Where footage goes
- After Effects
- Adobe's terms state that Adobe never reviews local content stored on the computer.
- DriftEdit
- Footage is decoded, edited and exported on the device. Nothing is uploaded.
Coming from After Effects
After Effects is for motion graphics and compositing; DriftEdit is a video editor. This guide covers only effects both can make for music edits: speed ramps, zoom bounces, shakes, glitches, echo trails, frame-blended slow motion, masks and titles tracked to a subject. These effects are built by hand in After Effects. In DriftEdit, they are available as timeline clip settings, effects and Techniques, many timed to the song's kicks.
Familiar tasks in DriftEdit
- Create a speed ramp
- Select the clip and open the Speed tab. Choose Ramp, then a preset: Montage, Hero, Bullet, Jump cut, Flash in or Flash out. Or edit the Speed curve, whose points snap to nearby beats. Velocity on the beat in Techniques slows the clip on each kick and speeds it up between kicks.
- Time a zoom bounce to a kick
- Apply Impact on the kick in Techniques to the selected clip. It zooms in on the kick nearest the playhead, then settles back. For a repeating bounce, apply Pulse on the beat or choose Zoom punch from Effects.
- Add camera shake on a hit
- In Effects, under Motion, apply Shake, Hard shake, Soft shake, Handheld or Earthquake. Change its settings in the Adjust tab. The Chaos style in Auto adds shake on the hits automatically.
- Add a glitch on a hit
- Apply Glitch, Heavy glitch, Subtle glitch or RGB split from Effects. For a transition, drag Glitch from Transitions onto a cut. The Chaos style in Auto adds bursts of glitch and colour split on the hits.
- Add echo trails to movement
- Select the clip and choose Clip, Echo trails. Open Echo trails in the Video tab to set Copies, Spacing and Fade.
- Use frame blending for slow motion
- In the Speed tab, choose Constant, set the speed below 1× and enable Frame blending. It creates in-between frames by blending the two neighbouring frames rather than repeating one.
- Mask part of the frame
- In Effects, under Keying, apply Box mask, Oval mask or Split mask. In the Adjust tab, select On the viewer to move, resize and rotate the mask with handles. All settings, including Keep and Feather, support keyframes.
- Attach a title to a moving subject
- At the playhead, position the title or sticker over the subject. Select it and apply Follow what moves in Techniques. It follows the subject frame by frame until a cut or obstruction causes tracking to lose the point.
- Freeze a frame on a hit
- Apply Freeze on the hit in Techniques to the selected clip. It holds a closer view of the frame on the kick near the playhead for 0.4 s. To hold any chosen frame, use Freeze the frame at the playhead in the Speed tab.
- Key out a green or blue screen
- Place the clip on the upper track. In Effects, under Keying, apply Green screen or Blue screen. Adjust Tolerance, Softness and Spill in the Adjust tab.
- Blend a layer with the layer below
- Place the clip on the track above the other layer. In the Video tab, set Blend to Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Add, Darken or Lighten.
- Add depth movement to a photo
- Select a photo and apply Move in depth in Techniques. Near objects shift relative to distant ones as the view pushes in. The 27 MB depth model downloads once.
Compare the details
Details from each vendor's pages, checked on 4 November 2026. Prices and plans can change. Follow the source links for current details.
Where After Effects is ahead
- After Effects supports motion graphics and compositing work beyond the music-edit effects covered here.
- Its graph editor also shows speed graphs and splits a position into separate dimensions.
- After Effects supports 3D work and particle effects.
What DriftEdit lacks
- 3D. Move in depth applies a 2.5D move to a photo.
- A custom particle system. The Library provides preset particle overlays, including Snow, Rain and Confetti.
After Effects is a trademark of its owner. DriftEdit is not affiliated with or endorsed by the trademark owner.
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