Blender to After Effects: Warping a Plane Into a Sphere

I’ll show how to animate a flat plane into a sphere in Blender, using the Simple Deform modifier. Then (because nothing is ever simple) I’ll talk you through exporting that mesh deform animation into something that can be imported into After Effects. You’ll learn:

• How to build and animate the plane-to-sphere effect in Blender.
• Modifier animations won’t export to After Effects.
• The slightly unhinged but working OBJ sequence workaround
• How to assemble 150 3D frames into a usable AE animation.

This was created for my Star Trek VFX History project, but it works for any retro-style ident, logo reveal, or broadcast-inspired effect.

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Buy me a coffee!

Download the project file here.

Bonus: Free step-by-step PDF:

• Ko-Fi

• Fourthwall

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