The folks over at Mamo World recently released Squash & Stretch, an After Effects extension that makes creating organic animations simple. Squash & Stretch is a collection of hand-crafted behaviors that adjust to a layer automatically. Think of them as presets with built-in intelligence. Beginning and intermediate AE users can harness this tool to instantly create dynamic animations on projects with a tight deadline. Experts can use it for rapid prototyping & brainstorming.
Once installed, you can apply behaviors via the Squash & Stretch panel. Simply select a layer, choose a behavior from the convenient built-in gallery, and apply. Fine tune the behaviors with a variety of settings, including flip behavior vertically/horizontally, and rotate behavior. Adjust the intensity of the animation with Squash & Stretch and Oomph slider bars. You can also precompose, crop to comp size, stagger layers, set work area to behavior duration, and create a parent null. The behaviors even come with stock SFX which can be applied directly from the panel in conjunction with the behavior.
Check out my tutorial video below for a detailed look:
Squash & Stretch comes with a free and a pro version, so it is a great option for people who don’t want to spend money on third-party products. The free version comes with 10 behaviors and 91 sound effects, while the pro version has 61 behaviors and 350 sound effects.
Running at $99, Squash & Stretch Pro also comes with the Text Exploder, a feature that allows you to split your text layers into characters, words or lines. This is useful for Premiere Pro editors who are entering the wonderful world of motion graphics and title animation inside of After Effects.
