Plugins not showing up in After Effects / How to enable Rosetta / Best version to install (MacOS)

Starting in 2022, Adobe After Effects runs natively on Apple Silicon, and while this update provides major performance improvements by making use of the power Apple's newest chips have to offer, it also poses the issue of incompatible plugins not showing up.

You may notice some of your installed plugins not appearing under your effects panel, or have received the following error message during launch if on a M1+ chip:

"The following plugins are installed, but are not yet compatible with this version of After Effects..”

Most (not all) major plugin developers have released support for Apple Silicon so for legitimate buyers this wouldn’t be an issue, however, it’s safe to assume anyone reading this is pirating and doesn't have access to the latest version for every plugin they plan on using.

That said, you can easily fix this by enabling “Rosetta”. Do keep in mind that if you enable Rosetta you’ll lose performance benefits that come with Apple Silicon machines, however, in this situation you don’t have much of a choice aside from not using them or paying for them if an updated (M1+) version has been released.

What is Rosetta, exactly?

Rosetta acts as a translator, allowing After Effects to run as if it were on an Intel Mac. This in turn makes any third party plugins originally created for Intel compatible as After Effects is ultimately the host, i.e., if After Effects is running as Intel, so do your plugins. Enabling Rosetta is a simple process and you only have to do it once.

IMPORTANT:

  • Adobe removed the option to enable Rosetta in After Effects 2024, scroll down for more info.
  • You may not need Rosetta depending on which plugins you plan to use, scroll down to learn which have been updated with Apple Silicon support.
How to enable Rosetta
  1. Open Finder
  2. Go to Applications and open “Adobe After Effects (Version)” (this is a folder)
  3. Right click the application (.app) file inside and click “Get Info”
  4. Under the general tab, checkmark “Open using Rosetta”.

Note: You must follow these steps exactly. You won't be able to enable Rosetta through a desktop shortcut.

Click here for a video.

Rosetta Image

If the option to enable Rosetta is missing despite doing everything correctly (excluding After Effects 2024 and Intel Macs, obviously), you may need to install Rosetta 2 using a command line.

  1. Open terminal (it's an app)
  2. Paste the following command: softwareupdate --install-rosetta

Click here for a video.


Which After Effects version should I install?

Read the column that applies to you.
Main points:

  • After Effects 2021 and older are not compatible on Sonoma or above and won't launch.
  • Starting in After Effects 2024, Adobe permanently removed the option to enable Rosetta rendering many plugin cracks unusable on M1+ Macs.
User Options
M1+ chip on Sonoma If plugins are important to you, After Effects 2023 or 2022 are truthfully your only options due to older versions not working on Sonoma and Adobe removing the option to enable Rosetta in 2024, which again, is required for Intel plugins to work as 2022+ runs natively on Apple Silicon. Links for 2022 and 2023 can be found in our Discord and legit users can downgrade inside the Creative Cloud app.
M1+ chip not on Sonoma If plugins are important to you, you're safe to install any version excluding 2024 due to Rosetta being removed, however do keep in mind that enabling Rosetta can drop performance. If you don't have that powerful of a Mac (ex, M1 with 8gb/16gb), you may want to consider sticking with 2021 or below. You'd be opting out of newer features in exchange for stability. If you own a M2 chip or higher, performance drops may not be as noticeable. You'll have to try it for yourself and see.
Intel Mac on Sonoma Because you're on Sonoma, you won't be able to launch After Effects 2021 or older, however, because you have an Intel Mac, you don't have to worry about about M1+ chip compatibility, Rosetta, or any of that annoying mess. You're free to install After Effects 2022, 2023 or 2024 and enjoy all plugins natively. The choice is yours and you can always play around with multiple versions before settling with one.
Intel Mac not on Sonoma You have the freedom to install any version of After Effects you'd like. You aren't limited to versions compatible with Sonoma nor are you limited to versions with Rosetta. If you have a decent Mac (ex 16gb+ ram, i7, i9 ) I would suggest going for the latest version (2024). If you don't have that powerful of a Mac (ex, 8gb ram, i5, i3) you may want to consider older versions such as 2020 as they can perform better, but you can always install multiple and experience it yourself.

As mentioned above, enabling Rosetta can drop performance and this will be most noticeable the first time you open After Effects after enabling it. While performance should improve in future launches, there is no guarantee you'll find it great and whether or not its manageable will vary on your Mac and editing style.


Plugin M1+ Compatibility (List)

If you only plan to use a couple plugins, you may not have to worry about Rosetta at all. While it is true that many MacOS plugin cracks do not offer Silicon support (more specifically, versions released before Apple Silicon ever existed), NOT all of them are outdated.

The following list is according to the resources we have provided specifically in our Discord. Only major plugins are listed, rather than all since our library is big. If you’re curious about a plugin that isn't mentioned, you can always look up the developer's release notes, see which version they added M1+ support for, and compare it with ours as versions are usually included in our file names.

Updated (does not require rosetta)

RSMB 6.4.1
Twixtor 7.5.5
BCC 2024
Sapphire 2024
Deep Glow 1.5
Element 3D 2.2.3
Magic Bullet Looks 15+
Universe 5.1+
Trapcode 17+
VFX suite 2+
Optical Flares
Signal
Crossphere Bokeh
Pixel Sorter
Glitchify 1.0.1
Saber and Omino (100% free)

Scripts and extensions (ex: flow) are unaffected.

Not updated (requires rosetta)

Twitch (Developers have yet to release an update)
All Mettle plugins
SpeedX
PixDither
Modulation
TV Distortion Bundle
Shooter Suite (Discontinued by developers)

If you don't plan to use any plugins or only a handful which are supported, then feel free to enjoy After Effects 2024+ and all the new features it comes with! :]

Note, We update what we can, when we can. Currently, our "updated" section is larger than the few other servers that cover MacOS, which is the result of us frequently updating our Rentry. Do not search for cracks if inexperienced as you'll likely run into malware.


Edit
Pub: 16 May 2024 21:41 UTC
Edit: 16 Sep 2024 22:15 UTC
Views: 5153