Path Source

The Path Source group controls where Thicc Pro gets its path data from. Thicc Pro automatically detects the layer type and adapts the available UI controls, so the interface will appear slightly differently depending:

Path Source UI when applied to an AV layer

Path Source UI when applied to a text or shape layer

In most cases you'll apply Thicc Pro to a solid layer and by default, Use All Masks is checked. If you prefer to use specific masks, you can disable this select an individual mask.

For setup guidance, see Choosing a source layer and Continuous rasterization and collapse transforms.

Layer Type Path Source Defaults

Layer Type	Mask Source Default Behavior
AV Layers (solid, precomp, video)	Uses all masks
Shape Layer	Uses all shapes, masks discarded and mask selection parameter hidden
Text Layer	Uses all text paths, masks discarded and mask selection parameter hidden

Supported Layer Types

Solid / Video Layer (with masks)

When applied to a solid, video, precomp, or other AV layer with masks, Mask and Use All Masks control which mask paths are used as the stroke source.

• By default, Use All Masks is checked, so all masks on the layer are used

• Unchecking Use All Masks reveals the Mask dropdown, allowing you to select a single mask

Shape Layer (vector)

When applied to a shape layer, Thicc Pro reads the shape paths directly from the layer's shape groups. It respects the full shape group hierarchy, including nested groups with their own transforms such as position, rotation, scale, skew, and anchor point.

• Shape layer masks are ignored as path sources, so Thicc Pro uses the vector shapes themselves

• Mask and Use All Masks are hidden because they only apply to masks on solid, video, precomp, and other AV layers

• Shape path direction is respected: paths set to "reversed" in After Effects will be reversed in the stroke

• Shapes are drawn in the same stacking order as After Effects, with top shapes drawing on top

• Disabled shape groups are excluded

Parametric shape paths such as Ellipse Path, Rectangle Path (including rounded rectangles), and Polystar Path must be converted to Bezier paths before Thicc Pro can access their path data.

Text Layer

When applied to a text layer, Thicc Pro uses the text outlines as paths.

• Mask and Use All Masks are hidden because they are not applicable to text layers

• Each character outline becomes a separate closed path

• Text outlines are derived from the font glyphs at the current time, so animated text properties such as source text and tracking are reflected in the stroke

Lights

Lights can only used as path sources when Pen Shape: Sphere (3D) is selected and Use Light Motion Paths is enabled.

Each active light layer becomes a separate 3D open path based on its Position keyframes. Use Filter Lights by Name to limit which lights are included. You can also toggle individual lights by setting their layer visibility on or off.

If Thicc Pro has no visible result after you choose a path source, work through the blank-output troubleshooting checklist.

Controls

Mask

Mask

Mask is a path selector dropdown that lets you choose which specific mask on the layer to use as the stroke source.

• Default: First mask on the layer, if present

• Visible: Only on solid, video, precomp, and other AV layers with masks

Mask is disabled when:

Condition	Reason
Use All Masks is checked	All masks are already being used
Use Light Motion Paths is checked	Light motion paths replace all other path sources

Use All Masks

Use All Masks

Use All Masks is a checkbox that uses every mask on the layer as a stroke path instead of just the one selected in Mask.

• Default: Checked

• Visible: Only on solid, video, precomp, and other AV layers with masks

When Use All Masks is checked, the Mask dropdown is disabled because individual mask selection is no longer relevant.

To use masks to crop the final rendered stroke instead, see Clipping the rendered result with masks.

Use All Masks is disabled when:

Condition	Reason
Use Light Motion Paths is checked	Light motion paths replace all other path sources

Use Light Motion Paths

Use Light Motion Paths

Use Light Motion Paths is a checkbox that uses the position keyframes of light layers in the composition as 3D paths. Think of each position keyframe as a path vertex, the time between keyframes is ignored. The advantage of this is that you can define an XYZ position, where masks and shape layers only have XY coordinates on mask vertices.

• Default: Unchecked

• Requires: Pen Shape: Sphere (3D)

When enabled, Thicc Pro scans every layer in the composition and collects active light layers. For each light, it reads the Position property's keyframes, including spatial tangents, and constructs a Bezier path from them. Each light becomes a separate open path.

