there's not much more to say about it, but that doesn't mean it's a useless feature. The fact that it's on this list in the first place goes to show how much we considered it to be 'blog-worthy'.

Social Media Export Options

New options have been added to the export file settings. These social media expert settings make it easy for exporting directly for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and even Twitter + Reddit uploads.

Updated Pricing & System Requirements

Pricing for Adobe After Effects alone has reduced to just $31.49/month or $239.88/year. Although it hasn't been confirmed, you may also be able to use the software on just 8gb ram - as reported by multiple users.

Download After Effects 2023 for free

You may download the free trial of Adobe After Effects on their website. The trial lasts for 7 days and provides full functionality of the software - including the ability to save and export projects.

Adobe After Effects 2023 Reddit

Like we include in almost every article now, here are some of the most controversial and popular confessions we've found on Reddit regarding After Effects 2023.

Check out the comments in this post. Seems like After Effects 2023 is pretty safe so far. Not a single bug or glitch has been mentioned (yet).

According to this thread, there has been some reported performance issues related to some of the effects used in After Effects 2023.

Last but (definitely) not least, here's the most popular reddit thread posted to the r/AfterEffects subreddit, where user u/Familiar-Move-3865 further discusses his scenario regarding the reported performance decrease with AE 2023 once again. It's actually quite shocking to me to see that someone with such a powerful computer is experiencing such issues, especially when the 2023 AE runs perfectly fine on my Asus X515 with an i7 and some basic-old graphics card. Furthermore, other users in the comments seem to have a similar issue, some even have a solution. U/motionbutton even goes on to say "Go on to adobe forums and bitch.. there are problems running all across Mac and pc.. adobe people need to see the frustration in their forums otherwise they ignore it until their next big release and say we fixed it, but really it’s just the same or worse". Check it out if you have the same issue with your upgraded After Effects.

Why Should I Upgrade to After Effects 2023?

If the features mentioned in this article don't convince you to upgrade your After Effects, I don't know what will! In this article I wanted to highlight a few of the cool new features in this year's release of Adobe After Effects, and the Cinema 4D lite integration is one of main highlights (hence it's first position in the article). If you want to see the full list of new features, be sure to check out Adobe's release notes page for the software. They've included every single new feature there. Also check out this YouTube video by School Of Motion to see a more in-depth version of the features listed in this article.

2023 After Effects Questions & Answers

Here are two of the most commonly asked questions I've found in popular VFX and After Effects forums. Feel free to contact us if you have any further inquiries about the upcoming (and now released) 2023 version of Adobe After Effects.

Is Adobe After Effects 2023 released?

Yes, the Adobe After Effects 23.1 has been released as of December 8th, 2022.

Can you buy Adobe After Effects for lifetime?

Adobe After Effects is only available on a subscription basis. You can choose to pay for a monthly or annual subscription, but there is no option to purchase a lifetime license for the software. Adobe's subscription model allows users to always have access to the latest version of the software, as well as receive updates and new features as they are released.

Conclusion - New Features In After Effects 2023

Adobe's 2023 update for After Effects has plenty of new features such as the keyframe color coding, keyframe shortcuts, and enhanced performance. The new software has something to offer for both amateur and professional users. Overall, the new release is packed with innovative and productive features making After Effects an ideal choice for all your video post-production needs.