UK-based hybrid AI animation studio, Animated Company has announced the beta launch of Tether, a new After Effects animation plugin. Created to help animators control AI video generation using familiar timeline tools, Tether allows artists to guide motion with precision instead of relying on text prompts alone.

Tether is already being used in-house by the Animated Company team as part of its Fossa animation suite. It translates position, scale and rotation keyframes from After Effects null layers directly into AI-generated video, helping the team to create smoother, more precise motion — something the studio says has typically been lacking in AI animation to date. According to the company, Tether’s role isn’t just to produce more pleasing animation results but to introduce a more animator-centric approach to the process, removing the current reliance on trial-and-error prompting.

Tether runs entirely inside After Effects and integrates into existing animation workflows. Artists create and animate null layers to define how elements should move, lock, or rotate within a shot. These motion guides are then used to generate AI video that follows the animator’s intent.

There’s no need for external node graphs, ComfyUI setups or custom rigs. Instead, users work with the same timeline, easing curves and spatial controls they already know. Tether then generates AI video up to 1080p using the animator’s motion guides as reference.

The result, the company says, is a system that makes AI video feel less like prompting and more like directing.

Pipelines are rapidly shortening as the reliance on manual animation reduces. And with tools like Tether improving quality while squashing production time, that potential is becoming ever more attainable.

Douglas McGinness, founder and director of Animated Company, explains that “Tether came out of frustration. AI video tools are powerful, but they often break the relationship between an animator and motion. We wanted to bring that control back into the timeline – where animators already think.

“For years, VFX and animation pipelines have been linear and fragile. Small changes meant expensive downstream fixes. With tools like Tether, you can front-load creative intent and let AI handle the heavy lifting, while still keeping humans firmly in control of motion, composition, and storytelling,” he concludes.

The beta version of Tether currently supports:

• 2D position, scale, and rotation control
• Experimental 3D position and rotation
• Motion locking via empty null layers
• Timeline-based animation using standard After Effects tools
• Resolutions up to 1080p and aspect ratios of 16×9, 9×16 and 1×1

Further performance improvements and workflow enhancements are in active development, and Tether is now available in public beta as part of the Fossa platform.