Vibe Effects: Agentic After Effects Interface

Vibe Effects is a lightweight, MCP-inspired interface designed to enable Agentic AI to interact with, control, and script Adobe After Effects programmatically.

It serves as a "vibe-based" bridge between Python-based AI agents and the ExtendScript/JavaScript environment of After Effects, allowing for complex, procedural animation generation, layout tasks, and automated composition building without the complexity of a full protocol server.

🚀 Features

• Python-to-AE Bridge: Executes generated ExtendScript code via a file-based JSON bridge (/tmp/ae_mcp_bridge), enabling fast, reliable communication without AppleScript overhead.
• Rich Library:
  • routs/: Core functional modules (Create Comp, Shape Layers, Text, Camera, Effects).
  • Pydantic Models: Strictly typed arguments for robust code generation.
• Procedural Animation Snippets: A growing collection of "Agentic Snippets" in examples/ demonstrating complex visual tasks:
  • Aurora Borealis: Organic, shifting gradient backgrounds using 4-Color Gradients and Track Mattes.
  • Procedural Mazes: DFS/BFS algorithms generating complex vector mazes and solution paths.
  • Kinetic Typography: Text animations, Typewriter effects, and Neon styles.
  • Motion Graphics: Winding paths, circuit boards, and physics-simulated throws.

📦 Structure

ae-mcp/
├── routs/              # Logic Modules (Layer creation, Properties)
│   ├── create_shape_layer.py
│   ├── create_text_layer.py
│   └── ...
├── examples/           # Agentic Snippets (Ready-to-run Demos)
│   ├── create_aurora_blobs.py
│   ├── create_dfs_maze.py
│   └── ...
├── debug/              # Introspection Tools
│   └── check_renderers.py
└── transport.py        # Communication layer (JSON/File)

🛠️ Usage

1. Install Dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Start the AE Bridge:

   • Open Adobe After Effects.
   • Go to File > Scripts > Run Script File...
   • Select ae_mcp/ae_scripts/ae_bridge.jsx.
   • Click "Yes" to any security prompts.
   • You should see a confirmation alert: "MCP Bridge Started!"

3. Run a Snippet: With the bridge running, execute any python script from examples/:

   python3 examples/infographic_template.py

4. How to use: Ask your AI agent to create a composition, layers, and animate them. Use https://extendscript.docsforadobe.dev as documentation for complex tasks.

⚠️ Requirements

• App: Adobe After Effects (Open and active).
• Bridge: You MUST run ae_scripts/ae_bridge.jsx inside After Effects for the tools to work.
• Python: 3.8+
• OS: macOS (Tested/Primary platform).
• Gemeni 3, Claude 4.5: Or another powerful AI agent.
• Permissions: Ensure After Effects has "Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network" enabled in Preferences > Scripting & Expressions.
• Bridge Folder: Communication uses /tmp/ae_mcp_bridge, which avoids indexing overhead and permissions issues.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.