Adjust toolkit
Shape exposure and tonal ranges, balance channels, map gradients and refine your grade with dedicated correction tools.
25 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
AE PLUGINS · GRADE SHIFT PROMore depth.
More depth.
More motion.
More you.
Build your look effect by effect. Grade Shift Pro includes 81 standalone AE plugins across 10 labeled groups. Stack, reorder and animate color, motion, glow, grain, distortion and graphic finishes independently. Explore expanded Textures, Film Style and Stylize groups, plus cleaner native controls throughout the suite.
$50 USD · One-time purchase · Windows x64 · 81 effects · Two separate ZIPs
GRADE SHIFT PRO / 81 EFFECTS81 effects.
81 effects.
Your own creative stack.
Color + toneGrading · Split toning · NEW Colorize
Motion + trailsX/Y/Z shake · Directional trails · NEW Radial Blur
Grain + distortionFilm texture · Turbulence · Lens warp
Invert + halftoneRGB negatives · Custom dot screens
Light + finishGlow · Flicker · Vignette · Mix
81 native effects · Organized into 10 Grade Shift groups in Effects & Presets.
Deeper color✦X/Y/Z shake✦Film grain✦Distortion✦Invert✦Halftone
THE PRO TOOLKIT
Build the whole feeling.
81 effects across 10 labeled groups. Each has its own relevant controls and Mix, so you can apply only what you need and choose the order of your effect stack.
Find your signature palette.
Shape exposure and tonal ranges, balance channels, map gradients and refine your grade with dedicated correction tools. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Adjust.
GS 3-Way Color
Balance shadows, midtones and highlights with luminance-weighted RGB gains. Choose the LOJ starting-point preset or Neutral – Custom for editable sliders.
Shadow / Midtone / Highlight gains · Band thresholds · Preset · Strength
GS Color Correction
Choose RGB or HSL color correction and refine brightness, contrast, gamma, hue and saturation.
Color space · Brightness · Contrast · Gamma · Hue · Saturation
GS Curves
Shape Master, Red, Green and Blue tonal curves using five output-point sliders per channel. These are slider-based controls rather than a graph editor.
Master / RGB · Five output points · Mix
GS Hue Saturation
Adjust master hue, saturation and lightness, select a color channel, or use Colorize mode.
Channel · Hue · Saturation · Lightness · Colorize
GS Color GradeGS Color - ExposureGS Color - ContrastGS Color - SaturationGS Color - TemperatureGS Color - TintGS Color - VibranceGS Color - HueGS Color - GammaGS Color - ShadowsGS Color - HighlightsGS Color - BlacksGS Color - WhitesGS Color - Red GainGS Color - Green GainGS Color - Blue GainGS Color - Faded BlacksGS Color - SepiaGS Color - Shadow ToneGS Color - Highlight ToneGS ColorizeGS Color CorrectionGS Hue SaturationGS CurvesGS 3-Way Color
Give the shot its energy.
Direct procedural shake axis by axis, control rotation and zoom, and add a changing brightness pulse. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Motion.
Motion toolkit
Direct procedural shake axis by axis, control rotation and zoom, and add a changing brightness pulse.
7 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
GS ShakeGS FlickerGS Shake - XGS Shake - YGS Shake - ZGS Shake - RotationGS Shake - Zoom
Control every edge.
From directional trails and radial movement to detailed sharpening, decide where the image softens and where it stays crisp. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Blur+Sharpen.
Blur+Sharpen toolkit
From directional trails and radial movement to detailed sharpening, decide where the image softens and where it stays crisp.
6 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
GS Detail Sharpen
Tune sharpening across tiny, small, medium and large detail bands. Use an edge threshold and luma, chroma and RGB controls to shape the finish.
Amplitude · Edge threshold · Detail bands · Luma / Chroma · RGB
GS Unsharp Mask
Refine edges with a Gaussian-based unsharp mask. Adjust amount, pixel radius and threshold, then blend with Mix.
Amount · Radius · Threshold · Mix
GS Motion BlurGS BlurGS SharpenGS Radial BlurGS Unsharp MaskGS Detail Sharpen
Make the light feel alive.
Build glow, diffusion and a colored vignette as independent layers of the look. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Lighting.
Lighting toolkit
Build glow, diffusion and a colored vignette as independent layers of the look.
3 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
GS Diffusion
Create highlight bloom with radius, size, grade and amount controls. Refine highlight selection, exposure compensation and RGB tint.
