# Trapcode Suite Reviews **Vendor:** Red Giant **Category:** [Video Effects Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/video-effects) **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 17 ## About Trapcode Suite The industry-standard package for motion graphics in After Effects. ## Trapcode Suite Reviews ### 1. This plugin freezes randomly when applying the settings in After Effects 13 on a Mac Studio Ultra **Rating:** 1.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Graphic Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 19, 2022 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The particular effect seems very powerful; you can create an endless number of fire/smoke effects. I wish it would have worked for me. But unfortunately, it did not. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** This plugin is NOT compatible with Mac Silicon (M1 / M2); at least, that's what I suspect. I have the most up-to-date After Effects and Maxcode / Trapcode Particular **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Unfortunately, it created more problems than it solved. So I hope that they can solve these problems in a future update. ### 2. Best particle simulator for After effects ever created **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Arulanandhan S. | Motion Graphic Designer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 17, 2021 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** 3D mesh-based simulation is the best in the industry, It gives the countless possibilities to make our work creatively. Fluid simulations are the easiest way to use. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Sometimes complex simulations crash after effects. Some concepts of simulations are a little bit scientific it makes little time consuming **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** This is the best for after effects, Go for it. Don't miss it **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** creating data visualization for e-learning explanations, Fluid simulations to explain science explainer videos, simple simulations for VFX work. ### 3. (Quite) All You Need for Visual Effects **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Diego I. | Visual Effects Artist | VFX Supervisor | Digital Compositor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2020 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The best feature I love from Trapcode is Particular, tue best particle generator for After Effects. Thanks to the fresh new designer you can achieve amazing results just by testing any effects in quick and responsive a develop environment. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Sometime it require a lot of GPU power, I think it could be improved in the future releases for better fit modern hardware, at the same time it works almost on any computer. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Trapcode Suite is a must have for experienced user but also for beginners. if you start using after effects you must buy Trapcode. With the basic plugin you can't create complex particular or lights effects, with Trapcode you can achieve realistic fire, water, snow, rain but also light rays and volumetrics that you can compositi on your rough footage. In the last version Red Giant provided a really cool and powerful tool called "Designer" that can help you to visual design your particles in a test ambient without waste time rendering it. A good GPU is required if you instal Trapcode Suite, otherwise you will face a very slow workflow but don't worry, you can also use it on old machines. Today Trapcode is also sold with other amazing tools that offers all you need for compositing and visual effects. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** With trapcode suite you can generate amazing visual effects that are not available natively in the software. So, Trapcode is an essential plugin to create every day and complex visual effects. ### 4. an indispensable plug in **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Fabio Z. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 07, 2020 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** Red Giant has always produced the best plug-ins for non-linear editing and compositing software. Its plug-ins are indispensable for expressing one's style and creativity **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** It is complicated to approach, but on the web there are an infinite number of tutorials to best express the potential of these tools **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Red Giant products are indispensable for videomakers and media creators. With this Suite you create your effects, with Looks you customize the colors and give your personal touch. Just see the demos and tutorials on youtub to understand the potential of these products. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** In addition to the other suite that includes the indispensable Looks, this tool is essential for adding animated objects, and motion graphics. It has an impressive control over solid and fluid moving objects, from a simple particle emitter you can create unthinkable graphic effects to be created on your PC until recently ### 5. The Best Plugins for After Effects, Ever! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ryhan R. | Motion Graphics Designer II, Animation, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 22, 2019 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** There’s not a day that goes by in After Effects that I don’t use some sort of Red Giant product. From Trapcode Particular to Universe and everything in between, my projects benefit greatly from the use and customization of great motion graphics tools made available to the public. It goes without saying that Red Giant has made a name for themselves in this industry, but it stands on the shoulders of motion graphics and UX/UI designers to really maximize their products’ potentials. Red Giant listens to their customers and implements their strengths to the needs of the artist. