About Trails

Trails is an add‑on for After Effects that builds fully dynamic trails, swooshes and speed lines. Trails update instantly in the composition, allowing quick setup and the layering of additional effects. Features include line velocity that reacts to connected animation speed, a wiggler for random variation, and a velocity‑based line length option. All shape‑layer effects—trim paths, repeaters, zig‑zags—can be applied to the trails. Later versions added Stick Trails, which attaches trails to a point or layer, and Offset Trail, which shifts a trail forward or backward in time. Trails runs on After Effects CC 2018 through 2024 and is listed in the aescripts library. A demo video demonstrates its capabilities.

Features

• Fully dynamic trails that update instantly in your composition
• Line velocity, so trails react to the velocity of whatever they’re connected to
• Wiggler that adds a touch of randomness to your lines
• Works with all shape layer effects, including trim paths, repeaters and zig zags
• Velocity-based line length checkbox that scales dynamic effects to the velocity of the trail
• Stick Trails, a dynamic effect that sticks trails to a point or layer
• Offset Trail, which offsets a trail forwards or backwards in time

Best for

After Effects artists who want to create dynamic trails, swooshes and speed lines that react to their animation.