Quick start

The whole path from getting a plan to a finished clip on your timeline, step by step. Each step is short, and where there's more to know, there's a link to the full page.

1. Pick a plan

Want to try it first? Take the Free plan: click Get Free on the Free card in the pricing section or Try free at the top of the site, and enter your email. No card needed: the account is created with 50 credits right away, and a sign-in email goes to that address. Then go straight to step 2.

For a paid plan, open the pricing section, choose Pro or Studio, monthly or annual, and click Get Pro or Get Studio.

The pricing section on the site: Free, Pro, Studio and Enterprise cards with the Monthly/Annual switch

In the checkout window pick your currency, enter the email you'll sign in with, tick the three agreements and click Continue. You'll finish the payment on the payment provider's page.

The checkout window: currency, the selected plan, the email field and the Continue button

When the payment goes through, the site tab opens a Payment confirmed page on its own: your account is created and credited, with the plan, the amount and the renewal date. We also email a sign-in link to that address.

The Payment confirmed page: Pro is active, the Sign in and download button and a card with the plan, amount, renewal date and account

More: Plans: Free, Pro & Studio, Payment methods & currencies, Promo codes.

2. Sign in to your account

Click Sign in and download on the page you see after payment, or open the link from the email. On the sign-in page enter your email and choose Sign in with an email code: we send a 6-digit code, you type it in, and you're in your account. A password is optional, you can set one later.

The sign-in page on the site: email, password and the Sign in with an email code button

More: Password & email codes, Your account page.

3. Download the app

In your account open Download and get the installer for your system: a .dmg for macOS or a .exe for Windows.

The Download page in the account area: the macOS card with the download button, version and size

Check that your computer fits first: Premiere Pro 2022 or newer, macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon or Windows 10+. See System requirements.

4. Install and sign in inside the app

Quit Premiere, run the installer and open the Butter Motion app. On Windows a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen may show up on first launch; what to click is on Install on Windows.

In the app:

  1. Click Sign in via browser, then Connect this device on the page that opens.
  2. Click Install. The app downloads and sets up the plugin inside Premiere.
  3. Wait for Everything's ready.
The Install Butter Motion screen in the app: step 2 of 4 and the Install button

Check the installed version. In the app open Settings: under Premiere plugin you'll see the plugin version (Butter Motion for Adobe Premiere Pro) with a green dot and Running when it works, and under App the version of the app itself (Butter Motion Hub). Compare them with the version on the Downloads page. The plugin updates itself from the panel, see Updating Butter Motion.

Settings in the Butter Motion app: the plugin v1.2.7, Running, and the app version under App

More: The Butter Motion app.

5. Open the panel in Premiere

Start Premiere (a full restart after installing), open or create a project, then go to Window → Extensions → Butter Motion.

The Premiere Pro menu at Window → Extensions → Butter Motion

The panel opens already signed in and shows your credit balance. If you see Welcome to Butter Motion with a Sign in button instead, follow Sign in & connect a device. Not in the menu at all? See Panel missing in Premiere.

6. Make your first generation

Type what you want to see in the prompt box, pick a tier and press ↑ (or Cmd+Enter / Ctrl+Enter). A short clip takes a few minutes.

The Butter Motion panel: a finished generation in the feed and the prompt box on the Animation tier with the ↑ button

When it's done, click Open on the card: the result screen shows a live preview. Want a change? Write it in plain words in the Tweak bar. On Pro and Studio the first edit of every generation is free, on Free each edit costs 5 credits.

The result screen: a live preview of a fox walking through an autumn forest, the Render button and the Tweak bar with a free badge

More: Your first generation, Writing prompts, Quality tiers, How credits work.

7. Customize the generation

Under the preview there's Customize: the clip's own settings, grouped as Colors, Size, Motion, Scene and so on. Change a colour, retype text, move a slider, and the preview updates right away. No new generation and no credits: controls are free with a plan.

Customize under the preview: the Colors group with the cab, cargo, road and line colours of a paper truck diagram, plus Size, Motion and Scene groups

Which controls you get depends on the clip: a counter exposes its number, a title its text, a scene its colours. Use Find a setting to search and Reset to go back to the original. More: Customization controls.

8. Put it on your timeline

Click To timeline. Butter Motion renders the clip on your computer and drops it into the active sequence.

A Butter Motion clip placed on the Premiere Pro timeline

Done: your first clip is in the edit. Next, try a transparent background for titles over footage, or save a preset to reuse a look.

If something goes wrong