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How to add motion blur in After Effects

Motion blur makes fast movement look natural instead of stiff. It’s the difference between something looking smooth and something looking like it was shot frame-by-frame.

Steps to add motion blur

Toggle the Motion Blur switch (the three circles icon) on your layer in the timeline.

Timeline in After Effects showing the motion blur switch enabled for a layer

The toggle at the top of the timeline activates automatically, but if it doesn’t, turn it on yourself.

After Effects composition viewer with motion blur applied to a moving object

Preview your comp — fast-moving layers now blur automatically as they move.

After Effects layer with a motion blur effect

One more thing

If it looks too soft or not soft enough, increase the Shutter Angle in Composition Settings → Advanced. That controls how much blur gets applied.

Related how-tos

How to add keyframes in After Effects
How to use easing for smooth animation in After Effects
How to fade in and fade out layers in After Effects

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