How to fix blurry shapes in After Effects: What to do if your shape layers are out of focus

All animators and motion graphics artists encounter blurry shapes in After Effects at some point. The blur could be on a shape you created inside After Effects or an imported Illustrator file. Luckily, this frustrating problem has a straightforward solution, and today, Motion Array will show you how to fix your After Effects blurry shapes for good.

Part 1: What are raster and vector shapes?

As an animator or designer, you’ll often encounter terms like raster, vector, aliasing, and anti-aliasing. Each can directly impact the end quality of your video. So, before you learn how to fix your After Effects blurry shapes, it’s essential to understand why the blur is happening.

Vector shapes vs. raster shapes

All digital images are either raster or vector shapes. Understanding the difference is the key to producing high-quality animations and motion graphics.

Raster shapes and images are built from pixels. Each block of color creates a mosaic image. A raster image file will give display instructions based on the pixels in the image. 

But when you enlarge a raster shape past 100%, the pixels are stretched, resulting in pixelization. You can tell an image is pixelated if it seems blurry or has a blocky, low-quality look.

Vector shapes and images are made from mathematical commands instead. Think of them as coordinates for each path point in an image. When you scale above 100%, the image retains its quality. 

Your device rebuilds the image based on the path points rather than just stretching pixels to fit. You could create a tiny bottle label or a massive billboard from the same base vector image. Both will be high quality and crisp.

Are you still confused? Check out this handy guide to raster and vector images to help you.

Aliasing vs. anti-aliasing

Aliasing refers to how an image’s edge forms. You probably know it best from the jagged and step-like edges of pixels in a low-quality image. This is aliasing in action.

Anti-aliasing is the process of removing that jagged edge from an image. Additional pixels of varying opacity smooth out the lines, giving the image a clean look at 100% scale.

These are tough concepts to grasp at first, but simple once you understand them. If you still haven’t figured it out, you can check out this easy guide to common video editing terminology to brush up.

After Effects vs. Illustrator

After Effects and Adobe Illustrator are often used together, but each program has a fundamental difference in image display:

• Illustrator works with vector images and continuously renders clean lines no matter how much you scale up your shapes.
• After Effects uses raster images instead, so shapes above 100% scale tend to blur.
• Like Illustrator, After Effects also supports AI file designs. 

The fix is pretty simple if After Effects is blurry due to its raster images. But first, let’s ensure your images really are blurry. A different issue could be at play, like a screen effect or preview fault.

Part 2: How to check for blurry vectors in After Effects

While the type of image will affect its quality, there are a couple of other things to look for that might cause your problem, too. After Effects allows you to change the viewer scale and the playback quality, which can affect the look of your video. Sometimes, playback lags for other reasons, too.

Below the Media Viewer, click on the Viewer Scale dropdown menu. Ensure the image settings are fit to 100% or 100%. Anything above 100% will result in pixelation, but only through the viewer. Your video export would be at 100% and look clean and clear.

The Viewer Playback Quality dropdown is next to the Viewer Scale dropdown. This setting allows you to change the resolution of the video as you play it within After Effects. 

While this results in pixelation, it’s a fantastic way to watch your video for animation speed, especially if you’re working with many layers and effects. Again, ensure the setting is at Full to see the highest resolution playback.

Part 3: Help, my shapes are still blurry!

What if you’ve checked your Viewer Scale and Playback Resolution options, and your images are still blurry? There could be several reasons for this.

You’ve imported a raster image

If you’ve imported a raster version of the image (JPEG or a PNG), you won’t be able to increase the scale above 100% without losing quality. JPEG and PNG files lack the necessary information to scale up cleanly. Remember, they are raster files, not vector files. If this is the reason, you must keep the image at no more than 100% scale. If that won’t cut it, replace the image file. 

Try this guide if you’re unsure how to check your image’s resolution and DPI. PNG and JPEG are the most common raster image types, but they’re not the only ones. This helpful link lets you explore different image formats from a photographer’s perspective.

You’re using an AI file

As mentioned, Illustrator continuously renders its vector shapes, so you always see the highest-quality version. However, since After Effects uses raster shapes, it can’t always understand the vector information in the Adobe Illustrator File. So, if you’re scaling up AI files above 100% and they are blurry, jump to Part 4. Remember, AI files will always end in .AI.

You’re using compound clips

Even if you build your shape layers directly in After Effects, they’ll become blurred when scaling up compound clips. After Effects creates vectorized shapes. However, a compound clip is a rasterized layer, and After Effects reads that pixel information. Don’t worry — you can still use compound clips to create a clean look.

Part 4: How to fix blurry vectors and shapes in After Effects (with video)

If you’re using an AI design or a compound clip, the solution to After Effects blurring shapes is the same. You need to tell After Effects to render the shapes continuously. After Effects will also need to reference the mathematical data.

1. Check the Media Viewer Scale and Playback are at 100%.
2. Make sure your switches are on by right-clicking the top of the Layer panel and choosing Switches.
3. Click on the small star icon alongside the blurry Layer.
4. If using a compound clip, click the star for any layers within it, too.

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It’s natural to panic when encountering a problem like After Effects blurry shape layers, especially if you’re unsure why it’s happening! Every editor knows that feeling. Hopefully, this quick tutorial has helped you understand why this common problem occurs. Now, you can fix them and get on with your work.