About Curve Tracer

Curve Tracer adds contour‑based tracing to video clips, producing a hand‑drawn look ranging from simple pencil sketches to more abstract line art. Users can start from scratch or choose one of twelve presets, then adjust curve width in pixels and select solid or dashed line styles. The effect includes separate main, lighting, and sketching contours, each with independent color and opacity controls, plus lighting coverage and scale parameters. A Source Color Mix blends chosen colors with those from the source image, and smoothing refines curve edges.

The Ghosting feature layers past or upcoming frames as translucent ghost contours, with adjustable strength, color, and opacity. Halo rendering adds a Gaussian‑blurred soft halo and a separate highlight halo. Composite On Original lets the source image overlay the final render using additive or normal blending. Curve Tracer is compatible with Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro from CS6 through the 2025 releases, covering CC 2014 through CC 2019 and 2020‑2024 builds.

Features

• Preset control to start from scratch or apply one of twelve presets for different styles
• Curve width in pixel units, with a solid or dashed line style that renders dashed curves as short strokes
• Main, lighting, and sketching contours, each with its own color and opacity settings
• Lighting coverage and scale controls to add and accentuate lighting contours
• Ghosting that layers past or upcoming frames as ghost contours, with strength, color, and opacity
• Halo rendering that adds a Gaussian-blurred soft halo over the curves, with size control and a separate highlight halo
• Composite On Original to overlay the source image over the final render using additive or normal blending

Best for

Applying a hand‑drawn, sketch or pencil‑style contour effect to footage in After Effects or Premiere Pro.