devenjamesDeven James LangstonRVA3D studio
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From Deven’s After Effects toolkit · 2.0 Beta

Free KBar Toolbar for After Effects — 37 Useful Buttons

I’ve collected useful After Effects commands, expression shortcuts, and small workflow helpers into one toolbar with custom icons. Import it into KBar and make it your own.

KBar is a customizable toolbar extension for After Effects. This download is my free setup for it.

Free download · 2.0 Beta

Download KBar Toolbar Set 2.0 Beta

KBar is purchased separately and is not included. Adobe After Effects is also required.

Tested on Windows with After Effects 2026 / 26.3 and KBar 3.1.5. Other After Effects and KBar versions, and macOS, are not yet tested.

The included Standard toolbar

Small buttons.
Useful things.

Illustrated overview using the actual 2.0 Beta icons, grouped in toolbar order. This is an illustration, not an After Effects screenshot.37 buttons · 6 spacers between groupsRead every button’s name and purpose ↓

A few things you can do

Familiar tasks,
right at hand.

These are seven of the buttons I’ve gathered into the toolbar. Start with a task you already do.

01 / Extend Timeline by 1 Second

A little more room at the end.

Add one second to the active composition’s duration. Shift-click to add ten seconds.

Shift-click: +10 seconds

Make the composition you want to extend active. Check individual layer lengths if you need them to fill the added time.

02 / Trim to Work Area

Keep just the section you need.

Set the work area around the section you want, then trim the composition to that range.

Set the active comp’s work area first. This changes the composition’s duration.

03 / Fit Comp Width

An image that fits the frame.

Scale a selected layer to the composition’s width while keeping its proportions.

Select the image or other eligible layer in the active composition.

04 / Reveal Layer in Project

Find the source behind a layer.

Highlight a selected timeline layer’s source in the Project panel.

Select a layer backed by a Project item, such as footage or a precomp.

05 / Cycle

Make a keyed movement repeat.

Repeat a property’s keyed animation after its last keyframe with the Cycle expression.

loopOut("cycle")

Select a compatible animated property with keyframes. Tested on Position.

06 / Wiggle

A little movement, without extra keys.

Add random variation with a wiggle expression set to frequency 5 and amplitude 20.

wiggle(5, 20)

Select a compatible property, such as Position. Edit the two numbers in the expression to change the frequency and amount; units depend on the property.

07 / Add to Render Queue

Get a comp ready for output.

Add the active composition to After Effects’ Render Queue, ready for its output settings.

Use an active composition. This adds a queue item; it does not start rendering.

What you get

One import.
Your own starting point.

  • One Standard .kbar toolbar with 37 functional buttons and six native KBar spacers.
  • Custom icon artwork embedded in the toolbar, ready to appear when you import it.
  • A README, release notes, license, and SHA-256 checksums in the ZIP.

The icon artwork is embedded in the toolbar. This release does not include separate standalone icon files.

This Standard toolbar needs only After Effects and a separately installed, licensed copy of KBar. No additional third-party scripts, presets, effects, or plug-ins are required. Obtain any tools you add yourself from their publishers.

Install the toolbar

  1. Install and license KBar separately from its publisher, then open KBar in After Effects.
  2. Download and extract the ZIP.
  3. Use KBar’s toolbar import control to select devenjames_kbar_toolbar_set_2_0_beta.kbar from the extracted files.
  4. Look for the imported toolbar named everyday_useful_standard. Try it first in a disposable After Effects project, using the selection guidance below.

Some buttons act immediately on the active comp, layer, or property. The reference below tells you what to select first.

The complete button reference

All 37, by task.

Seven groups, separated by six native KBar spacers. The spacers are visual breaks; they do not run commands.

01

Composition & view

Set up the frame, tidy the view, and make room for your animation.

All groups ↑

Comp Settings

Open Composition Settings to adjust the frame size, frame rate, duration, and other comp settings.

Make the composition you want to change active.

Purge Cache

Run the After Effects command used by this toolbar for cache cleanup.

The tested command ran without an error. The exact caches cleared were not measured; use After Effects’ own purge controls when you need to choose a specific cache.

