Time tracking in After Effects, all the way to the price to bill.
A timer panel in After Effects: start it on a job, animate as usual, and the time you really spent working becomes the amount to bill your client.
After Effects 2024 (24.0) or later · Mac and PC · from €11.90 a month
What the timer counts in After Effects.
After Effects reports little to its extensions, so the panel combines two measurements, as in Illustrator. It never reads your keystrokes, the content of your projects or your screen.
Mouse, keyboard, tablet
When your system allows it, the panel reads the time of your last input and checks that After Effects is in the foreground: the most accurate measurement, even during long curve adjustments.
Your composition
Otherwise, it looks at the project every 10 seconds: active composition, current time, selected layers and properties, unsaved changes. A change counts as an action.
Coming back to the app
Returning to After Effects, acting in the panel: all signs that you are at work.
Renders, set aside
Without any input for the threshold you choose (5 minutes by default, from 1 to 30), the time becomes idle, long renders included. You then decide whether to count it.
From time spent in After Effects to the amount to bill.
- Start the timer on the job. One click in the panel, on the work in progress. You can also add time manually.
- Work as usual. The timer follows your activity in After Effects. Away for more than 15 minutes? It asks you when you come back whether that time should count; forgotten for hours? It warns you.
- Validate the session. Elapsed, active and idle time stay separate: you keep the billable time, count or remove a break, correct if needed.
- Bill. For time spent, the amount is the validated time multiplied by your rate; at a fixed price, you see the time still covered or the lost income. A PDF timesheet goes with your invoice.
For animations where every second has a price.
Titles and branding packages
Opening titles, lower thirds, channel branding: the time of each variation, to price the next one right.
Animated logos
A 5-second logo animation that takes two days: the real time behind the price, and the proof.
Motion for social media
Vertical, square, looping formats: every version counted, client by client.
Explainer videos
Long animations, many scenes: see whether the fixed price still holds before the third round of revisions.
Install the timer in After Effects (.zxp).
- Download the After Effects .zxp file from the Download page.
- Install it with Adobe’s tool that comes with Creative Cloud: the Download page gives the command to copy into Terminal (Mac) or the Command Prompt (Windows).
- Restart After Effects, open Window › Extensions › ChroKo and sign in.
The plugin works with a subscription (€11.90 a month or €99 a year). To discover it first, the online demo shows every feature for 15 minutes, with sample data. Your own work numbers stay on your computer.
The same timer in your other apps.
One job, one timer, five apps: same jobs, same clients, same rates, and time adds up wherever you work.
Photoshop
What the timer counts in Photoshop, its uses and its installation.
Time tracking in PhotoshopIllustrator
What the timer counts in Illustrator, its uses and its installation.
Time tracking in IllustratorInDesign
What the timer counts in InDesign, its uses and its installation.
Time tracking in InDesignPremiere
What the timer counts in Premiere, its uses and its installation.
Time tracking in PremiereQuestions about the timer in After Effects
Is render time counted?
Not automatically: without any input for the idle threshold, a render becomes idle time. When validating the session, you can count it if you bill it, or add it manually.
I adjust curves for a long time without clicking: is it counted?
Yes: with the system probe, every mouse or stylus movement counts. And a gap shorter than the idle threshold (5 minutes by default, adjustable up to 30) remains active time, even while you think in front of your composition.
Why is the installation different from Premiere’s?
After Effects uses another extension format, the .zxp, which installs with Adobe’s tool that comes with Creative Cloud. The Download page gives the exact command for Mac and Windows.
What if I switch from After Effects to Premiere or Illustrator on the same project?
The timer and your data are shared by Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere and After Effects: install ChroKo in each app and you find the same jobs, clients and rates everywhere. Time spent in one or the other adds up on the same job, on the same computer and with the same subscription.
Which version of After Effects do I need?
After Effects 2024 (24.0) or later, on Mac or PC. One subscription covers 3 computers, and all the apps on the same computer count as one.
Your time in After Effects,
finally billed.
€11.90 a month or €99 a year, no commitment. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere and After Effects included.