How it works

One panel. An optional second pair of hands.

The panel rigs and renders inside After Effects. The companion — if you choose to use it — moves the data prep and per-row preview into a browser tab so AE stays focused on what it's good at.

A

Panel only

You already have a clean sheet? Rig in AE. Point the panel at the file. Render. That's the whole job.

AE Panel reads CSV / Google Sheets / Marp directly via its own connectors. Companion not required.

B

Panel + companion

Messy spreadsheet, ten teammates touching it, and you want to see every row before you commit four hours of render time? Use the companion.

Companion connects the source, runs transforms, validates assets, generates per-row styled previews, and writes a campaign artifact to a watched filesystem path the panel ingests.

Path B only — using the companion

1
In AE

Rig

Tag text layers, image slots, palettes, footage, and timing markers as variables.

2
In browser

Connect

Upload a CSV, link a Google Sheet, or drop a REST URL in the companion.

3
In browser

Map & preview

Drag columns onto variables. Preview every row without leaving the browser.

4
In AE

Render

The panel picks up the campaign and renders inside AE.

AE Panel · installed via ZXP · the core product

Lives inside After Effects

It's the part you actually rig and render with. Lives inside After Effects, understands your comps, and turns rows into finished videos.

CEP extension (CEP 12, AE 2022+). Non-destructive pseudo-effect rigging, smart text-fit, focal-point cropping, palette/theme system, time rules, named render profiles, and a batch queue with pause/resume. Works fully offline; data only leaves your machine if you connect a Google Sheet.

  • Original comp untouched — pure overlay rigs
  • Native CSV, Google Sheets, REST, and Marp Markdown sources
  • Batch queue with pause / resume / per-row retry

Web Companion · browser · localhost · optional

Lives in your browser

Where you fix the spreadsheet, map columns to layers, and check every row before any rendering happens. Like a spreadsheet review tab that actually shows you what each row will look like.

Next.js 15 + SQLite + Drizzle, bound to 127.0.0.1. Connects CSV / Google Sheets (web-owned OAuth) / REST. Fixed-menu transforms with live before-after. Styled-proof HTML/CSS preview labeled approximate (not pixel-perfect AE). Hands campaigns to the panel via a filesystem bridge.

  • Localhost-only — your data stays on your machine
  • Per-row preview catches mismapped columns before render
  • Forkable campaigns — try a dataset variant without losing the original

Questions, answered.