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** As the industry continues to shift into 3D, having products that connect to the variety of tools like C4D and Maya becomes an ultimate necessity in today’s modern design stage. It would be great to see Particular more integrated with Cineware and other 3D systems, potentially even using its particle based dynamics engine with 3D models and geometry. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** We’ve recently switched from individual licenses to an enterprise and volume licensing service - that enables our company to use render only versions of trap code in a “farm” node-based cluster. We’re seeing increased render capabilities and allows us the capacity to increase how in-depth we build our creative, because we know the infrastructure can handle the render power. ### 6. Advanced Particle Generator for After Effects **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Animation | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 08, 2018 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** Robust features, support, beautiful final renders, consistent updates from software developer. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Learning curve for advanced features and methods is steep. The price point is a bit high for individual apps. It does not have backwards compatibility to older Trapcode Suite versions which can be frustrating. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** It's an incredible software suite with more settings and options than you can ever imagine. Take time to watch some tutorials and go through the settings to figure out what the settings do. It takes a bit of practice, but the results are beautiful. The latest release has a graphical user interface to build particle systems visually without twirling knobs and settings. If you have time, wait for a Black Friday discount, usually 40% off the original price! **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** For motion design and visual effects users, it gives your product a well-polished look. The particle systems and design tools it provides for After Effects are unrivaled and are industry standard at this point. ### 7. Trapcode is a creatives toolbox **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Taylor S. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 21, 2018 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** I like that the possibilities are endless with Trapcode. I am able to use trapcode for so many different projects. Trapcode is an expansive plugin suite for the average professional media creator who is looking to expand their horizons and make awesome graphics for whatever project you are working on. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Sometimes I wish it updated more often and those updates came with new features. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** I recommend some in depth training in after effects. Trapcode is not for the beginner in after effects. However it can be used by beginners, but I'd first recommend training. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Trapcode is truly a creators playground. It allows creatives endless opportunities to create. ### 8. Particular is amazing **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Matt B. | Motion Graphics Designer, Marketing and Advertising, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 29, 2018 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The Particular plugin is a highly customizable particle effect generator with a TON of options and possibilities. I especially like creating 3D sprites using a transparent image. The physics simulation (gravity, wind, turbulence, etc) is fun to mess around with, and has a lot of variables and customization as well. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Almost TOO many different checkboxes and sliders to mess with, can take a while to get the exact effect you're going for **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Watch tutorials (I used Lynda) to get a better idea of what Trapcode can really do. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Useful for motion graphics projects that require fire, smoke or spark effects. I've also used the 3D sprite feature to create realistic confetti and falling autumn leaves. ### 9. Must have for After Effects **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Armin P. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 27, 2017 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** Trapcode Suite comes with a range of plugins, which allow you to create stunning effects. Some of them are nice additions, like 3D stroke, horizon (360° bg in AE 3D space), lux (visible lights) or starglow (disco, baby). But what everyone thinks of, when talking about Trapcode, are the plugins particular (particle simulation), form (somewhat like particle grids, with OBJ support) and MIR (real 3d geometry). Especially the neatless integration into AE 3D space with the latter plugins, is extremely usefull. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** - There is no easy way to comp 3D layers of trapcode plugins with other 3D elements, considering the depth buffer. But this limitation comes mostly with After Effects itself. - Shine isn't really needed. AEs standard CC Light burst is quite as good. - MIR and TAO are nice additions, but since Cineware, there are better and comfortable ways (in C4D) to visualize & animate geometry. - Horizon is a bit buggy, when it comes to really big 360° background images. And with FullHD and beyond, you want really big backgrounds. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** While at it, check out Plexus, too. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Trapcode allows you to create stunning effects fast. Very fast. Dynamics, Modifiers and the like are nothing compared to full-fledged particle simulations like X-Particles for C4D, but the simplicity is an advantage, too. Besides that, it's very responsive and fast. And all those small additions like starglow, 3d stroke or echospace come in very handy. ### 10. Must have external plug in for any motion designer **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Apparel & Fashion | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 10, 2017 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The variety of effects you can achieve with the suite. