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getting started

Installation

extynt installs as a panel inside After Effects.

Requirements

  • After Effects 2025 or 2026, on Windows or macOS. Older versions are refused. Versions newer than 2026 run, marked experimental.
  • An API key from a model provider, or a local model. See Models and effort.

macOS

  1. Quit After Effects.
  2. Download the Mac installer from the download page, then open extynt-…pkg. One installer covers Apple silicon and Intel Macs. It is signed by extynt and notarized by Apple, and asks for an administrator password once, because the plugin goes into the After Effects folder.
  3. Open After Effects.
  4. Choose Window › extynt. Dock the panel wherever you like.

extynt supports Apple silicon and Intel Macs running macOS 13.5 or later with After Effects 2025 or 2026. Nothing else needs installing. Your chats and settings stay in your own user folder.

Windows

  1. Quit After Effects.
  2. Download the installer from the download page, then run extynt-…-setup.exe. Windows asks once for administrator approval, because the plugin goes into the After Effects program folder.
  3. Open After Effects.
  4. Choose Window › extynt. Dock the panel wherever you like.

extynt supports 64-bit Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11, with After Effects 2025 or 2026. It uses the Microsoft WebView2 runtime, which current Windows already includes. If the panel stays blank, install WebView2 from Microsoft. Your chats and settings stay in your own user folder.

What to expect during setup

After install, extynt runs a one-time setup step. Here is what you may notice while it runs.

Windows

The “extynt Catalogue” window after install

extynt learns your installed effects, once for each After Effects version. 2025 and 2026 are kept separate. It runs After Effects hidden in the background, so AfterFX.exe may show in Task Manager.

This takes a few minutes. Let it finish. It closes on its own.

A plug-in window or a Windows Firewall prompt during that step

It comes from a third-party plug-in starting up, not from extynt.

Denying firewall access is fine.

“Crash Repair Options”, or After Effects says it closed unexpectedly

A plug-in crashed during that step. extynt skipped that effect and carried on. Your projects are not affected.

Choose Continue, or start After Effects normally.

A dialog opens for some effects (Apply Color LUT asks for a .cube file)

extynt warns you before After Effects opens it.

Finish the dialog to continue. Cancelling undoes that step.

Mac

The “extynt” catalogue window after install

extynt learns your installed effects, once for each After Effects version. 2025 and 2026 are kept separate. It runs After Effects hidden in the background: no window, no Dock icon. You may see After Effects in Activity Monitor.

It takes about a minute for each version. When it says your effects are learned, click Done.

“… effects need their own window or layer”

Those effects cannot be learned in the background. Nothing failed.

They get learned the first time you use them.

A macOS “quit unexpectedly” report for After Effects

A plug-in crashed during that step. extynt skipped that effect and carried on. Your projects are not affected.

Click Ignore, or start After Effects normally.

A dialog opens for some effects (Apply Color LUT asks for a .cube file)

extynt warns you before After Effects opens it.

Finish the dialog to continue. Cancelling undoes that step.

Updating

Quit After Effects and run the new installer over the old one. It replaces the old install. Your chats and settings stay.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling keeps your settings, chats and saved model key, and a reinstall picks them up again. On Windows, run the uninstaller with /PURGE=1 to remove everything. On a Mac, run "/Library/Application Support/extynt/uninstall.sh" in Terminal (it asks for your password once); to remove your settings and chats too, then delete ~/Library/Application Support/extynt.