Repeater in Adobe After Effects – Full Guide

 

Absolutely! Here's a complete and easy-to-follow guide on the Repeater in Adobe After Effects, perfect for beginners and intermediate users alike.

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🔁 Repeater in Adobe After Effects 

The Repeater is a powerful Shape Layer animator that lets you duplicate a shape multiple times with transformations like position, scale, and rotation. It's widely used for creating patterns, circular designs, waves, and animations like blooming effects or rotating designs.

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🎯 Where to Find the Repeater

1. Draw a Shape

   • Use the Shape Tool (Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, etc.)

2. In the Timeline Panel, open:

   Shape Layer >
     Contents >
       [Shape Group] >
         Add ▼ > Repeater
   

3. A Repeater 1 group will be added. You’ll also see:

   Repeater 1 >
     Copies
     Transform: Repeater 1
   

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🔧 Repeater Properties Explained

➤ Copies

• Number of duplicates of your original shape.

• Example: Copies = 5 creates 5 instances.

➤ Transform: Repeater 1

Controls how each copy is transformed relative to the previous copy:

Property	Effect
Position	Moves each copy from the last (default: 100px right)
Scale	Resizes each copy (e.g., 90% for shrinking pattern)
Rotation	Rotates each copy incrementally
Anchor Point	The pivot for each transformation
Opacity	Controls fade effect from first to last copy

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🎨 Creative Uses of Repeater

Effect	How to Do It
🌸 Circular Flower	Draw ellipse → Repeater → 10 copies → rotate by 36°
🌀 Spiral Pattern	Use star shape → position + rotation in Repeater
🔊 Echo Wave	Rectangle → animate scale + repeat with spacing
🌈 Radial Burst	Use polygon → Bloat/Pucker → Repeater in a circle

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✨ Animate with Repeater

You can animate properties like:

• Copies → increase or decrease over time

• Position / Rotation → create expanding or rotating effects

• Combine with Pucker & Bloat, Trim Paths, or Wiggle Paths for advanced animations

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💡 Pro Tips

• Anchor Point affects how your repeated shapes rotate—try setting it to the edge of the shape.

• Repeater works only within Shape Layers, not for text or image layers.

• For mirrored shapes, use Scale X = -100% on a duplicate Repeater.

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🔁 Combine with Other Shape Modifiers

Make beautiful animations by combining Repeater with:

• Trim Paths → Animate parts of repeated shapes

• Offset Paths → Create inner/outer strokes

• Pucker & Bloat → Morph your repeated shapes