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Real prompts. Real After Effects code.

Steal a wiggle, a stagger, a clean-up scriptlet, or a full toolbar – every example here was generated by Sidekick from a single English prompt.

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Expression“Put these layers at random positions on the canvas. Give me seed and amount controls, make it work in 3D too.”Script“Replace the word "boring" in all of these text layers with "engaging", then stagger them by 10 frames and ensure they are 10 frames long.”Expression“Give me a wiggle on position with a Frequency and Amount slider on this layer's effects.”Script“Trim the selected layers so their in and out points match the work area of the comp.”Expression“Add a bouncy decay after every keyframe on this property, with controls for amplitude, frequency, and decay.”Script“Rename every selected layer to the name of its source footage or comp.”Expression“Put these layers at random positions on the canvas. Give me seed and amount controls, make it work in 3D too.”Script“Replace the word "boring" in all of these text layers with "engaging", then stagger them by 10 frames and ensure they are 10 frames long.”Expression“Give me a wiggle on position with a Frequency and Amount slider on this layer's effects.”Script“Trim the selected layers so their in and out points match the work area of the comp.”Expression“Add a bouncy decay after every keyframe on this property, with controls for amplitude, frequency, and decay.”Script“Rename every selected layer to the name of its source footage or comp.”

6 results

Random particle scatter

Drop a stable, reproducible position on every layer in one expression. Great for paint splatter, snow, or sparkle layouts.

Expression

Prompt

“Put these layers at random positions on the canvas. Give me seed and amount controls, make it work in 3D too.”

seedVal    = ctrl.effect("Seed")("ADBE Slider Control-0001");
amountPct  = ctrl.effect("Random Amount")("ADBE Slider Control-0001")/100;

w = thisComp.width;
h = thisComp.height;

centerPos = [w/2, h/2];

seedRandom(seedVal + index, true);
randPos = [random(0, w), random(0, h)];

centerPos + (randPos - centerPos) * amountPct

Swap text + stagger 10 frames

Replaces a target word in every selected text layer, then walks them down the timeline in 10-frame steps. Each layer's duration is reset to exactly 10 frames.

Script

Prompt

“Replace the word "boring" in all of these text layers with "engaging", then stagger them by 10 frames and ensure they are 10 frames long.”

if (!(app.project.activeItem instanceof CompItem)) return;
var comp = app.project.activeItem;
var sel = comp.selectedLayers;
if (!sel || sel.length === 0) return;

var frameDur = 1 / comp.frameRate;
var offset = 10 * frameDur;
var dur = 10 * frameDur;

for (var i = 0; i < sel.length; i++) {
    var lyr = sel[i];
    if (!(lyr instanceof TextLayer)) continue;

    var td = lyr.property("ADBE Text Properties").property("ADBE Text Document");
    var doc = td.value;
    if (doc && doc.text) {
        doc.text = doc.text.replace(/boring/gi, "engaging");
        td.setValue(doc);
    }

    lyr.startTime = i * offset;
    lyr.outPoint = lyr.inPoint + dur;
}

Wiggle with usable controls

The wiggle expression every motion designer half-remembers – but with proper amount and frequency sliders so the AD can dial it in without touching code.

Expression

Prompt

“Give me a wiggle on position with a Frequency and Amount slider on this layer's effects.”

freq   = effect("Frequency")("ADBE Slider Control-0001");
amount = effect("Amount")("ADBE Slider Control-0001");

wiggle(freq, amount)

Trim selected layers to work area

Snaps in/out points of every selected layer to the comp's work area. Useful right before rendering a section or splitting a long comp.

Script

Prompt

“Trim the selected layers so their in and out points match the work area of the comp.”

var comp = app.project.activeItem;
if (!(comp instanceof CompItem)) return;

var sel = comp.selectedLayers;
if (!sel.length) return;

var inT  = comp.workAreaStart;
var outT = comp.workAreaStart + comp.workAreaDuration;

for (var i = 0; i < sel.length; i++) {
    sel[i].inPoint = inT;
    sel[i].outPoint = outT;
}

Bouncy decay on every keyframe

Drop on any property to get a physics-style bounce out of the most recent keyframe. No After Effects scripts plugin required.

Expression

Prompt

“Add a bouncy decay after every keyframe on this property, with controls for amplitude, frequency, and decay.”

amp   = 0.1;
freq  = 2.5;
decay = 4.0;

n = 0;
if (numKeys > 0) {
    n = nearestKey(time).index;
    if (key(n).time > time) n--;
}
if (n === 0) {
    value
} else {
    t = time - key(n).time;
    value + velocityAtTime(key(n).time - thisComp.frameDuration / 10) *
        (amp * Math.sin(freq * t * 2 * Math.PI) / Math.exp(decay * t))
}

Rename layers to their source name

Wipes manual renames and snaps every selected layer back to its footage / comp source name. Great after a messy edit pass.

Script

Prompt

“Rename every selected layer to the name of its source footage or comp.”

var comp = app.project.activeItem;
if (!(comp instanceof CompItem)) return;

var sel = comp.selectedLayers;
for (var i = 0; i < sel.length; i++) {
    var l = sel[i];
    if (l.source && l.source.name) {
        l.name = l.source.name;
    }
}

Got a great Sidekick prompt?

Drop it in. Curated picks land in the gallery, credited to you.