RadialFX manual

Install & activate

RadialFX runs inside After Effects 2022+ on Windows, and installs in about a minute.

1. Download the installer (a small .zip) from the download page and unzip it.
2. Close After Effects, run the setup file inside, and approve the Windows admin prompt.
3. If Windows shows a blue “Windows protected your PC” notice, click More info, confirm the publisher reads “Isaac Alcocer Castro”, then click Run anyway — it's expected for a new app and completely safe (see Troubleshooting).
4. Reopen After Effects. The wheel is live immediately, and a “RadialFX - Settings” panel is added under Window › Extensions.

Your free 14-day trial starts automatically the first time you open the wheel — no card, no sign-up. When you buy, paste your license key into the License section at the bottom of the Settings panel and click Activate.

Your first wheel

Open a composition, then point at the canvas (select a layer if the tool acts on one).

1. Move your cursor over the comp.
2. Press and hold the right mouse button for a beat — or press Ctrl+Shift+Q.
3. The wheel appears, centered on your cursor.
4. Glide outward to a category, then to the tool you want.
5. Release to run it. Done.

A quick right-click still opens After Effects' normal menu — RadialFX only triggers on a short hold, so it never gets in your way.

The press-hold-drag gesture

One motion does everything. Learn it once and it becomes muscle memory.

• Hold right-click (or Ctrl+Shift+Q) — the wheel opens at your cursor.
• Glide toward a segment — its sub-tools fan out around it.
• Pause on a segment — the sub-menu stays open so you can aim.
• Move back to the center — the sub-menu collapses, so you can pick another segment.
• Release on a tool — it runs instantly.
• Release on empty space, or press Esc — nothing happens; the wheel just closes.

Want a snappier or slower trigger? Change the right-click hold delay in Settings › Preferences (minimum 150 ms).

Segments & sub-tools

The outer ring holds eight category segments. Move toward one and its sub-tools fan out.

• Actions — one-press editing commands (pre-compose, split, duplicate, save frame).
• Transform — center and fit layers, mirror horizontally or vertically.
• Create — add new layers (shape, solid, null, camera, adjustment, and more).
• Blur — apply common blur effects.
• Effects — browse and apply any After Effects effect.
• Color — apply curated color effects (Lumetri, Curves, Hue/Saturation…).
• Anchor — snap a layer's anchor point to a 3×3 grid.
• Freeze — freeze-frame, time remap, or freeze on the last frame.

This is the default layout — the most-used categories sit on the fastest positions. You can rearrange all of it in Settings (see “Customizing your layout”).

The anchor grid

Anchor is the one category that isn't a fan. Move to it and you get a 3×3 grid matching a layer's nine anchor positions.

1. Select a layer.
2. Open the wheel and move to the Anchor segment.
3. Click a cell — top-left, center, bottom-right, and so on.
4. The anchor point snaps to that position, without moving the layer itself.

The anchor grid is fixed by design — it mirrors the universal nine-point pattern, so there's nothing to customize.

Customizing your layout

Open Window › Extensions › “RadialFX - Settings” to make the wheel yours. Edits preview live and only apply when you Save.

1. Rename or recolor a segment — click its name to rename, click its color dot to recolor.
2. Swap what a segment does — click “Change category” and pick from the ten categories: Actions, Transform, Create, Keyframes, Markers, Reveal, Freeze, Color, Blur and Effects.
3. Add or remove tools in a segment (up to 8 each) — click a tool slot to open its picker.
4. Drag to reorder tools within a segment, or whole segments around the ring.
5. Use Presets to keep several layouts and switch between them.
6. Set the wheel size and right-click hold delay under Preferences.
7. Click Save to apply (it takes effect on the next wheel open), or Discard to revert.

The mini-wheel preview always shows your unsaved draft. Anchor stays locked and can't be swapped out, and a category can only sit on the wheel once. Transform and Freeze keep their fixed tool sets, but you can still remove and reorder them.

When an update adds new tools, they don't move onto your wheel by themselves — that would mean throwing away the layout you built. They show up in the pickers, ready for you to add wherever you want them.

Actions & transforms

Actions are one-press editing commands — they run the moment you release, with no dialogs. By default the wheel carries Split, Pre-comp, Easy Ease, Un-precompose, and Trim Comp to Work Area, with Easy Ease in the center as the default. Add any of these from the Actions pool in Settings:

• Duplicate
• Time Reverse
• Toggle Motion Blur
• Save Frame
• Pre-compose (leave attributes)

Transform repositions and flips a layer relative to its comp:

• Center (in comp)
• Fit Width
• Fit Height
• Mirror Horizontal
• Mirror Vertical

Create layers

Create adds a new layer to the active comp in one move:

• Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Star — shape layers with real geometry already drawn
• Solid and Black Solid
• Null
• Camera
• Adjust — an adjustment layer
• Light
• Text

New layers name themselves the way After Effects does, so a comp full of solids stays readable in the project panel.