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Takes a bit of fiddling around to get to understand most of the plug ins as it's more of a trial and error workflow for users once starting to use the suite. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Watch plenty of tutorials online. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Particular is something I use almost daily to add that little "extra thing" and "polish" that sells the spot I am working on. ### 11. A fantastic set of tools for advanced digital effects. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Media Production | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 19, 2018 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The Trapcode Suite is a great addition to any After Effects users' effects toolset. The UI is accessible and the library of effects are both useful and robust. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** The Trapcode Suite is expectedly processor intensive. Unfortunately it doesn't lend itself to low powered machines. If this is your situation, the Suite may not be worth the full cost. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Trapcode Suite is worth the cost if your'e looking for more options, more advanced effects or simply another look to show your clients. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** With Trapcode Suite we are able to explore new options with clients when it comes to looks and effects in projects. ### 12. Great for Color Grading **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Media Production | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 19, 2018 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The thing I like best was the integration with Adobe Premiere. It allows me to use transitions and color grading effects on my footage, even 4K **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** It took a long time to install, but it was well worth it. Just hang in there during installation. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Try out all the filters and transitions! **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Fixing lighting issues in post is now easier than ever. I can put on a Hollywood filter. I can also use flashy transitions between my shots. I can also fix people's makeup with a certain filter for faces. ### 13. i LOVE trapcode suite, its one of my favorite programs **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Broadcast Media | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 01, 2018 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** I love Particular, I use it more then CC world in after effects, it makes using it very easy **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** I wish that that interface was easier to use, and they had more tutorials on some of the programs **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** I would want more tutorials on different programs within the suite, and make it more user friendly **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** it helped me create a realistic smoke effect when I needed it for a promo I was working on ### 14. Great Addition to After Effects **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 28, 2017 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** A lot of different plugins with specific functionality - MIR for landscape, Particular for particle generation, form for creating nodes of existing 3D objects. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** The plugins slow down significantly when a lot of different elements are used, so heavy toll on system resources. Lack of easy preset system has been addressed with a visual design system. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** Used in the creation of explainer and animation videos. Speeds up the creation of elements and particles. ### 15. The One Must-Have Plugin for All After Effects Users **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Shiraz K. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 30, 2016 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The suite has a host of plugins that even other individual plugins don't come close to. The suite serves varied purposes, from the 3D mesh generation using Trapcode Mir, to the infamous Trapcode Particular, which allows you to create dynamic particle systems. I have used Particular extensively since I purchased the suite, and it's a great add-on to any type of after effects project. Whether you are making a 2D animation or adding VFX, Particular can be tweaked to blend in with your visuals, and is always an added flair, if not downright essential to the scene. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Apart from the expensive price, the documentation wasn't as helpful to me as the huge number of YouTube tutorials to go along with the plugins. It would also be good to have a simpler UI for the plugins, since I'm used to plugins and add-ons coming with their own UI (like in Ableton, Unity et al). **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** I suggest you get the special students offer, if you are a design student. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am working for my institute's VFX team, where we generate graphics and edit videos as prescribed by our sponsors. So far, the response is the best we've seen in years, and it's thanks to an increased proficiency in After Effects by everyone in the team. It was achieved by a shift in focus (for time-reduction) from templates to plugins, mainly this suite, two instances of which were purchased. ### 16. Number one particle suite for After Effects **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Diogo V. | Creative Director, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 05, 2016 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The suite comes with Particular. The flagship product.. It's incredibly fast and easy to use. You can create complex organic looking particle effects without crashing your computer. For mograph work is a must have tool. You can't avoid it if you want to create cool looking motion graphics. Particular comes with lots of presets so it's easy to dissect how they are done and be used as a starting point for your own custom creations. The rest of the plugins in the suite, at first glance, seem very specific, to what you can do with them. And that's true, they can do specific effects. But if you look deeper, the reality is that they can open a lot of different options in terms creative routes for your work. Combined they can create endless ways to improve or reinforce your motion graphic projects. