AfterEffects software workshop 17/1

First things first, make sure the composition settings are as shown below:

Creating TEXT in AfterEffects:

Grab the type tool in the bar at the top, click somewhere in the composition and begin writing.

Of course we can change the size/font etc.

Along side the standard Transformation controls; there are also some text properties that appear when a text box is created:

The anchor point of a text box is in a DIFFERENT LOCATION. It is possible however to reposition the anchor point:

However also by selecting the 'Pan Behind' tool you can move the anchor point without the layer itself being repositioned. Here it is:

Text-specific functions.

Here we've got rid of the last words and set a keyframe:

At each keyframe  I added the next word, so therefore each word will appear after various intervals. The square keyframe represents a keyframe hold; as in there is no interpolation.

There are few other formatting properties that are specific to text. With these it is possible to change the colour, size etc. of individual letters and whatnot:

By selecting the 'animate' button we can obtain further options:

This will show up as 'Animator 1'.


Similarly to the Transform options, we can change the positions of text:

And we can also alter how much of the text is being affected using the 'Range Selector' tools:

These are fairly complicated and I will have to return to these when I have more time.


There are also some advanced tools to get involved with:

For example, we can choose to deal with the Range Selector in terms of specific characters as opposed to percentages, as this may be more accurate.

After Effect text test from Mike Mooney on Vimeo.


We can also deal with the anchor points in similar ways to when importing a Composition.

When scaling for example. we can go into the 'more options' section and change how the word will be affected; whether the individual characters or the whole word becomes affected.

Once again by messing about with the Range Selector tools we can change how the transformation occurs:

Therefore it is possible to determine when each individual letter will be animated. By controlling the smoothness, we can decide how sharply the letters transform into their next state, as shown below. With a smoothness of 0% the letters will pretty much snap from one state to the next.

We can go on to add additional properties to the Animator, for example tracking:

which can be used to avoid collisions and whatnot.

We can also use paths to affect the location of the text; using the 'Path Options' set of tools:

A couple more test videos:

After Effect text test 2 from Mike Mooney on Vimeo.

After Effect text test 3 from Mike Mooney on Vimeo.