MANUAL / PLUGIN

Palf Scallop

One- or two-sided scalloped alpha trims for clean transitions.

Installation

01
Quit Adobe After Effects completely.
02
Copy Scallop.aex (Windows) or Scallop.plugin (macOS) into the After Effects Plug-ins folder.
03
Start After Effects and apply from Effect > Palf > Palf Scallop. If After Effects was already running, restart it so the plug-in loads.

Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects <version>\Support Files\Plug-ins\
macOS: /Applications/Adobe After Effects <version>/Plug-ins/

Requirements: After Effects 2023–2026 / Windows / macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or later.

Caution (macOS)

If the plug-in is blocked and will not load, run the following command in Terminal with the path for your install, then restart After Effects.

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Adobe After Effects <version>/Plug-ins/Scallop.plugin"

Caution (rejected-plug-in cache)

If a previous version failed to load once and the plug-in still does not appear after you replace the .plugin, After Effects on Mac may cache that rejected plug-in and keep refusing to load it. Holding Shift while launching After Effects clears the plug-in cache, and the plug-in may then load. Renaming or moving the preferences file before launch is also fine.

~/Library/Preferences/com.Adobe.After Effects.<version>.plist

How to use

01
Apply Palf Scallop to the layer to be trimmed.
02
Set Direction to One-sided or Two-sided.
03
Animate Completion. At 0% the source is untouched; at 100% it is fully removed.
04
Set Size and Depth, then use Centre, Angle and Offset to place the scallops. Enable Symmetric for aligned Two-sided edges.

Parameters

Completion: Transition amount. 0% = unchanged, 100% = fully removed. Default 50%.
Direction: One-sided / Two-sided. Default: One-sided.
Size: Scallop spacing. Range 1–4096, default 64.
Depth: Sagitta as a percentage of Size. 50% is an exact semicircle, 0% a straight edge, negative values scoop inwards. Range −200% to 200%, default 50%.
Symmetric: Two-sided only. Off offsets the second edge by half a period; on aligns the crests. Default: Off.
Centre: Trim origin. Default 50%, 50%.
Angle: Trim-line orientation; positive values rotate clockwise. The established initial orientation is 90 degrees.
Offset: Phase along the trim line; 360 degrees advances one Size period. Default 0 degrees.
Invert: Flips which side of the edge is kept. In Two-sided, keeps the central band instead of the outer halves. Default: Off.

Tips

Use Completion for the main animation. Depth 50% is a semicircle, 0% a straight line, and negative values are cuts that scoop inwards. Turn Symmetric off for an interlocking pattern such as CC Jaws, and on to face the crests. This effect changes only alpha and keeps RGB, including the parts that have disappeared.

DEMO edition

The free DEMO offers the same controls as the full edition, with a red cross watermark on every output frame. The effect appears as “Palf Scallop DEMO” (Scallop_DEMO.aex / Scallop_DEMO.plugin) and can sit alongside the full plug-in.