Plugins

What is in it

A native SDK

A versioned C interface with headers you build against. Each effect has one entry point that receives the same kinds of selector calls as After Effects' effect API: about, global and parameter setup, sequence data, frame and smart render, parameter changes, interface updates, and GPU setup and render.

Parameters

Sliders, angles, 2D and 3D points, colours, popups, checkboxes, layer references, mask paths, groups, buttons and arbitrary data. The engine keyframes and evaluates them, so a plugin's parameters undo, animate, take expressions and save like a built-in effect's.

Pixels and time

8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit float pixel worlds, converted the way After Effects converts for effects that are not depth-aware. An effect can check out another layer, or its own layer at another time.

Per-instance state

Sequence data is stored in the project. A button press changes the data and the parameters as one undo entry.

GPU path

A GPU effect records WebGPU commands into the engine's own command encoder, on its Dawn device, with nothing copied back. A GPU error drops the commands and that frame uses the effect's CPU path.

Crash guards

Every call runs inside a guard. A fault in a render call disables that instance and the frame still renders. A fault in setup fails the plugin's load with the reason listed. A hang past the watchdog quarantines the plugin and restarts the engine. An abort or heap corruption ends the engine, and the next start quarantines the plugin.

Bundles

A folder holding premation-plugin.json and one binary per platform. The manifest and SDK version are checked before the binary is loaded, so a bad plugin is listed as failed with a reason and none of its code has run.

Samples and a test tool

Four samples: Ripple (CPU), Rings (a generator with sequence data and a button), Checkout (Layer Displace and Time Echo) and Grade (GPU). A premation-plugins tool lists, renders and crash-tests a plugin folder without the editor.

In the editorLimited

Plugins load from a folder in both editions, with no account or registry involved, and render in the viewport and in export. The editor has no plugin manager yet, and its Effects browser lists the built-in effects only.

ReachNot in it

Effects and generators only: no panels, no custom layer types, no scripting API, no registry or marketplace. Crash guards are not a security sandbox — a native plugin runs with your privileges, so install ones you trust.

JavaScript and WGSL pluginsNot in it

Removed in 0.9.0. Projects that used them still open; their plugin effects and layers are removed as one undoable step, with a notice.