What It Does
circuitFX generates procedural circuit board graphics inside After Effects. Each button press creates a randomized pattern of circuit lines, chips, resistors, and capacitors. The tool outputs editable shape layers, giving you full control over colors, sizes, and animation timing. Designed for technology interfaces, sci-fi HUDs, and animated backgrounds.
The plugin supports three generation modes. Fill out covers the entire composition. Center-out leaves an empty center area (like a CPU socket). Using Masks lets you draw bezier masks to define where circuits appear, useful for fitting circuits inside text or custom shapes.
Key Features
Customizable grid system. Adjust X and Y grid dimensions to control circuit density. The populate slider determines what percentage of grid points get used. Minimum and maximum vertex controls set how complex each circuit line becomes.
Component generation. Creates chips, resistors, and capacitors with adjustable size, color, and randomness. Choose whether components appear on a single shape layer or separate layers for individual control.
Line controls. Set circuit line width, color, and orientation (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or custom directions). The direction strength slider adjusts how strictly lines follow your chosen orientation. Clusters apply multiple offsets to simulate parallel circuit paths.
Start and end shapes. Circuit line endpoints can be circles, crosses, or n-gons (triangles, squares, hexagons). Size randomness adds variation.
Mask integration. Supports Add, Subtract, and Difference mask modes. Works with bezier masks for organic circuit boundaries. Generate a grid guide layer, draw masks on it, then create circuits that follow those shapes. Practical for text-to-mask workflows where circuits fill letterforms.
Static seed values. Lock in a seed number to reproduce the exact same circuit pattern. Useful when you need consistent results across multiple renders.
Animation-ready output. Trim start, trim end, and trim offset parameters let you animate circuits as if electricity flows through them. All output is shape layers, compatible with Element 3D and other plugins. A layer export mode creates masks instead of visible shapes, useful for texture mapping.
Crossing prevention. Toggle an option to stop circuit lines from overlapping. Keeps complex boards readable.
Who It’s For
Motion designers building technology interfaces, FUI (fantasy user interfaces), or sci-fi sequences. Anyone creating HUDs, data visualizations, or animated tech backgrounds. The procedural approach saves time compared to manually drawing circuit patterns. Works well for product demos, game UI mockups, or broadcast graphics where you need that tech aesthetic.
Pricing
$29.99 for a single-user license. Floating server licenses available at higher pricing. Trial version available for testing before purchase. Compatible with After Effects CS6 through 2025 on both Windows and macOS (including Apple Silicon).
