Lockdown 4 for After Effects, Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya and Houdini

Lockdown is the original and best plug-in that allows you to track warping surfaces inside After Effects in 2D or 3D. Export your mesh and tracking data to Cinema 4D, or to Blender or other 3D apps via Alembic. Lockdown 4 is rebuilt with simplicity in mind, offering a new and improved UI with simplified workflows, as well as AI tracking tools, fast motion blur, and more! Includes Color Llama, Composite Brush, and Paint Link at no additional cost.

Click the FREE TRIAL button below to download the free version of Lockdown 4 which allows 1 and 2 point tracking, exportable to nulls in After Effects, or transforms in Cinema 4D or Alembic.

Learn about license types
Final product price

From $399.99

To $399.99

Description
Get the free version of Lockdown now through the aescripts manager app!

When you install the trial version of Lockdown, many features are still available to use for free. The trial/free version allows you to export 1 and 2 point null object tracks to After Effects, Cinema 4D, or alembic (for Blender/Maya/other 3D apps).

Reactions

TG
Teddy Gage
Shotgun Studios

Lockdown is another class of tool. I strongly feel it could convert entire studios and pipelines from Nuke/Flame to AE

Lockdown (est. 2018) is a revolutionary plug-in that allows you to track warping surfaces inside After Effects

Lockdown is a tool for tracking warping surfaces and planes in After Effects. Lockdown 4 allows you to add 3D depth to your mesh, so you can attach 3D objects in Cinema 4D, and other 3D applications. Try the demo now to see how it works!

Features:

  • Track warping surfaces, Planar surfaces, or Point Tracks in After Effects.
    • Create a stabilized composition to "hold your footage still", allowing you to paint on it, or add graphics.
      • Export your 3D scene to Cinema 4D as a C4D file. Or to Blender, Maya, and other 3D apps through Alembic.
        • Includes Color Llama, Composite Brush, and Paint Link for free! ($300 value)

          New in Lockdown 4:

          • A fully redesigned UI and Lockdown workflow setup. Everything is much easier and more accessible than it's ever been, with tutorials and documentation built into each tool section.
            • An ai based tracker that is much smarter than our previous efforts.
              • A "search and fix" feature that allows you to quickly snap your point to the correct feature, using other frames as reference.
                • Fast rendering motion blur.
                  • Quad rendering for smoother deformation.

                    Included with Lockdown 4

                    Color Llama
                    Composite Brush
                    Paint Link

                    Tutorials and documentation

                    Many of you have asked for an official user guide to assist the video tutorials. Now there is a help button (represented by a question mark) next to each major feature set in Lockdown 4. Press it to see a written user guide, most of which contain additional information through Youtube links. You can browse the tutorial videos here, but the experience is best from within Lockdown itself. Please assume all tutorials have been edited or sped up for your viewing convenience. To assess speed and performance on your system, please download the trial and try for yourself!

                    FAQ

                    Upgrade Notice

                    If you have purchased Lockdown 3 on or after Feb 3, 2026, you can upgrade to Lockdown 4 for free.

                    If you purchased Lockdown 3 before Feb 3, 2026, the upgrade to Lockdown 4 costs $100.

                    For Lockdown 2 users, the upgrade to Lockdown 4 is $200.

                    Simply login to the same account and the upgrade discount will be automatically added in the shopping cart. If you need assistance, please open a support ticket.

                    Can't download Depth Estimator from the manager app

                    Normally you can just download the depth estimator is in the manager app, which will put it exactly where it should be for you. https://aescripts.com/learn/post/aescripts-aeplugins-manager-app

                    If you can't get your hands on the latest manager app, usually due to admin restrictions at your studio-

                    Please download it from the FREE TRIAL button below the Add to Cart button above or from the `Downloads & Licenses` section of your user account.

                    And place the Depth Estimator Library (depth_estimator_[version].vrl) next to your Lockdown plugin file. Lockdown.aex on Windows, or Lockdown.plugin on Mac.

                    How do I use Lockdown with Blender or other 3D applications?

                    In the 3D tab, when you export, you can export the mesh as an alembic. The alembic exporter will create a scene with a camera, a warping mesh, and a background object. The almbic format is limited, so you'll need to set up some parts of the project yourself. Import this into Blender, and inside the Lockdown group, you can look through the camera that was created for you. You can attach your footage to the background object. If you need the texture on the mesh itself, you can project the texture using the Lockdown camera as your projector. You cannot assign the textures to the Lockdown mesh via UVs, because the UVs are set to remain completely still aligned to the hero frame. To explain it using a real world example, if you track a shot of a brick wall, you can apply a still frame of a painting texture to the mesh, and it will appear to follow the brick wall.

                    How do I manually install Lockdown 4 (After Effects)?

                    We don't recommend a manual install, please use the aescripts + aeplugins manager app!

                    But if you have a specific reason to install manually:

                    Go to the op of this page and click the "FREE TRIAL" button to access the downloads.

                    Enter the Windows folder for a Windows install, copy and paste the ..aex plugin file here: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2026\Support Files\Plug-ins

                    Enter the Mac folder for a Mac install, copy and paste the .plugin file here: Applications/Adobe After Effects 2026/Plug-ins/ enter the Models folder, and paste depth_estimator_384x384_low_vram.vrl into the same folder as your plugin. Go to the `Downloads & Licenses` section of your user account and find your license code. It takes about 15 minutes to generate after purchasing. Copy your License Code. Apply Lockdown to an empty layer. Press "Register" at the top of the plug-in. Paste in your license code. Press "Activate" in After Effects, go to Edit/Purge/All Memory & Disk Cache

                    How do I get rid of the grid watermark?

