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EffectCraft

EffectCraft is a free, open-source desktop motion graphics compositor written in pure Rust, offering compositions, layers, keyframes, 306 effects,…

  • Media Applications
EffectCraft is a free, open-source desktop motion graphics compositor written in pure Rust, offering compositions, layers, keyframes, 306 effects, expressions, 3D cameras and lights, and a render queue for animated titles, motion graphics, and compositing work as a native alternative to Adobe After Effects on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Platform availability

Available on 3 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid (not listed)
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox (not listed)
  • Helm (not listed)
  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux

Other devices

Health score

Not enough data yet for a health score. It needs at least 2 of 4 factors: maintenance, popularity, ease of install, resource needs.

GitHub stars
5,241
Open issues
375
Last commit
2026-10-11
Latest release
v0.8.0
License
Apache-2.0
Activity
rising

Checked today - source: GitHub (storytold/effectcraft)

Resources & Compatibility

Requirements not published yet.

First-install notes

  • Install extra model files for some effects If you want Roto Brush or face tracking, install the required model file first using commands like roto.model.install or face.model.install. Without that local model file, those effects will not work. source
  • Keep your work in saved .ecproj files When using the command-line tool, create your project with --save-as and use --save after making changes. If you forget to save, your composition and layers can disappear. source
  • Confirm the command-line tool works Run effectcraft-cli info --json once after setup to make sure the tool can communicate with EffectCraft. If this fails, later commands for projects and rendering will likely fail too. source

Fetched today - each note links to its source

Alternatives (2)

  • Adobe After Effects - Professional-grade motion graphics and visual effects tool for post-production in film, TV, and creative projects through cloud subscriptio…
  • Natron - Natron is an open source, cross platform nodal compositing application.

Checked today - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

How can EffectCraft project files be backed up or shared in version control?

Projects are stored as versioned JSON files with the .ecproj extension, so they can diff cleanly in version control.

Can EffectCraft export Lottie animations without a third-party plugin?

Lottie import and export are built in, so animations can go directly to web and apps without a plugin.

Does EffectCraft rely on FFmpeg for video or audio handling?

No. Video and audio decoding and encoding are done in pure Rust, using FilmCraft's codecs and EffectCraft's own VP9, AV1, HEVC, and Opus encoders.

Can EffectCraft be controlled programmatically or by automation agents?

Every menu item, timeline drag, and property edit goes through one command registry, so the same actions are reachable from a command line, a JSON control channel, and an MCP server.

Answers sourced from github.com

Community

Collected today - public community threads