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** Particular (and most of the recent plugins in the suite) only works with After Effects. But I don't really know if that´s a bad thing! Some of the older plugins seem a bit outdated (Shine and 3D Stroke) but they work with Premiere. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** It's the number one motion graphic plugin to buy. Don't be afraid with the amount of options and buttons some of the plugins have because they actually are quite easy to master. And there are tons of tutorials for Trapcode plugins. Experiment a lot! ### 17. A must for all After Effects Users **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ryan P. | Senior Mentor, Animation, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 13, 2016 **What do you like best about Trapcode Suite?** The Trapcode Suite by Red Giant is one of the most notable plugins available for Adobe After Effects. This suite contains many plugins which range from being useful to crucial for After Effects professionals. The two plugins that I use the most are Particular and Form. Particular is perhaps the most famed plugin in the After Effects community. It is a powerful particle engine, which is extremely customization and robust features such as turbulence, physics, time maps, and 3D integration. My favorite feature of Particular is allowing particles to emit from lights, which makes it easy to make repeatable particle effects. This plugin is far easier to use and much more customization than After Effects' built-in CC Particle World. Form is another particle engine, but works differently. All particles exist from the beginning to the end of the layer; that is to say, there is no birthing or dying of particles. One of the most notable features of Form is that it be driven by sound. This is useful for lining up action with a sound effect, or to quickly drive organic animation. Form can also be applied to 3D .obj models, which can create beautiful HUD-like images or create interesting shapes. The many other plugins in this suite allow you to create 3D imagery, create stylized compositing, or utilize useful tools. I often use Shine for creating light rays or adding stylized hot-looking backgrounds. I don't often use the others, but each is useful in their own right. All together, the Trapcode suite is a powerful set of plugins that is critical for any After Effects artist, and can have applications in visual effects and motion graphics. **What do you dislike about Trapcode Suite?** While the 3D integration is one of the most useful aspects of the suite, it has its breaking points. The plugins will adhere to the 3D camera, but it can be tricky to integrate them in proper 3D space if another 3D layer is supposed to pass through particles. Particular allows for one "obscure" layer which can be placed between particles, but Form and others do not support this option. The plugins that create 3D mesh such as Mir and Tao can be difficult to figure out, and they don't create the best looking 3D shapes. The lighting and shading can look very flat and computer-generate. If you want really good looking 3D integration, you should pick a dedicated 3D program. **Recommendations to others considering Trapcode Suite:** Dive into the program without fear. It will take a while to learn the ins and outs of each plugin but it will be better to understand what each parameter does. **What problems is Trapcode Suite solving and how is that benefiting you?** There was an instance where I wanted to use a plugin called Plexus to create a 3D hologram-like effect. I found the plugin to be too complicated to use, and beyond that, much too taxing on my GPU. I nixed the idea and switched to the more familiar Trapcode Form. Form was much more easily able to handle a mesh with tens of thousands of vertices, and helped me achieve nearly the same effect. ## Trapcode Suite Discussions - [Does Trapcode come with After Effects?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/does-trapcode-come-with-after-effects) - [How do you use a Trapcode Suite?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-do-you-use-a-trapcode-suite) - [Is Trapcode Suite worth?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-trapcode-suite-worth) - [What is included in the Trapcode Suite?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-included-in-the-trapcode-suite) - [Creating airflow using Trapcode Suite...](https://www.g2.com/discussions/27990-creating-airflow-using-trapcode-suite) - 1 upvote - [View Trapcode Suite pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/trapcode-suite/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-15+19%3A52%3A55+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=63a711d7-dc68-4d4d-b4bf-c8580c9eae2e&secure%5Btoken%5D=bb7b79e46e6025b5ad2fb4b00b1e1179d0709c3fbeb36c56d0b0b66d09961290&format=llm_user) ## Trapcode Suite Features **Compatibility** - Integrations - Operating System - Format Compatibility **Functionality** - Text Animation - Rotoscoping - Visual Effects - Motion Tracking **Project Management** - Content Library - Team Review **Generative AI** - AI Text-to-Image - AI Text-to-Video - AI Text-to-3D **Agentic AI - Video Effects** - Multi-step Planning ## Top Trapcode Suite Alternatives - [Blender](https://www.g2.com/products/blender/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (307 reviews) - [Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/fusion/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (13 reviews) - [Adobe After Effects](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-after-effects/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (1,069 reviews)