When comparing Invision vs Adobe After Effects CC, the Slant community recommends Invision for most people. In the question“What are the best tools for prototyping mobile interactions/animations?” Invision is ranked 5th while Adobe After Effects CC is ranked 14th. The most important reason people chose Invision is:
Invision offers a free plan to anyone that is limited to one project. While the free plan is a bit limited it does allow the user to trial the software for as long as they like to decide on its merits and whether it is worth paying for the more robust options.
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Pros
Pro Free plan
Invision offers a free plan to anyone that is limited to one project. While the free plan is a bit limited it does allow the user to trial the software for as long as they like to decide on its merits and whether it is worth paying for the more robust options.
Pro Presents designs in a way that mimics an actual web browsing experience
Once uploaded on Invision, the screen will be presented in a way that will behave as an actual web page. This is especially easy for showing the work to clients, more so if compared to just showing them a .PDF, which may make it look like the page is "too crowded".
Pro Supports gestures, transitions & animations for web, iOS & Android
Hotspot links can be created for every page, and once it's done, for each one of them gestures and transitions can be registered.
Invision supports various gesture types: swiping, double tapping, sliding, etc...
Pro Real-time collaboration and VOIP chat
Live Share allows you to collaborate in real-time using an in-browser screen share. Each collaborator gets their own mouse, so you can easily point and see what someone is talking about. You can also sketch, and chat right inside the Live Share interface.
Invision's Live Share gives team members the ability to collaborate in real-time through a screen share inside their browser. Each collaborator has their cursor which they can use and edit or add notes in real-time. On top of that, Invision also has a VOIP chat which works inside the browser.
Pro Design files are automatically synced and their version history tracked
Invision uses Invision Sync or Dropbox to automatically save design files on the cloud. Furthermore, it has version control built in. This is especially helpful if a team is going through different versions for a specific design and they want to return again and again to previous designs.
Pro Great built-in feedback features
Invision allows clients, stakeholders or any team members to leave comments and feedback inside the design which will be displayed as a point on the page itself. These paints can be discussed or even be turned into tasks. This makes it easy for designers to go through what they need to work on, and once it's done, the task can be checked off.
Pro Great for motion graphics compositing
Ae is the de facto standard for motion graphic design.
Pro Huge amount of resources
Because of the popularity of Ae, there are a plethora of tutorials, presets, plug-ins, etc that can be used.
Pro Extensive plug-in support
After Effects has extensive plug-in support. A broad range of third party plug-ins are available including solutions for particle systems, 3D environments and grading.
Pro C4D Lite & Cineware integration
After Effects CC includes a Lite version of MAXON CINEMA 4D, a 3D modeling, animation and rendering application.
Pro 3D camera tracker
Pro Speedy and comfortable UI
After grasping what panels do what, the workspace feels safe and comfortable. And the timeline moves and shows things how you would expect it to.
Pro Works well with other Adobe software
This program is made to interact very well with the other Adobe production apps like Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, Photoshop and others. You can dynamically link with a set list of Adobe software so when you update something in Ae it will update in other software accordingly.
Pro Subscription / cloud-based model
Ensures you always have the latest version of the software. Allows saving preferences in the cloud, so you can load them on a different machine. You can even sync setting from a different user.
Pro Subscription based model
You constantly have the latest software that is updated regularly.
Pro Ray-traced and extruded text and shapes
Cons
Con While Invision acts as an all-in-one environment for design, it may become a nuisance
These times, teams are not using just a single app or tool for everything. It's not unheard of for teams to be using up to a dozen different tools for their work. Invision works as an all-in-one environment for product design and unfortunately it does not integrate with other tools. This may be a nuisance for teams that want to integrate different tools in their workflow.
Con Expensive for just a hosting platform
Invision is a tool for building click through prototypes and getting feedback on them, you need to design everything in another app and upload them, it isn't a design tool.
Con No true 3D environment for compositing
Con No real-time features
Con Costly
The Adobe subscription costs are quite steep for anybody on a shoestring budget.
Con No stereoscopic editing support