How it works

• Each light layer's Position keyframes define the control points of a Bezier path in 3D space

• Spatial tangents on the keyframes control the curvature between points (analogous to vertex tangents on mask or shape layers)

• If a light has a parent layer, the parent's transform is applied to the light's keyframe positions

• All light paths are open paths

Light visibility

Thicc Pro only reads light layers that are active at the current comp time. Disabled lights, lights outside their in/out range, lights with the video switch off, and lights excluded by solo state are skipped.

Repeater interaction

When Enable Repeater is checked, Origin X, Origin Y, and Origin Z define the repeater transform origin directly in world space. For non-light path sources, Origin X and Origin Y are offsets from the composition center instead.

Multi-light interaction

Multiple lights rendered inside the same instance of Thicc Pro respect each others z-depth and occlude each other accurately. Note that if you have multiple instances of Thicc Pro, they are unaware of any other layers depth and will not occlude accurately, rather they will occlude naively based on layer index in the timeline.

Filter Lights by Name

Filter Lights by Name

Filter Lights by Name restricts light motion paths to lights whose layer names start with a specific prefix (case sensitive).

• Default: Unchecked

• Requires: Pen Shape: Sphere (3D) and Use Light Motion Paths

When Filter Lights by Name is checked, Set Light Name Prefix becomes available. Click it to enter the prefix string. The Light Name Prefix field displays the current prefix, or (none) when the prefix is empty.

The comparison uses the editable layer name shown in the After Effects timeline. It matches from the start of the name, so a prefix of Stroke_ matches Stroke_01 and Stroke_Main, but not Blue_Stroke_01.

Visibility is checked before the prefix is compared. A disabled, out-of-range, hidden, or soloed-out light is skipped even if its name matches the prefix.

Reverse Path Direction

Reverse Path Direction

Reverse Path Direction flips the direction of every collected path after the path source has been read.

This applies to mask paths, shape paths, text outlines, and light motion paths. It changes each path's start and end direction, which can affect trims, dashes, width mapping, and gradient mapping.

Create Null

Create Null

Create Null creates a 3D control null in the composition

• Requires: Pen Shape: Sphere (3D)

Effects that use 3D cameras in After Effects must be applied to 2D layers. Create Null solves this by giving you a 3D transform layer that acts as a parent.

After creation, you can animate the null's 3D position, rotation, and scale to move the stroke in 3D space while keeping the effect layer itself as a standard 2D layer.

The null is named Thicc Pro Parent Null - [Layer Name], using the effect layer's current name so it is easy to identify when a composition contains several Thicc Pro instances.

Clicking Create Null multiple times creates additional null layers. If you already created a null and want to reassign it, delete the old null first. The button always creates a new null.

Interface Conditionals

Mask and Use All Masks

Mask and Use All Masks are visible only on solid, video, precomp, and other AV layers with masks. They are hidden on shape and text layers.

Masks are ignored as path sources for shape layers, text layers, and light motion paths. Shape layers use vector shape contents, text layers use text outlines, and light motion paths use light Position keyframes.

Condition	Result
Use All Masks is checked	Mask is disabled
Use Light Motion Paths is checked	Mask and Use All Masks disabled

Use Light Motion Paths

Use Light Motion Paths is only available when Pen Shape: Sphere (3D) is selected. When enabled, it replaces the normal path source with light-layer motion paths.

The following controls are disabled while Use Light Motion Paths is checked:

Parameter	Reason
Mask	Light motion paths replace mask paths
Use All Masks	Light motion paths replace mask paths
Parent Layer	Light paths are already in world space
Create Null	Disabled alongside Parent Layer

Filter Lights by Name

Filter Lights by Name is only available when both Pen Shape: Sphere (3D) and Use Light Motion Paths are active.

Condition	Result
Use Light Motion Paths is off	Filter Lights by Name is disabled
Filter Lights by Name is off	Set Light Name Prefix and Light Name Prefix are disabled
Filter Lights by Name is checked	Set Light Name Prefix and Light Name Prefix are enabled

Parent Layer and Create Null

Parent Layer and Create Null are only relevant for Pen Shape: Sphere (3D).

Condition	Result
Pen Shape is not Sphere (3D)	Parent Layer and Create Null disabled
Use Light Motion Paths is checked	Parent Layer and Create Null disabled

Repeater Origin

Origin X, Origin Y, and Origin Z are available when Enable Repeater is checked.

Condition	Result
Use Light Motion Paths is off	Origin X and Origin Y offset the composition-center origin
Use Light Motion Paths is on	All three controls define the origin directly in world space