Synapse

Synapse works in After Effects 2022 and newer, inside the Motion Dock. It links any layers you can select, including parented layers, 3D layers seen through the active camera, and lights.

Yes. Free forever, with no trial, no watermark and no locked features.

Install the Motion Dock, our free panel for every Motion Fun tool, then add Synapse to your dock from Edit Layout. After the first install, restart After Effects and find the Motion Dock under Window → Extensions.

No. Synapse draws its lines with expressions on one shape layer, so they stay attached to your layers through any animation, parenting or camera move. Keyframe the Synapse effect when you want the lines themselves to change, like Draw On to draw them in.

Yes. Select the Synapse layer and the layers you want to add, then Shift-click Chain, Hub or Web. The new lines go into the same Synapse and the old ones stay. A plain click always makes a new Synapse, and Alt-click deletes the selected one.

Web is. It links every pair of selected layers closer than Max Distance and fades each line out over the last Fade Distance, so lines join and let go as your layers move. It handles up to 40 layers.