Animate charts in After Effects with AI
To animate charts in After Effects with AI, paste your numbers into ChatGPT, Claude or any MCP client connected to Prism and describe the chart. It is built in your open composition as shape layers, text and keyframes you can edit.
Every tutorial for this job starts with the Pen tool and ends forty keyframes later. Every AI chart maker renders an MP4 and tells you to leave After Effects. This is the third option: the chart lands in your timeline, editable.
What you say, and what lands
| You type | What appears in your comp |
|---|---|
| "Build a bar chart in this comp: Q1 42, Q2 58, Q3 71, Q4 96. Bars grow up from the baseline one after another, labels under each bar." | Four shape-layer bars, four text labels, staggered scale keyframes from the baseline |
| "Make a donut chart: Organic 46%, Paid 31%, Referral 23%. Each slice sweeps in clockwise over one second." | Three stroked ellipse layers with Trim Paths keyframes, legend text beside them |
| "Draw a line graph of these twelve monthly values and animate the line drawing on left to right, with a dot at each point." | One path layer with a Trim Paths write-on, twelve dot layers timed to the line |
| "Change Q3 to 64 and re-ease the bars." | One bar rebuilt to the new height, easing rewritten on all four |
Select a bar and drag its keyframe. Change a fill. Swap the font on the labels. It is your project, not a picture of one.
Test it on your own project. A Free account is enough to start: Sign up, then connect your AI and ask for this.
How to do it
Bar, line, pie and donut
| Chart | How it is built | The move you usually want |
|---|---|---|
| Bar | one rectangle shape layer per value, anchor at the baseline | scale up in sequence, soft overshoot |
| Line | one path with a Trim Paths write-on, optional dot per point | draw on left to right |
| Pie or donut | one stroked ellipse per slice, Trim Paths start and end per percentage | sweep in clockwise |
| Stacked or comparison | grouped rectangles per category | rise together, then split |
From a spreadsheet
Prism does not read .xlsx or .csv files itself. Paste the rows into the chat, or use a client that can open the file and pass the numbers on. The chart is built from the numbers, wherever they came from.
What it needs
| After Effects | 2024, 2025 or 2026, macOS or Windows |
| AI client | any MCP client: ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and others |
| Plan | a Free account is enough; chart building uses MCP actions, not the Prism AI balance |
What it does not do
It does not import a spreadsheet file, link a chart to live data, or build a bar chart race. A change in the data is a change you ask for, and the chart is rebuilt from the new numbers rather than driven by an expression that reads a file.
Common questions
Open a comp, paste the values, and ask for a bar chart with the movement you want. Prism builds one shape layer per bar with scale keyframes from the baseline, and text labels under each one.
Not on its own. With Prism connected to an AI client, you paste the numbers and the chart is built in your open comp as editable layers.
No. The chart is made of ordinary shape layers, text layers and keyframes. Nothing on the timeline depends on a plugin being installed.
Yes. Each bar, slice, line and label is a native layer. You can retime, recolour, restyle or delete any of them in After Effects as usual.
Give the slices as percentages and ask for a sweep. Each slice is a stroked ellipse whose Trim Paths start and end match its share, keyframed to sweep in.
Say the new value. Prism reads the comp, rebuilds the affected bar or slice, and leaves everything else where you put it.
Related
Motion graphics with Claude
Motion graphics with Claude, Claude Code or Claude Design, built in After Effects as layers and keyframes you can still edit. Prompts, steps and what lands.
Number counter
Make a number counter in After Effects with AI: say the start, end and format, and get a text layer driven by slider keyframes with commas, percent or currency.