Keyframes, markers & reveal

Keyframes retimes whatever keyframes you have selected in the timeline. Select them first — without a selection these tools tell you so rather than doing nothing:

• Hold — hold on both sides
• Hold In / Hold Out — hold one side only
• Ease In / Ease Out — ease one side only
• Rove — make position keyframes rove across time for even spacing

Markers works on the selected layer:

• Add Marker — drop a marker at the playhead
• Clear All — remove every marker on the layer
• Lock — lock the layer's markers so they can't be dragged

Lock covers layer markers only. After Effects has no scripting route to the composition marker bar, so comp markers stay draggable.

Reveal jumps you to where something lives:

• In Project — select the layer's source footage in the project panel
• In Explorer — open the source file's folder on disk
• Keyframes — show only animated properties (the U shortcut)
• Modified — show every property you've changed (UU)

Effects & color

The Effects segment opens the full After Effects effects browser — search and apply any installed effect. Apply one and RadialFX opens the Effect Controls panel automatically so you can tweak it right away.

Color is a curated set of the common grading tools:

• Lumetri
• Hue/Saturation
• Curves
• Tint
• Fill
• Brightness & Contrast
• Color Balance
• Levels
• Exposure
• Vibrance

Blur offers the everyday blurs — Gaussian, Camera Lens, Box, Directional, Radial, Channel, Compound, and more.

Anchor & time

Anchor snaps a layer's anchor point to a 3×3 grid — see “The anchor grid” above.

Freeze handles time:

• Freeze Frame — hold the current frame
• Time Remap — enable time remapping on the layer
• Freeze on Last — hold the final frame

Trial & activation

Every install includes a free 14-day trial with every feature unlocked — no card, no account. It starts the first time you open the wheel.

RadialFX is $39.99 for a lifetime license that activates on 2 machines (for example, your desktop and your laptop). To buy, use the checkout from the website or the panel's “Buy RadialFX” link, then paste your key into Settings › License and click Activate.

Not for you? There's a 30-day money-back guarantee — email support@radialfx.app within 30 days for a full refund.

Moving between devices

Your license covers 2 active devices. Moving to a new machine takes two clicks.

1. On the machine you're leaving, open Settings › License and click “Deactivate this device.” That frees the slot.
2. On the new machine, paste your key into Settings › License and click Activate.

Deactivating never deletes your license — you can re-activate any device anytime, as long as you stay within your 2-device limit.

Updates & the V2 policy

All v1.x updates are free, forever. To update, just download the latest installer and run it — there's no need to uninstall first. It installs right over your current version, and your custom wheel layout, presets, and license all carry over.

When a major V2 arrives, anyone who bought within the previous 12 months gets it free; earlier customers get 50% off. No forced upgrades, no surprises.

The SmartScreen notice

A blue “Windows protected your PC” screen on first run is expected for a brand-new publisher — it is not a virus warning.

1. Click More info.
2. Confirm the publisher reads “Isaac Alcocer Castro”.
3. Click Run anyway.

RadialFX is signed with a verified Authenticode certificate, so Windows can confirm the installer genuinely comes from us and hasn't been tampered with. SmartScreen just hasn't built reputation for a new signer yet — the warning fades as more people install.

Wheel not appearing

If the wheel doesn't show up, run through this checklist:

• Did you reopen After Effects after installing? It loads on launch.
• Are you holding right-click long enough? Try a slightly longer hold, or raise the hold delay in Settings › Preferences.
• Is your cursor over a composition or the canvas (not a panel edge)?
• Try the keyboard shortcut instead: Ctrl+Shift+Q.
• Confirm the panel installed: Window › Extensions › “RadialFX - Settings”. If it's missing, read the note below first — reinstalling is not the right first move.
• Using a drawing tablet? Some tablet drivers intercept right-click — map a pen button to right-click, or use the Ctrl+Shift+Q shortcut.

Settings panel missing? On some Windows setups — typically where someone had to type an administrator password to run the installer — the panel is saved under that administrator's user account instead of yours, which is a place After Effects never looks. The wheel still draws, but tools fail with a script error. This is our bug, not something you did. Email support@radialfx.app and we will send you a one-click repair tool. And if you do reinstall, double-click the installer rather than right-clicking Run as administrator — running it elevated is what causes this in the first place.

Contact support

Still stuck, or have a feature request? We answer fast.

• Email support@radialfx.app
• Instagram @radialfxapp