On June 1, 2026, remaining retail customers of Frame.io will be migrated from Frame.io (Legacy) to Frame.io V4. On that date, the ‘Review with Frame.io’ panel will no longer work. Users will need to use the Frame.io V4 panel in After Effects (Beta), or temporarily use Frame.io on the web until the next major release of After Effects.
What’s new in the Frame.io Panel for After Effects (Beta)
Render and upload compositions directly from the After Effects Render Queue, single comps or many at once.
Share cuts, manage versions, and create and configure Share links without leaving After Effects
Real-time comment syncing to your After Effects timeline, with playhead-to-comment navigation
Mount Frame.io Drive projects with one click from the panel
The Frame.io V4 panel is now available in After Effects (Beta). This is a major update from the legacy Frame.io panel and brings the V4 review and collaboration experience directly into After Effects. Render, upload, share, and respond to feedback in Frame.io without leaving the app.
How to Access the Frame.io Panel in After Effects (Beta)
In After Effects (Beta), the V4 panel is built natively into the application. The panel is included in the Review workspace by default. If you don’t see it, with the Review workspace open, choose Window > Workspace > Reset "Review" to Saved Layout. In other workspaces, the panel will open undocked. Feel free to dock it anywhere you’d like.
To open the Frame.io V4 panel outside the Review workspace, go to Window > Frame.io V4.
Using the Frame.io After Effects Panel
The Frame.io panel lets you render and upload compositions, browse your Frame.io content, configure Share links, and work with comments directly inside After Effects. This guide walks through how to sign in and use each part of the panel.
Getting Started
When you open the panel for the first time, you’ll see two sign-in options:
Continue with Adobe ID signs you in with the Adobe ID you’re using in After Effects. If your Adobe ID isn’t yet linked to a Frame.io account, choosing this option creates a new Frame.io account for you automatically, included with your CC subscription.
Sign in with email opens the Frame.io authentication portal in your browser. Use to sign into Frame.io accounts that are not linked to your active Adobe ID, or for accounts that use SSO or social sign-in.
By default, the panel opens to the Compositions tab, where you can upload items from your Render Queue directly to Frame.io. You can also go to the Browse tab to see your Workspaces, Projects, and Folders. From Home in the Browse tab, you can switch between any available accounts, submit feedback, or log out.
Note: Only V4 accounts are supported in this panel.
Uploading from the Compositions Tab
The Compositions tab is the fastest way to get an After Effects composition into Frame.io. It lists every composition from your current After Effects project that has been uploaded to Frame.io, plus the composition you currently have open.
Unlike the legacy Frame.io panel for After Effects, the V4 panel does not define render settings inside the panel. All render settings live in the standard After Effects Render Queue, so you get full control using the tools you already know.
To render and upload a composition:
With your composition active, add it to the Render Queue (Composition > Add to Render Queue, or Cmd+Ctrl+M on macOS / Ctrl+M on Windows).
In the Render Queue, configure your render settings (Render Settings, Output Module, etc.) as you normally would.
In the Frame.io panel, click the ‘+’ button in the Compositions tab.
Choose your upload destination in Frame.io (Workspace, Project, and Folder).
Choose whether you want to upload Composition markers as Frame.io Comments.
Click Render and Upload. After Effects saves your project, processes the Render Queue, and uploads the result to Frame.io automatically.
You can queue multiple compositions in the Render Queue at once. When you kick off the render from the panel, every queued composition uploads to your chosen Frame.io destination as it finishes.
Sharing a Composition
After an upload finishes, click the composition in the Compositions tab to open it in the Frame.io Viewer. From the Viewer you can preview your clip in Frame.io before sharing it out.
When you’re ready to share, click the Share button in the Viewer. You can configure all of the same Share settings you have on web:
Rename the Share
Set it to public or secure
Add specific people by email
Toggle comments and downloads on or off
Enable a passphrase
Set an expiration date
Apply a basic watermark
Adjust the layout
Forensic watermarking and DRM are available for Enterprise accounts.
For settings that aren’t surfaced in the panel, click Advanced Settings to open the full Share configuration in your browser.
Use Copy Link to grab the Share URL when you’re ready to send it for review.
Commenting
With a composition open in the Viewer, you have the same review tools you’d use on web:
Add comments with the option to mark them public or internal Reply to existing comments
Attach files to comments
Use emoji reactions
Draw annotations directly on the frame
Comments populate in real time from your Share Link reviewers.
Comment Markers in Your Timeline
Click the Comment Markers button in the panel to sync comments into your After Effects timeline. With Comment Markers enabled:
Each Frame.io comment appears as a marker at the correct moment in your composition.
