How to animate a gradient along a path | After Effects tutorial

In our kinetic typography video, we snuck in a “gradient snake” effect—just a little visual extra. It wasn’t the star of the show, but it definitely stole some attention. Turns out, a lot of people wanted to know how we did it. Here’s the thing: After Effects can’t do this natively. You need a clever workaround, and a free plugin called Thicc Stroke is the key. In this tutorial, @Envato_Tom walks you through the full process—from Illustrator setup to animating the gradient path the right way. ► The broadest range of asset categories, all in one place: https://elements.envato.com/?utm_camp... ► How to Animate Text in After Effects | Kinetic Typography    • How to Animate Text in After Effects | Kin...   ► Thicc Stroke plugin: https://www.plugineverything.com/thic... 00:00 - Introduction to the gradient snake effect 00:57 - Thicc Stroke script solution 01:35 - Setting up the project in After Effects 02:15 - Creating the stroke from Illustrator 02:43 - Applying the Thicc Stroke plugin 03:35 - Creating the gradient step by step 05:14 - Animating with Trim Paths 05:29 - Final result CREDITS Video Creator: Tom Graham Producer: Joel Bankhead Video Editor: Tom Graham - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Envato—Your one-stop creative asset destination With millions of quality creative assets across video, music, photos, graphics, templates, fonts, and more—at simple, great-value pricing—Envato has got your creativity covered. ► Download videos, photos, graphics, fonts, and everything in between: https://elements.envato.com/?utm_camp... Envato Tuts+ Discover free how-to tutorials and online courses. Design a logo, create a website, build an app, or learn a new skill: https://tutsplus.com/?utm_campaign=yt... ► Subscribe to Envato Video on YouTube:    / envato_video   ► Follow Envato on X:   / envato   ► Follow Envato on TikTok:   / envato   ► Follow Envato on Instagram:   / envato   ► Follow Envato on Facebook:   / envato   ► Explore Envato's full stack of AI tools, all included in your subscription: https://labs.envato.com/?utm_campaign... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -