Motion graphics with Claude in After Effects
To make motion graphics with Claude in After Effects, connect Claude to the Prism MCP server once, open a comp and describe the animation: it lands as native layers and keyframes you can change by hand or by asking again.
Most guides to motion design with Claude end in an MP4, where every change is a new render. Here the piece lands in your timeline, so a change is a keyframe you drag or a sentence you type.
What you say, and what lands
| You type | What appears in your comp |
|---|---|
| "Six-second 1080p title card: near-black background, 'Launch Day' large in white, the date under it, both easing in, then a slow push-in." | A new comp, text placed on its measured size, eased keyframes and a camera push-in |
| "Import ~/brand/lockup.svg. The mark draws on, the wordmark rises behind a mask, and the lockup settles with an overshoot." | Shape layers with a Trim Paths draw-on, the wordmark as live text if the SVG kept it as text, a mask and an overshoot |
| "Transcribe the voiceover, then build kinetic type: each phrase slams in, holds, and the next pushes it up and out." | A marker per word on a transcript guide layer, and one text layer per phrase on the spoken times. Transcription is Prism AI, on Pro |
| "Bar chart: Q1 42, Q2 58, Q3 71, Q4 96, bars rising in turn, and a counter to 96%." | Four shape-layer bars with staggered scale keyframes, and a counter driven by a slider and an expression |
| "Here are six frames of my Claude Design animation. Rebuild it here as shape and text layers, same timing and eases." | The shots as shape and text layers with keyframes, timed from what Claude reads in the frames |
| "Make the orange accent #0A66FF everywhere, hold the title half a second longer, and give me a 9:16 version." | Every fill and stroke in the old accent recoloured, the title's exit keyframes moved, and a 1080×1920 comp with the layout rebuilt |
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
https://live.oneprism.io/after-effects and approve the sign-in in your browser.With the Claude app, Claude Code or Claude Design
| Claude surface | How Prism gets there |
|---|---|
| Claude app, desktop or web | As in step 1. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it, then you press Connect |
| Cowork and Claude Design | Nothing to add: both use what the Claude app has |
| Claude Code | Logged in with your Claude subscription, it already has Prism. Otherwise run claude mcp add --transport http prism https://live.oneprism.io/after-effects and sign in from /mcp |
Ways to make motion graphics with Claude
| Route | What you get | A change means | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code with Remotion | React code rendered to a video file | edit or ask, render again | one template rendered many times from data |
| HyperFrames, in Claude Code or the Claude app | HTML rendered to a video file | edit or ask, render again | web-native motion from an open source tool |
| Claude Design | an animated design, exported as a file | ask or edit on the canvas, export again | a short piece with nothing to install |
| Claude Motion, in beta on Team and Enterprise plans | a short animation, exported as MP4 | ask or edit in Claude, export again | an explainer or animated chart inside Claude |
| AI video tools | generated footage | generate again | footage rather than graphics |
| Claude and Prism in After Effects | layers, keyframes and expressions in your comp | drag a keyframe or ask, render again | a piece that will be revised, handed off or versioned |
Other MCP servers also connect Claude to After Effects: After Effects MCP servers compared.
By hand and with Prism
| Job | By hand in After Effects | With Claude and Prism |
|---|---|---|
| Title card with a push-in | text layers, keyframes, a camera, eases in the graph editor | one sentence |
| A change at 0:21 | find the layers, key them again | one sentence |
What it needs
| After Effects | 2024, 2025 or 2026, macOS or Windows |
| AI client | Any Claude surface above; Claude Code needs a paid plan, and Claude's Free plan allows one custom connector |
| Plan | Prism Free is enough to build; Prism AI (transcription, beat detection, music, sound effects, images, video) is on Pro |
What it does not do
It does not watch a video (Claude reads the frames you paste), import a Claude Design, Remotion or HyperFrames project, generate a voiceover or ship a template pack. The art direction stays yours.
Common questions
Yes. On its own, Claude writes code that a renderer turns into a video file. Through Prism, it builds them in your open After Effects comp as layers, keyframes and expressions you can edit.
Yes. It writes animation code that Remotion, HyperFrames or Claude Motion (in beta on Team and Enterprise plans as of October 2026) turns into a video file, or calls a video model. Through Prism, it builds the piece in After Effects for you to render.
Yes, for layers you can open, retime and hand off as a project. You describe the motion, so you do not need to know After Effects to start.
Yes. Every element is a native layer and every move a keyframe with its ease. Change it by hand or ask; each request is one undo step.
Not by importing it: no Claude Design export is an After Effects project. Paste frames of it into Claude with Prism connected and it is rebuilt in your comp as shape and text layers.
Yes. Logged in with your Claude subscription, Claude Code picks up Prism from your Claude account; otherwise one command adds it. Then it builds in the comp you have open.
No. Claude writes and runs what After Effects needs, and you never see code unless you ask.
Prism Free is $0 with 100 MCP actions a month. Each request Claude sends to After Effects is one MCP action, and a whole scene is built in one request. Pro is $6 a month or $60 a year with unlimited MCP actions, and adds Prism AI, paid per use from a balance. Claude and After Effects are paid separately.
Related
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Animate charts
Animate charts in After Effects with AI: paste your numbers, ask for a bar, line, pie or donut chart, and get real shape layers with keyframes you can still edit.