How to Animate Shape Borders in After Effects

Introduction

Animating shape borders is a powerful way to add motion and style to titles, UI elements, or graphic frames in After Effects. By combining gradient fills, stroke customization, and dash animation, you can create modern animated outlines with smooth movement. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to build and animate dynamic shape borders step by step.

Step 1: Create a New Composition

Click New Composition, choose your desired resolution and frame rate, and press OK to create your working timeline. Step 2: Create a Shape Layer

Select the Shape Tool (Q) and draw your desired shape in the Composition panel, then set the Fill to Linear Gradient and choose two colors, and set the Stroke Width to 48 px while selecting a stroke color of your choice.