Highlight Bloom · Radius / Size · Grade · Amount · Threshold / Softness · RGB tint
GS GlowGS VignetteGS Diffusion
Make the frame your own.
Combine grain, halftone and inversion with eight creative stylize effects: Posterize, Solarize, Comic, Emboss, Oil Paint, Watercolor, Pencil Sketch and Mosaic. Browse Grade Shift Stylize in Effects & Presets.
Stylize controls
Posterize uses ordered dithering; Comic adds softened edge outlines. Oil Paint and Watercolor use edge-preserving smoothing, Pencil Sketch combines outlines and texture, and Mosaic averages each tile. Oil Paint and Watercolor can use substantial memory at 4K and above.
15 individually addable effects · Mix (%) · Native AE controls
GS Film GrainGS InvertGS HalftoneGS Invert - RedGS Invert - GreenGS Invert - BlueGS Film Grain AdvancedGS Stylize - PosterizeGS Stylize - SolarizeGS Stylize - ComicGS Stylize - EmbossGS Stylize - Oil PaintGS Stylize - WatercolorGS Stylize - Pencil SketchGS Stylize - Mosaic
Bend the atmosphere.
Shape waves, turbulence, lens warps and color-channel offsets in your effect stack. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Distort.
Distort toolkit
Shape waves, turbulence, lens warps and color-channel offsets in your effect stack.
5 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
GS Chromatic Aberration
Create color-channel separation using radial strength and channel offsets. Blend the result into the source image.
Radial amount · Channel offsets · Mix
GS DistortionGS Distortion - WaveGS Distortion - TurbulenceGS Distortion - LensGS Chromatic Aberration
Paint the frame with color.
Build a four-point color gradient and blend it into the image. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Render.
Render toolkit
Build a four-point color gradient and blend it into the image.
1 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
GS 4-Color Gradient
Set four colors at percentage-based points, then shape blend, jitter, opacity and blending mode. Point controls use sliders rather than on-screen handles.
Four colors / positions · Blend · Jitter · Opacity · Blending mode
GS 4-Color Gradient
Combine the image your way.
Build mathematical combinations of your source image and a second AE layer. Find these effects in AE under Grade Shift Composite.
Composite toolkit
Build mathematical combinations of your source image and a second AE layer.
1 individually addable effects · Native AE controls
GS Math Ops
Combine Source A with an optional Source B layer using ten mathematical operations. Shape input and destination controls; Source B is resized to A, and A’s alpha is preserved.
Source B layer · Operation · Swap inputs · Input / Destination controls · Mix
GS Math Ops
Build texture from the ground up.
Generate Noise, Clouds, Marble, Wood, Weave or Grunge without external image files. Browse Grade Shift Textures in Effects & Presets.
Textures controls
Shape scale, detail, contrast, evolution, speed, seed, offsets, rotation and colors. Blend with Texture Opacity and Mix. Draft, Standard and High quality use 1, 4 or 9 samples per pixel; higher quality costs more CPU time. Use an opaque solid for a full-frame background because textures preserve source alpha.
6 individually addable effects · Mix (%) · Native AE controls
GS Texture - NoiseGS Texture - CloudsGS Texture - MarbleGS Texture - WoodGS Texture - WeaveGS Texture - Grunge
Give the edit a film-inspired finish.
Stack 12 standalone film effects for tonal character, texture, exposure variation and frame movement. Browse Grade Shift Film Style in Effects & Presets.
Film Style controls
Choose Look, Damage, Light Leaks, Halation, Fade, Tint, Vignette, Flicker, Gate Weave, Letterbox, Burn or Bloom. These are creative treatments rather than calibrated film-stock emulations. Letterbox adds mattes without changing export dimensions; Film Burn progresses to a selected color, so use AE compositing for a two-clip transition.
12 individually addable effects · Mix (%) · Native AE controls
GS Film - LookGS Film - DamageGS Film - Light LeaksGS Film - HalationGS Film - FadeGS Film - TintGS Film - VignetteGS Film - FlickerGS Film - Gate WeaveGS Film - LetterboxGS Film - BurnGS Film - Bloom
Photography sets the mood for each category. These images are not before-and-after plugin renders.
Photo credits
Photography from Unsplash: Fernando Strabuli · sunset / Davide Cantelli · light trails / Amelia Noyes · neon / Steven Lawson · water reflections / David Clode · film camera / Parrish Freeman · architecture / Landscape photography.
GS Shake includes sampled blur for its generated movement. GS Motion Blur creates independent directional trails. Neither uses optical flow or automatically blurs After Effects layer animation.
STANDARD → PROYour foundation.
