Intros, lower thirds and captions — without a subscription
A channel needs the same dozen pieces of motion every week: an intro sting, name tags, a subscribe nudge, captions, and a vertical version for Shorts. Premation is a free, After Effects-style editor that makes all of them on your own GPU, and exports straight to the formats your editor and the platforms take.
Free · AGPL-3.0-only · Windows, macOS & Linux · no watermark
- 01Lower thirds that drop onto any editBuild the name tag once, export it with a transparent background, and lay it over footage in any editor.
- 02A logo sting for the introTrim paths, masks and easing for a two-second reveal that reads at thumbnail size.
- 03Captions viewers can read with the sound offTranscribe, style and time captions on the timeline.
- 04A Shorts version of every videoReframe a 16:9 cut to 9:16 with the subject kept in frame.
- 05Kinetic titles for the hookPer-character animation for the first three seconds that decide whether someone stays.
What changes
Paying a monthly suite subscription to animate a name tag.
A free, open-source editor with the timeline, graph editor and effects you already know the shape of.
Re-making the intro for every aspect ratio by hand.
One composition, reframed and exported per platform from the render queue.
Burning captions in a separate tool and hoping the timing holds.
Captions live on the same timeline as the motion, so a trim moves both.
Your first week
Step 1
Make the kit once
Intro sting, lower third, end card and caption style in one project. Save them as templates.
Step 2
Drop in this week's text
Change the episode title and guest name; the motion follows.
Step 3
Export per platform
Transparent overlays for your editor, MP4 for upload, a vertical cut for Shorts — queued together.
The parts you will use most
- Text Animators and Kinetic TypographyThe full After Effects animator model, including the parts most alternatives skip.Feature tour
- Motion Tracking, Speed Ramps, Captions and Auto-ReframeWhat a motion tool actually needs to do to footage: follow something in it, retime it, caption it, and recut it for every aspect ratio.Feature tour
- Motion Graphics Templates and ComponentsTurn a composition into something someone else can fill in without opening the timeline.Feature tour
- Export MP4, ProRes 4444, WebM, Lottie and GIFThe same engine that draws the viewport writes the file.Feature tour
Questions
- Is Premation really free for a monetised channel?
- Yes. Premation is free and open source (AGPL-3.0); there is no watermark and no licence fee for commercial work. The optional cloud features are the only paid part.
- Can I use my overlays in Premiere, Resolve or Final Cut?
- Export a format with an alpha channel — ProRes 4444, WebM VP9 or a PNG sequence — and the overlay keeps its transparent background in any editor.
- Do I need a powerful PC?
- Premation renders on your GPU. The system requirements page lists the minimum; a mid-range graphics card from the last few years is plenty for 1080p channel graphics.