Clicking any comment in the panel jumps your After Effects playhead to that moment.
This works for any number of comments on the asset.
Working in the Browse Tab
The Browse tab is built for users whose work has outgrown the Compositions tab, or who prefer to manage their Frame.io content directly from the panel. Use it to navigate your Frame.io content by:
Workspaces
Projects
Folders
Media
From the Browse tab, you can:
Upload compositions to a specific destination
Create version stacks
Rename and move files
Create Share links
When you create a Share link from the Browse tab (by selecting a folder or one or more assets and clicking Share), the same set of Share controls and Enterprise options described in the Sharing a Composition section above are available, including the Advanced Settings handoff to the web.
Mounting a Project with Frame.io Drive
If you have Frame.io Drive installed on your machine, you can mount a Project from the Browse tab so its assets appear on your file system and can be brought into After Effects.
Mounting requires the Browse tab’s left-hand navigation to be visible. Make the panel wide enough to show the full sidebar, or press the tilde key (~) while focused on the panel to expand the navigation. Then click the Drive icon next to the Project you want to mount, and Frame.io Drive will launch the Project on your desktop.
To learn more about Frame.io Drive and Mounted Storage, click here.
What’s not supported in this panel
Importing assets from Frame.io into your After Effects project. Use Frame.io Drive to mount Projects locally if you need Frame.io assets on your file system.
Bidirectional playhead syncing between After Effects and the Frame.io player. One-way playhead jump from a comment to the After Effects timeline is supported via Comment Markers.
Direct upload of After Effects projects or bins from inside the panel. To share an .aep file as an asset, drag it from your file system onto the panel.
FAQ
Q: How do I upload my After Effects comps to Frame.io V4?
A: Add your composition to the After Effects Render Queue and configure your render settings there. Then, in the Frame.io panel, click the + button on the composition in the Compositions tab, pick an upload location in Frame.io, and click Render and Upload. After Effects renders the composition through the Render Queue, and the result uploads to Frame.io automatically.
Q: Why are render settings in the Render Queue and not in the panel?
A: The V4 panel uses the standard After Effects Render Queue so you have full control over your render configuration, including Render Settings, Output Module, Output naming tools you already know. The panel only owns the upload destination and kicking off the render queue.
Q: Can I upload more than one comp at a time?
A: Yes. Add as many compositions to the Render Queue as you want. When you click the Export Render Queue button (+) in the panel, every queued composition uploads to your chosen Frame.io destination as it finishes rendering.
Q: Can I import assets from Frame.io into my After Effects project?
A: Not from inside the panel. If you have Frame.io Drive installed, click the Drive icon next to a Project in the Browse tab to launch Drive and mount the Project locally. You can then bring assets into After Effects through your file system.
Q: How do I sync comments from Frame.io into After Effects?
A: Open an asset in the Frame.io Viewer inside the panel and click the Comment Markers button. With Comment Markers turned on, every comment appears as a marker on your composition timeline.
Q: Can I jump my After Effects playhead to a Frame.io comment?
A: Yes. With Frame.io Comment Markers enabled, clicking any comment in the panel jumps your After Effects playhead to that moment in the composition.
Q: Can I create a Share link from inside the panel?
A: Yes. The most direct way is to open an asset in the Viewer and click Share. You can also create a Share link from the Browse tab by selecting one or more assets, or a folder, and clicking Share. Either path opens the same Share configuration with rename, public/secure, recipient list, comment/download permissions, passphrase, expiration, basic watermark, and layout. Forensic watermarking and DRM are available for Enterprise accounts. For controls that aren’t surfaced in the panel, click Advanced Settings to open the Share editor on web.
Q: Will this panel work with Frame.io Drive?
A: Yes. If you have Frame.io Drive installed, you can mount any Project from the Browse tab. The Drive icon for each Project appears in the expanded left-hand navigation, so make the panel wide enough to see the full sidebar, or press the tilde key (~) to expand it.
Q: Will this panel work in the shipping (non-Beta) version of After Effects?
A: Not yet. The V4 panel ships in After Effects (Beta) first as a stop-gap while we wait for the next major After Effects release.
Q: I can’t find my Frame.io (Legacy) account. What happened?
A: Retail users have been upgraded from Frame.io (Legacy) to Frame.io V4 as of June 1, 2026. All of your account content should still be available, just now in Frame.io V4. If you’re having trouble accessing your Frame.io account content in the Frame.io V4 panel in After Effects, please reach out to our support team at support@frame.io.