About RectControl

RectControl, developed by Adam Sacks, adds extensive rectangle management tools to After Effects. It supports versions 2020 through 2026 and offers alignment controls, linked or separate corner roundness, convex and concave curvature, and an Apple‑style squircle option. The extension allows dynamic pinning of layers, gradient strokes, and gradient fills to a rectangle, and lets users animate these properties through the Effects Controls panel. Projects can be shared with animators who lack the plug‑in, though adding pinned nulls or adjusting alignment without moving the shape requires RectControl to be installed. Additional features include changing layer anchor points without affecting position, creating parent or child nulls, and applying a 9‑point grid to non‑RectControl layers. The Extensions panel facilitates creation of RectControl layers, preset management, and replacement of regular or Figma rectangles with RectControl versions.

Features

• Alignment, corner roundness (linked or separate), and corner curvature (convex versus concave)
• Squircle option for Apple-style panels
• Dynamic pinning of elements inside or outside the rectangle, plus gradient stroke and gradient fill start and end points
• Animate through the Effects Controls, with projects usable by animators who don’t have RectControl installed
• Change layer anchor points without changing layer position, and add parent or child nulls
• Extensions panel to create RectControl layers, change alignment, create nulls, and save default and preset rectangles
• Replace regular rectangles and Figma rectangles with RectControl versions

Best for

UI and SaaS animation workflows in After Effects that rely on precise rectangle shaping, alignment, and pinning.