Color & Opacity

The Color & Opacity group controls the stroke's color, transparency, gradient mapping, and how they interact with other parameters such as trims and dashes.

Master Opacity affects the whole stroke after the selected solid color or gradient has been evaluated. Gradient stop opacity is still useful when you want transparency to vary along the stroke.

Controls

Color Mode

Color Mode

Color Mode chooses whether the stroke uses a solid fill or a multi-point RGBA gradient.

• Solid uses the Solid Color picker for the entire stroke

• Gradient uses Color Gradient and the gradient controls

Use Solid for clean single-color strokes, especially when color will be driven by expressions. Use Gradient when color or opacity should change along the path.

Master Opacity

Master Opacity

Master Opacity sets the overall opacity of the rendered stroke from 0% to 100%.

This multiplies the final result, so it affects both Solid and Gradient color modes. In Gradient mode, it also multiplies each gradient stop's own opacity.

Use Master Opacity for fading the whole stroke in or out. Use Point Opacity when only part of a gradient should become transparent.

Solid Color

Solid Color

Solid Color chooses the stroke color when Color Mode is set to Solid.

This is the simplest color mode and is often the easiest option when you want a stable brand color, a single glowing line, or a color controlled by a normal After Effects color picker.

Color Gradient

Color Gradient

Color Gradient is the editable gradient bar used when Color Mode is set to Gradient.

Each stop has a color, a position, and an opacity. The gradient is mapped along the stroke according to Gradient Scope.

Basic editing:

• Click a stop to select it, drag to reposition, drag further to delete

• Click on the gradient to add a new stop

• Double-click a stop to edit its color

The preview includes Hue Shift, Gradient Blending, Gradient Repeat, Gradient Repeat Mode, Color Space, Gamma, and stop opacity, so the bar closely matches the rendered stroke.

Gradient Utility Buttons

Gradient Utility Buttons

The buttons inside Color Gradient provide quick edits:

Button	Result
Shift	Moves colors left or right between stops
Reverse	Reverses color order while keeping stop positions
RGB, HSL, or Oklab	Cycles the active Color Space
Paste XML	Imports Adobe Color XML from the clipboard

Paste XML is useful when bringing a palette from Adobe Color into Thicc Pro. If the clipboard does not contain readable Adobe Color XML, the current gradient is left unchanged.

Point Location and Point Opacity

Point Location and Point Opacity

Point Location controls the selected gradient stop's position from 0% to 100%.

Point Opacity controls the selected gradient stop's opacity from 0% to 100%.

Use Point Location for precise stop placement. Use Point Opacity for fades along the stroke, such as a trail that disappears at the end or a dashed line with soft transparent segments.

Color Space

Color Space

Color Space controls how colors blend between gradient stops; if Gradient Blending is set to 0%, Color Space has no visual impact.

• RGB blends directly between red, green, and blue channel values

• HSL blends through hue, saturation, and lightness, which can preserve more obvious hue changes

• Oklab is the default and usually gives smoother perceptual transitions

If a gradient looks muddy, too gray, or unexpectedly vivid between stops, try switching Color Space.

For side-by-side examples and practical tradeoffs, see Choosing a color space.

Gradient Presets

Gradient Presets

Gradient Presets provides ready-made gradients that can replace the current Color Gradient.

Use presets as starting points, then adjust stops, opacity, repeat, or hue from there. Using Hue Shift is particularly useful for generating alternate palette ideas.

Gradient Blending

Gradient Blending

Gradient Blending controls how smoothly adjacent gradient stops blend together.

Lower values keep colors closer to their stops for harder transitions. Higher values create smoother transitions and are better for soft color washes.

When Gradient Repeat Mode is set to Wrap Cycles, blending is applied across the wrap boundary too, which helps repeated gradients loop without a hard color jump.

Gradient Repeat and Gradient Repeat Mode

Gradient Repeat and Gradient Repeat Mode

Gradient Repeat controls how many times the gradient is compressed into the stroke.

Gradient Repeat Mode controls what happens outside the first gradient cycle:

Mode	Result
None	Uses one gradient cycle
Wrap Cycles	Repeats the gradient in the same direction
Mirror	Reflects the gradient so every other cycle reverses

• Use None for preserving start and end colors when using Gradient Cycle , useful for creating animated gradient transitions.

• Use Wrap Cycles when animating Gradient Cycle if your gradient is already looping (start and end colors identical)

• Use Mirror when animating Gradient Cycle (if your gradient palette doesn't loop) for seamless loops

In Mirror mode, the gradient preview shows the mirrored result and the original gradient so you can see what is being reflected.

Hue Shift and Gradient Cycle

Hue Shift and Gradient Cycle

Hue Shift rotates the gradient colors around the hue wheel without moving the stops.

Gradient Cycle offsets the gradient along the stroke. Animate it to make colors travel through the stroke while the path itself stays in place.

Use Hue Shift for visualising palette variations with correct blending (this is not just the same as applying a hue adjustment after Thicc Pro). Use Gradient Cycle for transitioning in gradients, flowing trails, and looping color movement.

Gradient Scope

Gradient Scope

Gradient Scope controls the domain used to map the gradient across the stroke.

For a visual explanation of how gradients are distributed across paths, trims, and dashes, see Understanding Scope.

Scope	Result
Multiple Paths	One gradient spans the combined length of all paths
Individual Paths	The gradient restarts on each path
Individual Trims	The gradient restarts on each trim segment
Individual Dashes	The gradient restarts on each dash segment

Use Multiple Paths when several paths should behave like one continuous stroke. Use Individual Paths, Individual Trims, or Individual Dashes when each segment should get its own complete gradient.

Note on RGBA Blending

If a path overlaps itself and the frontmost section is semi transparent, it will render "knockout opacity", meaning path segments behind it will be obscured:

A transparent cyan gradient point obscures the red section behind it

For more detail about how overlapping paths are composited, see Multi-path transparency and blending.

Interface Conditionals

Color Mode

Color Mode determines which color controls are visible.

Condition	Result
Color Mode is Solid	Solid Color is visible
Color Mode is Solid	Gradient controls are hidden
Color Mode is Gradient	Color Gradient and gradient controls are visible
Color Mode is Gradient	Solid Color is hidden

Gradient Scope

Gradient Scope changes when dashes are enabled.

Condition	Result
Enable Dashes is unchecked	Individual Dashes is unavailable
Enable Dashes is checked	Individual Dashes is available