Animating Text in Adobe After Effects

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Introduction: Animating text in After Effects allows you to create dynamic, eye-catching titles or credits for your projects. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of animating text layers, applying presets, and creating custom text animations.

Steps:

Creating a New Text Layer
Start by creating a new text layer. Go to Layer > New > Text and type your desired text in the composition panel. Adjust the font, size, and color to match your design.
Applying a Preset Animation
After Effects comes with built-in text animation presets. To apply one, go to the Effects & Presets panel, search for text animation presets, and drag one onto your text layer. Presets like Animate In > Fade In or Animate Out > Scale are great starting points.
Animating Text Properties
You can manually animate properties such as position, scale, rotation, or opacity. Start by selecting your text layer, press P for Position, S for Scale, or T for Opacity, and set keyframes for each property at different points in time.
Adding a Text Animation Using the Animator
For more control, use the Animator feature. Select your text layer, click on Animate > Position or Animate > Opacity to apply a new animation. From here, you can tweak the range selector, which determines when the animation will affect the text.
Adjusting the Range Selector
The Range Selector allows you to control which part of the text is animated. Adjust the start, end, and offset to animate individual characters, words, or lines. For example, animating letters one by one can create a “typing” effect.
Animating the Text with Easy Ease
To smooth out the text animation, select your keyframes, right-click, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease. This will create a natural motion as the text comes in or out of the screen.

Conclusion: Animating text in After Effects adds energy and style to your projects. Whether you use presets or create custom animations, mastering text animation is an essential skill for creating professional-looking titles and effects.

Image to Accompany Article: A dynamic image showing a text layer with keyframes for position, opacity, or scale, along with the applied animation effect (such as the text fading in or sliding from the side).