Getting started
Your first prompt
With After Effects open and the MCP configured, you can start talking to Claude. Here's what to expect and some prompts to get you started.
How to talk to the MCP
Just describe what you want in plain language. You don't need to know tool names — Claude figures out which tools to call. Be specific about numbers (frame numbers, pixel values, percentages) for best results.
Claude will show you each tool it calls and its result before moving to the next step. If something goes wrong, it'll tell you and try to recover.
Example prompts
Compositions
Create a 1920×1080 comp called "Intro" at 30fps, 10 seconds long
Duplicate the active comp and name it "Intro v2"
Set the work area from frame 10 to frame 90
Text & layers
Add a white text layer saying "SYNTHETIC" in 120px Helvetica, centered
Fade the text layer in over 20 frames starting at frame 0
Duplicate the layer, offset it 8 frames, and set Overlay blend mode at 60% opacity
Effects
Add a Gaussian Blur to the selected layer with blurriness 15
Apply a Glow effect with intensity 2.5 and threshold 60%
Remove all effects from the layer named "BG"
Keyframes
Animate the position of layer 1 from [0, 540] at frame 0 to [960, 540] at frame 30 with Easy Ease
Add a scale keyframe at frame 60 with value 120%
Reverse all keyframes on the selected layer
Render
Add the active comp to the render queue with Best Settings
Set the output path to the Desktop and start the render
Clear the render queue
Tips for better results
Be specific with numbers
Say '120px' instead of 'large', 'frame 30' instead of 'a second in'.
Name your layers
Give layers meaningful names when creating them — Claude can reference them by name later.
Work in steps
For complex animations, break it into steps: create the comp, then add layers, then animate.
Use the active comp
Claude always operates on the active composition unless you specify another by name.
Ask for confirmation
For big operations (deleting layers, clearing the render queue), Claude will confirm before proceeding.