                    Please refer to this faq on how to register your license and some troubleshooting tips.

                    How do I create a log file?

                    Please watch this video. Log files contain a record you can send to us, that tells us basically everything that happened since you opened Lockdown until you closed it. It makes it much easier for us to find bugs. Please make sure to delete the log folder after sending us the log, because the log file will get very very large over time if you keep the folder. Basically, if the folder exists, the log file is created and written to. If not, the log file is not created or written to. So you don't want the log folder to exist for any longer than it needs to be.

                    I'd like to see the Lockdown 2 or 3 tutorials only

                    Here is the YouTube playlist for Lockdown 2

                    And YouTube playlist for Lockdown 3

                    I have a problem not listed here, can you help me?

                    We can sure try. All the help tickets for this product regarding technique are answered us, the creators of Lockdown. You can open a help ticket here.


                    Discussions

                    Want to talk about it?

                    Head over to r/aescripts to chat with fellow users about this product.

                    Need Support?

                    Please open a support ticket to be connected directly with the author of this product

                    Compatibility

                    After Effects

                    2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022

                    Blender

                    5.1, 5.0, 4.5, 4.4, 4.3, 4.2, 4.1, 4.0, 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2

                    Cinema 4D

                    2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, S26, R25, S24, R23, S22, R21, R20, R19, R18, R17, R16, R15

                    Houdini

                    21, 20.5, 20, 19, 18, 17

                    Maya

                    2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

                    EULA

                    END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

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                    This Agreement is governed by the laws of New York, without regard to New York's conflict or choice of law provisions.

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                    If any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. To the extent any express or implied restrictions are not permitted by applicable laws, these express or implied restrictions shall remain in force and effect to the maximum extent permitted by such applicable laws.

                    In regards to the open source libraries we use within this product, we use some parts of the Open CV library. It's required that we list their copyrights below.
                    License Agreement

                    For Open Source Computer Vision Library
                    (3-clause BSD License)

                    Copyright (C) 2000-2019, Intel Corporation, all rights reserved.
                    Copyright (C) 2009-2011, Willow Garage Inc., all rights reserved.
                    Copyright (C) 2009-2016, NVIDIA Corporation, all rights reserved.
                    Copyright (C) 2010-2013, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., all rights reserved.
                    Copyright (C) 2015-2016, OpenCV Foundation, all rights reserved.
                    Copyright (C) 2015-2016, Itseez Inc., all rights reserved.
                    Third party copyrights are property of their respective owners.

                    This next section refers to OpenCV's liability within Lockdown
                    This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors “as is” and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no event shall copyright holders or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

                    Below are copyrights and notices for other libraries we use. These permissions refer specifically to the code of theirs that we use in Lockdown.

                    The OpenGL Extension Wrangler Library
                    Copyright (C) 2008-2016, Nigel Stewart <nigels[]users sourceforge net>
                    Copyright (C) 2002-2008, Milan Ikits <milan ikits[]ieee org>
                    Copyright (C) 2002-2008, Marcelo E. Magallon <mmagallo[]debian org>
                    Copyright (C) 2002, Lev Povalahev
                    All rights reserved.

                    THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" 
                    AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE 
                    IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
                    ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE 
                    LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR 
                    CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF 
                    SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
                    INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
                    CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
                    ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF
                    THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


                    Mesa 3-D graphics library
                    Version:  7.0
                    
                    Copyright (C) 1999-2007  Brian Paul   All Rights Reserved.

                    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
                    OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
                    FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
                    BRIAN PAUL BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
                    AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
                    CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


                    Copyright (c) 2007 The Khronos Group Inc.
                    
                    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
                    copy of this software and/or associated documentation files (the
                    "Materials"), to deal in the Materials without restriction, including
                    without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
                    distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Materials, and to
                    permit persons to whom the Materials are furnished to do so, subject to
                    the following conditions:


                    THE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
                    EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
                    MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
                    IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
                    CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
                    TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
                    MATERIALS OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE MATERIALS.

                    License to use Alembic library:

                    //-*****************************************************************************
                    //
                    // Copyright (c) 2009-2016,
                    // Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. and
                    // Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd.
                    //
                    // All rights reserved.
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                    // modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
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                    // in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
                    // distribution.
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                    // Industrial Light & Magic nor the names of their contributors may be used
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                    // prior written permission.
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                    // "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
                    // LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
                    // A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
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                    // LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
                    // DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
                    // THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
                    // (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
                    // OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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                    Updated: Aug 3, 2026 10:05 AM

                    Floating License Server Required

                    The Floating Server License for Lockdown 4 for After Effects, Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya and Houdini requires a Floating License Server (FLS) to activate and use.

                    You don't currently own one and don't have one in your cart. You can purchase one for $99.99, or learn more about license types.

                    You Already Own This Product

                    It looks like you already own Lockdown 4 for After Effects, Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya and Houdini. If you're purchasing an additional license (for second machine or a different license type), go ahead. If this was an accident, you can check your existing licenses to confirm what you have.

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