Your foundation.
More possibilities.
For $15 more than Standard’s listed price, Pro adds dedicated controls for color character, axis-specific shake, motion blur, texture, image warping, inversion and halftone styling. Both editions are one-time purchases.
A more deliberate grade.
Move beyond basic exposure and saturation. Shape tonal ranges, balance individual channels and introduce different colors into shadows and highlights.
More expressive movement.
Tune X and Y strength, introduce simulated Z-depth push/pull and set a speed multiplier for each axis. Add rotation, zoom and sampled motion blur, or build independent directional trails.
A richer atmosphere.
Build animated grain and warping into the look, then add channel-selective inversion and custom halftone dots. Refine patterns, print colors and seeds for a distinctive finish.
| Creative control | Standard | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural textures | Noise, Clouds and Grunge with quality selection | Noise, Clouds, Marble, Wood, Weave and Grunge; three sampling-quality levels |
| Film treatments | Film Look, Damage, Light Leaks and Halation | 12 standalone Film Style effects including Look, Damage, Halation, Burn and Bloom |
| Creative stylize | Posterize, Comic, Emboss, Mosaic and Pencil Sketch | Posterize, Solarize, Comic, Emboss, Oil Paint, Watercolor, Pencil Sketch and Mosaic |
| Expanded correction | Core grade, Colorize, Curves and 3-Way Color | Color Correction, Hue Saturation, slider-based Curves and 3-Way Color |
| Advanced finish | Sharpening, Unsharp Mask, Glow and Diffusion | Unsharp Mask, Detail Sharpen, Diffusion and Advanced Film Grain |
| Compositing and gradients | Not included | Math Ops with Source B layer and 4-Color Gradient |
| Colorize | Palettes and custom gradients | Custom 2–6-stop gradient, seven palettes, channel mapping and luminance blend |
| Radial blur | Included as a separate Standard effect | Zoom and Spin; symmetric blur or directional smear; center, quality, edge and alpha controls |
| Effect workflow | 40 separate Standard effects | 81 standalone effects across 10 labeled groups |
| Core color | Exposure, contrast, saturation, temperature, tint, vibrance and hue | Core color + temperature, tint, vibrance, hue and sepia |
| Tonal shaping | Gamma, shadows and highlights | Gamma, shadows, highlights, blacks, whites |
| Color styling | Color vignette | RGB gains, faded blacks, shadow and highlight toning |
| Shake | Amount and speed | Independent X/Y strength, simulated Z depth, per-axis speeds, rotation and zoom |
| Motion blur | Seconds-based sampled shake blur | Sampled shake blur with duration or shutter angle; independent directional trail effect |
| Directional trails | Standalone Standard Motion Blur | Independent blur length and angle |
| Film grain | Standalone Standard Film Grain | Amount, size, color, speed and reproducible seed |
| Distortion | Standalone Standard Distortion | X/Y waves, wavelength, animation, turbulence and lens warp |
| Invert | Not included | Full or partial negative with independent RGB strength |
| Halftone | Not included | Dot size, angle, contrast, soft edges, source color, ink and paper colors |
| Edge sampling | Clamped edges | Clamped or mirrored edges |
| Light + finish | Glow, flicker, blur, sharpen, colored vignette, Mix | Separate glow, flicker, blur, sharpen and vignette effects; expanded glow shaping |
| Price | $35 USD · one-time | $50 USD · one-time |
$50 is the full Pro purchase price. The $15 difference is a price comparison, not an upgrade discount. The Pro suite uses separate binaries and unique effect identities. Keep your legacy GradeShift.aex for existing all-in-one projects; the suite does not convert those projects.
UPDATED NATIVE CONTROLS
Less searching. More creating.
Long effect panels now use collapsible native AE sections, while simple effects stay compact. Shorter labels, consistent units and Mix (%) keep the controls easier to scan. Sample counts and seeds show whole numbers, and motion blur duration shows three decimals.
The update retains effect identities and saved value-control IDs. Back up projects before updating: expressions using older labels or numeric parameter indexes may need changes, and existing projects and presets still require testing in your AE version. Control-Reference.csv and Control-Layout.json document the mappings.
YOUR EXPANDED CREATIVE TOOLKITGo deeper.
Go deeper.
Make it Pro.
One Pro purchase includes the 81-effect suite in two separate updated files: the Windows installer ZIP and the manual installation ZIP. Choose how you install, then shape the frame your way.
No GradeShift subscription. After Effects is purchased separately.
