Exercise 2 · Reveal & Animate Type

Project 1 · Kinetic Typography Quote · Week 2 · Text Animation · ~45 min

Practice goal: Create and style a title, reveal it and inspect a preset, then animate per-character with a Text Animator + Range Selector, timed to a beat.

Set up: New project. No external assets.

Steps

  1. New composition, 1920×1080, 30 fps, ~6 s; name it Main.
  2. With the Type tool, create a text layer — a short title (e.g., a name or “MOTION”).
  3. In the Character panel set font, size, tracking and fill color; in the Paragraph panel center-align and place it in frame.
  4. Simple reveal: animate Opacity 0 → 100 over ~0.5 s plus Position sliding up ~30 px into place; Easy Ease both.
  5. Reveal Source Text, set a Source-Text keyframe, and change the word later in the timeline to see a text swap.
  6. Open Effects & Presets ▸ Animation Presets ▸ Text and apply one (a character fade-up or typewriter); press U and retime its keyframes to ~1 s.
  7. Now build a per-character animation: on a new (or duplicate) text layer, click Animate ▸ Position to add a Text Animator with a Range Selector; set the Position offset (e.g., Y = −100).
  8. Keyframe the Range Selector's Offset across the word so characters animate in sequence.
  9. Add a second property to the same animator (Animate ▸ Opacity = 0%) so each character fades as it moves.
  10. Open the Range Selector's Advanced options; set Shape to “Ramp Up” and raise Ease High/Low for smoother motion.
  11. Time the Offset keyframes so the word lands on a beat (~1 s); Easy Ease them.
  12. Optional: draw a rectangle mask on the text layer and keyframe Mask Path to wipe the word on (a light intro to masking).
  13. Press U to review keyframes; refine spacing/timing, add a short readable hold, then save & render.

Free tutorials & references

Done when

A styled title reveals cleanly, one preset is inspected, and a word animates on per-character with eased, beat-timed motion.

Files

Pittman_Ex02_RevealAnimateType.aep → render Pittman_Ex02_RevealAnimateType.mov · versions Pittman_Ex02_RevealAnimateType_001.aep

This drill is your in-class activity for the week; it ladders directly into the project.