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Design, animation, music
::
Adam Plouff
A mystical portal between the apps you use daily
Overlord is the thickening of the aether between the silos of visual creation. It is the unspoken language of the cosmos that breathes life into vision.
It is the manifestation of all that has come before and all the potential branches that could be.
Wait. what?
Overlord is an invisible connection between Adobe Illustrator and After Effects. Draw stuff in Ai and send it to Ae as shape layers with a click.
It's really simple because this work is really complicated we could all use a break.
Why don't you talk normal?
I don't know. It's probably insecurity.
Superfast overview
What say you?
Impossible stuff
Overlord unlocks a new world of elemental wonder from your Illustrator files that have never been available in After Effects with the standard .ai file import.
Gradients
Linear and radial gradients are supported for the first time in the history of ever.
No more grey rectangles.
Note: Freeform and mesh gradients cannot be drawn by Ae shape layers.
Editable text
Ai text layers become Ae text layers, ready to edit. Because that just makes sense.
Split layers
Instead of creating rigid layers in Ai, simply select elements to create a new Ae shape layer. Or split all selected groups to layers.
Names also get transferred.
Everything else
Many elements that were once lost:
Color swatches
Guide layers
Parametric rectangles and ellipse
Centered anchor points
Common questions
Creative
Can it send images?
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Not yet
Overlord was designed to skip the file-importing process, and Ae requires images to be imported from disk. We have some plans for this in a future version.
Is my art secure?
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Absolutely
Our transfer systems run locally and is totally private. Designs never leave your machine; no one can ever see what you are working on.
No AI is ever trained on your work -from anything you ever buy from Battle Axe. It's kind of a bummer that we have to say that.
Technical
Why doesn't it work in Ps 2025?
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Adobe dropped ZXP support
For a couple of years, Adobe has been working on an add-on format called UXP to replace ZXP. We build all of our tools on ZXP because that is the most robust format for After Effects (which is our primary app here). The UXP rollout has been slow and for the last few versions Photoshop has supported both, but starting in 2025, ZXP support is gone 😢.
Why not just build a new version?
We would love to, but unfortunately some of the low-level technology that allowed the plugin to run has been removed from the UXP platform. This means we might not be able to rebuild it for UXP, but we'll be looking for workarounds. Thanks for your patience.
Is an internet connection required?
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No
The standard authentication method uses an internet connection to unlock, but after that, it runs entirely offline. If an initial internet connection is not possible, the app will help you unlock with a mobile device.
Does this work with __?
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Probably
Yes! It works with After Effects CC2022 and newer.
It runs great on Apple Silicon and Windows.
License
If I buy v1 now, do I get v2?
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Yes!
Purchasing a license unlocks feature updates for the next year. Purchasing v1 after July 29, 2023 will unlock v2 for you.
Is this a subscription?
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Ew, no
We are pretty allergic to recurring payments around here. When you buy something at Battle Axe you are buying it in its current form (like a pair of shoes). With that you are also getting one year of guaranteed updates. It might be longer depending on the scope of the updates.
If, after a full journey around the sun, everything is working great, you don't need to purchase any updates to keep using Overlord. If, after a celestial orbit, we have released some killer new feature that you need to solve things, then you will need to purchase an update to get that.
Can I use it on 2 computers?
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Sure
The license is similar to Creative Cloud and may be used on up to 2 machines by the same user.
