An After Effects alternative, if you just need the video

After Effects is the standard tool for motion design, and learning it takes a while: keyframes, the graph editor, expressions, plugins. If what you need is a 20-second intro, a product launch clip or an explainer, there is a shorter route now. Describe the video to your AI coding agent and let it build it from a motion template.

How ultramotion works

Each template is an open-source Agent Skill for Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex and other agents that load skills. The scene is drawn in code, where every frame is a function of time, and a small Python script writes the music. Your agent fills the template with your content, renders it frame by frame to mp4 and adds the soundtrack. You end up with a finished 9:16 video, music included.

After Effects or ultramotion?

	After Effects	ultramotion
What you do	Build the animation by hand on a timeline	Write one prompt; the agent writes and renders the scene
Learning curve	Weeks to months	Install one skill
Control	Every keyframe	Edit by asking, or edit the scene code
Music	Bring your own	Generated with each video
Cost	Adobe subscription	Free and MIT licensed; you pay for your agent

When to stay with After Effects

Client work that needs frame-exact control, compositing on top of live footage, character animation, or a team that already lives in AE templates. ultramotion covers a handful of styles well; it does not replace a motion designer.

Styles

Liquid Glass (Apple-style glass), Kinetic Type (bold type on the beat), Hand-drawn Explainer (whiteboard and chalkboard), Variety Captions (pop captions on your own footage) Light Particles (products, vehicles and places built from glowing particles), Flat Explainer (narrated, Kurzgesagt-style science explainers) Painterly (Van Gogh-style oil paintings that move), Ink Wash (Chinese ink painting that spreads and lives) and Event Replay (a moment in history replayed from real data). See them all on the styles page, each with the same prompt run with and without the skill.

Try it

Then ask your agent, for example: "Make a 20-second launch video for my app in the Liquid Glass style."