What It Does
Bodymovin exports After Effects compositions as JSON files that play on websites and mobile apps through the Lottie player. Instead of rendering video files, you get lightweight animation data that scales to any size without quality loss. The exported animations work with SVG, canvas, HTML, and JavaScript renderers, making them ideal for web designers who need responsive motion graphics.
The plugin handles most After Effects elements: shapes (paths, ellipses, rectangles, stars), fills, strokes, gradients, trim paths, masks, solids, images, text layers, and null objects. It supports transforms (position, anchor point, rotation, scale, opacity, skew), time remapping, and partial expression support. Effects like fill, drop shadow, tint, and tritone work with SVG/HTML renderers.
Key Features
Bodymovin reads your After Effects timeline and converts keyframes to JSON format. Shape layers export with full path data, including trim path operations and rounded corners. Text can export as shapes (preserving appearance) or as text if fonts are loaded in the browser. Gradient fills and strokes translate directly, though some mask modes (difference, inverted, subtractive) have performance limitations.
Expression support covers basics like velocity and valueAtTime, with ongoing additions. Recent updates improved trim path performance and added support for astral plane characters (emojis). The runtime API includes standard controls: play(), stop(), pause(), setSpeed(), and goToAndStop() for frame-accurate playback.
Export options include JSON (for Lottie), GIF, or video. The plugin does not support layer stretching, image sequences, video layers, audio, or some text decorations (small caps, vertical scale).
Who It’s For
Bodymovin targets motion designers working with web developers on interactive sites. Useful for UI animations, loading screens, icon animations, and anywhere file size matters more than video fidelity. Designers creating marketing sites, mobile app interfaces, or data visualizations benefit from resolution-independent animations that load faster than video.
Web developers use the resulting Lottie files in React, Vue, or vanilla JavaScript projects. The format works across desktop browsers and mobile devices without plugins.
Pricing
Bodymovin uses a pay-what-you-want model. You can download it free by entering $0, or support development with any amount (suggested minimum $20). No subscription, no feature restrictions. Available through aescripts.com with one-time payment.