HalfToneEngine
GPU halftone for After Effects: 24 patterns, 10 element shapes, CMYK and duotone inks, mask-shaped edges and 22 colour presets.
Direct download · no account needed
Works with
Live demo
Try HalfToneEngine
HalfToneEngine's renderer, rebuilt in WebGL so you can try its settings here: pick a pattern and a colour preset, drag the settings, switch the picture and use Before / After to compare. The layer has an elliptical mask, so Use Masks shows the feathered, broken-up edges too. It runs the same per-pixel code as the plugin, which renders inside After Effects on your GPU or CPU.
Halftone
Pattern Options
Tone Levels
Mask Shape & Feather
Edge Elements
Color
Render
About this plugin
Apply HalfToneEngine to a layer from Effect > Stylize and it redraws the layer as print: dots, lines, grain or cells whose size follows the tone of the picture. Pick one of 24 patterns, from grids of dots and straight or wavy lines to crosshatch, concentric circles, spirals, pointillism, pebbles and pavers, give the elements one of 10 shapes, and set their size, angle, aspect and rotation, with distortion, drift and evolution to animate the screen. Tone Levels set the black and white points, the gamma and the least and most ink. Print with one ink, a duotone, CMYK or RGB plates with misregistration, the layer's own colours, or let the layer show through the ink, on paper, over the layer or on transparency, or start from one of 22 colour presets. The layer's masks can shape the halftone, with feathered edges where the elements shrink or dissolve, and edge elements with their own size, colour and randomness. HalfToneEngine renders on the GPU (CUDA on NVIDIA, OpenCL on AMD and Intel) or on the CPU, with smooth or hard edges. Free, for After Effects on Windows: unzip it, copy HalfToneEngine.aex into After Effects' Plug-ins folder and restart After Effects.
What it does
- 24 patterns: dot grids, straight and wavy lines, crosshatch, concentric circles, spirals, grain, pointillism, pebbles and pavers
- 10 element shapes: circle, Euclidean, square, diamond, triangle, hexagon, star, cross, ring and heart
- Size, angle, element aspect and rotation, and a pattern offset
- Distortion, drift and evolution to animate the screen
- Tone from the picture's darkness, brightness or alpha, or full ink for the shape alone
- Tone Levels: black and white points, gamma, least and most ink, smoothing
- One ink, duotone, CMYK or RGB plates, the layer's own colours, or knockout
- Paper, the layer or transparency behind the ink, with ink opacity and misregistration
- 22 colour presets, from Newsprint and Comic Red to Riso, Blueprint and Game Boy
- Masks shape the halftone: feather, expansion, roughness, and edges that shrink or dissolve
- Edge elements: size near the edge, random position, scale, rotation, dropout and colours
- Smooth or hard edges, and a blend with the original
- GPU rendering with CUDA (NVIDIA) and OpenCL (AMD, Intel), or the CPU
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