Animating text with text animator groups

Once you create and format your text layers, use text animator groups to quickly and easily create elaborate animations. A text animator group includes one or more selectors and one or more animator properties. A selector is like a mask--it specifies which characters or section of a text layer you want an animator property to affect. Using a selector, you can define a percentage of the text, specific characters in the text, or a specified range of text. You can animate any selection so that the text changes over time without you having to animate the property. (See Working with selectors.)

Using a combination of animator properties and selectors, you can create complex text animations that would otherwise require painstaking keyframing. Most text animations require you to animate only the selector values--not the property values. Consequently, text animators use a small number of keyframes even for complex animations. For example, to animate the Opacity gradually from the first character to the last, set the Opacity value (in the Animator group) to 0, and then set the End (Range Selector property) to 0% at 0 seconds and 100% at the end of the animation.


Animating the opacity of a text layer using the Opacity animator and the End Range Selector property

To use text animator groups:

1. Select a text layer in the Timeline window, or select the specific characters you want to animate in the Composition window.
2. Do one of the following:
• Choose Animation > Animate Text and then choose a property from the submenu.
• Choose a property from the Animate pop-up menu, located in the Switches/Mode column of the Timeline window.

Animate pop-up menu
3. In the Timeline window, adjust the animator property values.
4. Expand the Range selector and set keyframes for Start or End by doing one of the following:
• Drag or type the values in the Timeline window.
• Drag the selector bars in the Composition window.

Selector bars surrounding the three middle characters "VEN"
5. To refine the selection, expand Advanced and specify options and values as desired.

For information about using selectors, see Working with selectors.

Because all of the animator groups that you add to a text layer appear as "Animator" in the Timeline window, you may want to rename them using more descriptive names. You can rename animator groups and selectors the same way you rename layers (see Renaming a layer).

To remove animators from a text layer:

1. In the Timeline window, select the text layer.
2. Choose Animation > Remove All Text Animators.