$50 USD · paid once
Get Grade Shift Pro · $50Secure Stripe checkout. Both downloads unlock after confirmed payment.
Check requirements and installationInstall your way.
AFTER EFFECTS INSTALLER VERSIONS
Windows installation targets
After Effects 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, when their installations are detected under Program Files\Adobe. The installer scans Adobe After Effects folders and lets you select the versions found; custom install paths may require manual installation.
AE 2023 is the plugin build baseline. Installer detection does not certify loading or rendering compatibility: AE 2024–2026 and other hosts require testing. Windows x64 only.
Installer ZIP
The installer package contains GradeShift-Setup.exe, GradeShift-Uninstall.exe plus installation, effect-group, CC, Colorize and Radial Blur guides.
- Close After Effects and extract the installer ZIP.
- Run GradeShift-Setup.exe on Windows and follow its installation prompts.
- Restart After Effects, expand the 10 Grade Shift groups in Effects & Presets, or search GS, and apply any suite effect.
Manual ZIP
The manual package contains 81 separate .aex plugins, installation and effect guides, plus Controls-Guide.txt, Control-Reference.csv and Control-Layout.json.
- Close After Effects and extract the manual ZIP.
- Copy all 81 .aex files into your installed AE version’s Support Files → Plug-ins → GradeShift folder.
- Restart AE and expand the Grade Shift groups in Effects & Presets, or search GS. Keep legacy GradeShift.aex if existing projects use it.
Requirements: Windows x64 and the Microsoft Visual C++ x64 runtime. After Effects 2023 is the build baseline; later versions require independent testing. CPU 8-bit and 16-bit rendering only. No macOS, ARM64, GPU or 32-bit float build is supplied. Installation and rendering have not been independently verified in After Effects.
The details that matter.
Why do some included guides mention source build kits?
Some guide text refers to earlier source kits. These supplied downloads contain compiled Windows binaries: the manual ZIP has the .aex effects, and the installer ZIP has setup and uninstall executables. Follow the installation instructions for those supplied files. Loading, rendering and project migration have not been independently verified in After Effects.
What is included in the $50 purchase?
The Pro standalone suite: 81 effects, delivered as two separate installation options. The installer ZIP includes setup and uninstall executables plus installation, effect-group, CC, Colorize and Radial Blur guides. The manual ZIP includes all 81 .aex files, installation instructions, the effect-group list and CC, Colorize and Radial Blur guides. Both unlock after confirmed payment.
Can I use the suite alongside Standard or an earlier Pro?
Yes. The suite has separate binaries and unique effect identities. Keep legacy GradeShift.aex for projects using the all-in-one effect. Keep a backup of your legacy plugin; the suite does not automatically convert existing effects.
How does motion blur work?
GS Shake samples its generated movement within the current source image, with duration or shutter angle and adjustable samples. GS Motion Blur is an independent directional trail effect with length, angle and reflected-edge sampling. Neither tracks footage motion or automatically blurs AE layer animation.
What are the new effects?
GS Color Correction, GS Hue Saturation, GS Curves, GS 3-Way Color, GS Detail Sharpen, GS Unsharp Mask, GS Math Ops, GS Chromatic Aberration, GS Diffusion, GS 4-Color Gradient, GS Film Grain Advanced. These correction tools are retained alongside the expanded Textures, Film Style and Stylize groups, bringing the suite to 81 effects. The included CC guide provides starting settings rather than a verified match to another vendor’s effects. No plugin license key is required for this release; website downloads require a confirmed Pro purchase.
What is new in glow?
Soft thresholding, Radius for the core bloom, Spread for a broader halo, tint controls and Screen Blend for additive-to-screen blending. Glow preserves source alpha and does not expand coverage beyond transparent layer bounds.
Is Z shake true 3D movement?
Z shake uses centered image-space zoom for simulated push/pull. It does not change AE 3D Position or create parallax.
How do I update?
Download the new installer or manual ZIP from your paid Pro download page. Close AE, install the suite, restart and search GS. Back up existing plugins and test your projects. Keep legacy GradeShift.aex for all-in-one projects. The suite uninstaller removes only its named suite binaries.
How do I find the new plugins?
Clear the AE Effects & Presets search to see Grade Shift Adjust, Blur+Sharpen, Composite, Distort, Lighting, Motion, Render, Stylize, Textures and Film Style. Or search GS for the 81 standalone effects. There is no custom dockable panel. Apply an effect and adjust its controls. For GS Radial Blur, raise Amount above zero to add blur. For Colorize, choose a palette or edit the custom stops and adjust Mix.