Show Guides

Show or hide existing guides while lining up a composition.

Use an active composition. This changes guide visibility; it does not create guides.

Show Rulers

Show or hide the rulers for layout work.

Use an active composition.

Show Grid

Show or hide the grid when you want an alignment reference.

Use an active composition.

Clear Guides

Remove the composition’s guides when you are ready for a clean layout.

Make the composition containing the guides active. This removes guides rather than hiding them.

Trim to Work Area

Set the work area around the section you want, then trim the composition to that range.

Set the active comp’s work area first. This changes the composition’s duration.

Extend Timeline by 1 Second

Add one second to the active composition’s duration. Shift-click to add ten seconds.

Make the composition you want to extend active. Check individual layer lengths if you need them to fill the added time.

02

Layer setup

Create the building blocks of a composition.

All groups ↑

Guide Layer

Use After Effects’ Guide Layer switch to mark a layer as a reference for your work.

Select the layer. Enabling its guide-layer state was verified in the tested setup.

New Null

Add a null object for a control point or parenting setup.

Use an active composition.

New Solid Layer

Open Solid Settings to create a solid layer.

Use an active composition, then choose the solid’s settings in the dialog.

New Mask

Add a mask to an eligible layer for masking work.

Select a layer that supports masks. Tested on a solid layer.

Adjustment Layer

Create a new adjustment layer for applying effects to the layers below it.

Use an active composition. This creates a new layer; it does not convert the selected layer.

New Camera

Open Camera Settings to add a camera to your composition.

Use an active composition and choose the camera settings in the dialog.

New Light

Open Light Settings to add a light to your composition.

Use an active composition and choose the light settings in the dialog.

03

Fit & flip

Get a layer facing the right way and fitting the frame.

All groups ↑

Flip Horizontal

Mirror a layer horizontally by flipping its horizontal scale.

Select the eligible layer you want to flip.

Flip Vertical

Mirror a layer vertically by flipping its vertical scale.

Select the eligible layer you want to flip.

Fit Comp Width

Scale a selected layer to the composition’s width while keeping its proportions.

Select the image or other eligible layer in the active composition.

Fit Comp Height

Scale a selected layer to the composition’s height while keeping its proportions.

Select the image or other eligible layer in the active composition.

04

Find & organize

Find source items and organize layers into a precomp.

All groups ↑

Reveal Comp in Project

Highlight the active composition in the Project panel so you can find it among your other items.

Make the composition you want to locate active.

Reveal Layer in Project

Highlight a selected timeline layer’s source in the Project panel.

Select a layer backed by a Project item, such as footage or a precomp.

Reveal File Location

Open Windows File Explorer through After Effects’ Reveal in Explorer command.

Select a file-backed source. The test verified a new Explorer window; exact folder targeting was not recorded. macOS behavior is untested.

Precomp

Open Pre-compose to organize selected layers into a composition.

Select one or more layers, then choose the options in the dialog.

05

Layer timing

Control how a layer plays through time.

All groups ↑

Reverse Layer

Reverse a time-based layer’s playback.

Select eligible footage or a precomp layer. The tested layer’s time stretch changed from 100% to −100%.

Time Remapping

Enable Time Remapping so you can control the layer’s playback with keyframes.

Select eligible footage or a precomp layer.

Freeze Frame

Freeze a time-based layer at the frame under the playhead.

Select the layer and place the playhead on the frame you want. AE’s Freeze Frame command replaces existing Time Remap keyframes.

Time Stretch

Open Time Stretch to change the playback duration or speed of a layer.

Select an eligible time-based layer, then choose the settings in the dialog.

Sequence Layers

Open Sequence Layers to arrange several selected layers in time.

Select multiple layers, then choose the sequence options in the dialog.

06

Expressions & keyframes

Repeat, continue, or vary animation and adjust keyframe behavior.

All groups ↑

Expression buttons apply the shown expression to a selected property. Check any expression already on that property first; automatic merging or preservation has not been tested.

Continue

Continue animation after the last keyframe using its ending velocity.

loopOut("continue")

Select a compatible keyframed property. Tested on Position.

