Parenter

Quickly reposition layers without affecting their animation!

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  $7.99
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Description

Quickly reposition layers without affecting their animation!

No more trying to move layers with position keyframes. With Parenter, you just select the layers you want to move, click a button, and reposition them all together however you like!

Usage

Main Workflow

  1. Select the layers you want to move.
  2. Click the "Create Parenter" icon to group them under a new null layer. By default, it's created at the center of your selection.
  3. Reposition the "Parenter" null to move all child layers together.
  4. To move the Parenter without affecting the children, select it and click the "Toggle" icon. Click again to re-enable the connection.
  5. Once you're done, click the "Remove" icon to delete the Parenter and restore the layers' original parents.

Adding Children to an Existing Parenter

  1. Select the new layers you want to add.
  2. Last, select the existing Parenter layer you want to add them to.
  3. Click the "Create Parenter" icon. A dialog will appear to confirm the action.

Shortcuts & Modifiers

  • Create Button:
    • Ctrl/Cmd + Click: Creates the Parenter at the position of the last selected layer.
    • Shift + Click: Creates the Parenter at the center of the composition.
    • Alt/Option + Click: Links the opacity of the affected children to the Parenter.
    • Right Click: Creates a 3D Parenter null (can be combined with other shortcuts).
  • Remove Button:
    • Alt/Option + Click: Also restores the transformations (position, scale, rotation) applied by the Parenter.

With Parenter, you can also:

  • Copy/Paste a parent to multiple layers at once.
  • Clear parents from selected layers.

KBar Support

Parenter has full KBar support. You can add any function as a KBar button by running the script file with an argument. All functions, including Copy, Paste, and Clear, are supported. Key arguments include:

  • Create / CreateLast / CreateComp (and their 3D versions)
  • Remove / RemoveAndUndo
  • Copy / CopyParent / Paste / Clear
  • Launch (to open the UI panel)

Compatibility

  • After Effects 22.0 (October 2021) and newer.

Notes

  • The new parametric 3D shapes of AE 2026 aren't supported.

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

Version History

1.71 -

Aug 1, 2025

-New feature: You can now unlink only selected layers from their Parenter! Select the layers you want to unlink, and click the Remove button!

1.70 -

Jul 24, 2025

-New feature: You can now add more layers to an existing Parenter layer! Select the layers you want to add, last-select the existing Parenter layer, and click the Add button!

1.62 -

Mar 10, 2025

-Fixed bug when removing Parenter null

1.61 -

Mar 10, 2025

-Fixed bug for Mac users where alt button wasn't functioning correctly.

1.6 -

Mar 9, 2025

-New Feature: Alt-click the "Create Parenter" button to automatically link children's opacities with the Parenter's opacity.

-Fixed bug where Parenter would interfere with other scripts.

-Fixed bug for Mac users where Cmd button wasn't functioning.

-Remove Parenter button now also removes the nulls from the project panel (if no other Comp is using them).

1.5 -

May 17, 2024

-Added the ability to undo all the transformations of the Parenter by alt-clicking the Remove icon

1.4 -

May 16, 2024

-If all selected layers are parented to the same layer, the Parenter layer will also have that layer as its parent

1.3 -

Oct 20, 2023

-Changed the Create and Remove buttons to icon buttons

-Added a "Toggle" button, so you can temporarily enable/disable the Parenter and reposition it without affecting the children

1.2 -

Oct 20, 2023

-Removed alert of time not being the same when removing parent.

1.0 -

Jul 15, 2023

-Initial release

Compatibility

After Effects

2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022

EULA

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

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Updated: Oct 21, 2025 1:35 AM

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