Discovering Plug-ins Will Make You A Rockstar!

Ok, I need to get something off my chest. Plug-ins and Extensions are life savers. I’m here to tell you why you need them.

If you use any Adobe software you need to learn how to use plug-ins. I wish I had in school but now as a full-blown designer at an agency with lots to juggle and many deadlines, I have had to figure out new ways to spin things around fast. Plug-ins are not exclusive to just Adobe but other software. I use After Effects and Illustrator constantly for motion graphics and illustrations so I have used a few for them.

So what do they even do? Well, they make your tools even better or add new features to the program to free you from tedious, slow, and inefficient creation. Some programs have glass ceilings especially when programs need to talk to each other.

For example, when I need to import an illustration I have created either in photoshop or illustrator into After Effects it is a long process to properly import those without funky artifacts or glitches. The plugin that I use to help with this is a magical mystical plugin called OVERLORD. It is my favorite plugin. It is technically an “extension” but that’s an entirely different topic. It helps import shapes directly from Illustrator into After Effects with just a simple window panel within each program.

I can’t tell you how important this tool is if you are beginning to learn vector animation. Just go watch a few YouTube videos to learn the basics and master those. Why does this matter? Creating something from your mind into a fully produced item is an obstacle course and the biggest thing that can get in the way of making something awesome is the knowledge of the tool itself to get it done. So plug-ins are a way of helping you get through those hurdles and creative trenches easier.

So I hope this empowers you to venture into trying plug-ins and making your programs work for you and not against you. Become a design rockstar and make badass stuff! I have only scratched the surface but after taking the plunge I am more open to trying more plug-ins to make my creative process more of an adventure vs a battle.

If you want to try Overlord I will link it here.

Have fun creating!

– Hayley <3