Offset Out

Repeat keyed animation while adding each cycle’s change to the next cycle.

loopOut("offset")

Select a compatible keyframed property. Tested on Position.

Cycle

Repeat a property’s keyed animation after its last keyframe with the Cycle expression.

loopOut("cycle")

Select a compatible animated property with keyframes. Tested on Position.

Pingpong

Repeat keyed animation forward and backward.

loopOut("pingpong")

Select a compatible keyframed property. Tested on Position.

Toggle Hold

Use Hold interpolation for values that stay put and then change in a step.

Select the keyframes. Changing a linear keyframe to Hold was verified in the tested setup.

Time Expression

Drive a numeric property with time multiplied by 30, such as a steady rotation.

time*30

Select a compatible numeric property. Tested on Rotation; the expression sets its value to composition time × 30.

Wiggle

Add random variation with a wiggle expression set to frequency 5 and amplitude 20.

wiggle(5, 20)

Select a compatible property, such as Position. Edit the two numbers in the expression to change the frequency and amount; units depend on the property.

Keyframe Interpolation

Open Keyframe Interpolation to adjust how selected keyframes behave.

Select the keyframes you want to change, then choose the settings in the dialog.

07

Render queue

Prepare the active composition for output.

All groups ↑

Add to Render Queue

Add the active composition to After Effects’ Render Queue, ready for its output settings.

Use an active composition. This adds a queue item; it does not start rendering.

Release notes + the details

About this beta.

Toolbar organization and custom icon artwork by Deven James Langston.

2.0 Beta · prepared August 12, 2026

One Standard toolbar with 37 functional buttons and six native KBar spacers. The native spacers replace older blank separator buttons while keeping the functional buttons and their order.

From icons to a working toolbar

This page began as a custom icon set. The current download focuses on the Standard toolbar, with its artwork included. Earlier toolbar bundles and the historical standalone icon package are outside this release.

The historical toolbar ZIP has been retired and is not redirected to this package.

After Effects commands and common expression techniques belong to the platform and its wider community. KBar is made by KraftyFX.

Tested environment

Tested on Windows with After Effects 2026 / 26.3 and KBar 3.1.5. Other After Effects and KBar versions, and macOS, are not yet tested.

All 37 actions passed the recorded checks in that setup, and all six native spacers passed focused retesting. For dialog commands, checks confirmed the dialog opened; expression checks confirmed insertion, enabled state, and no reported error. They do not establish every outcome in every project.

Detailed behavior follows the included commands and Adobe’s expression reference. See also Adobe’s Freeze Frame guidance.

License, credits + support

Personal workflow use and customization are permitted, with bounded internal team sharing. Public redistribution, resale, relicensing, marketplace upload, and third-party repackaging are not permitted.

Distributed under the included KBar Toolbar Set 2.0 Beta License. The complete terms are in LICENSE.txt in the ZIP. Copyright © 2026 Deven James Langston.

Common After Effects expression techniques and command mechanisms are not claimed as Deven’s inventions. KBar, After Effects, and separately distributed tools retain their own licenses.

Support is best effort for reproducible package defects. There is no guaranteed response time, update schedule, permanent hosting, backward compatibility, or support for third-party integrations.

Contact Deven with your AE and KBar versions, the button you used, what you selected, and steps that reproduce the problem.

Package contents + verification

The ZIP contains devenjames_kbar_toolbar_set_2_0_beta.kbar, README.md, RELEASE_NOTES.md, LICENSE.txt, and SHA256SUMS.txt. Import only the .kbar file.

193,589 bytes · SHA-256 f8c515253373c038ecaa907acb0877ff563b9317c3bd89b9e6bc82db09fcb753

The toolbar includes native After Effects commands, six expressions, and three inline script buttons. Its script-file, preset, and shell payload arrays are empty. The package contains no bundled third-party software, nested executables, private paths, or network URLs in the toolbar configuration.

Historical bundles, other toolbar candidates, and separately distributed third-party tools are not included. The ZIP contains no standalone icon folder.