MODULE 3: KINETIC TEXT TUTORIALS

 

M3 - STUDIO PROJECT 2 KINETIC TEXT

DESCRIPTION

Select a phrase, sentence or sentences to turn into a set of 3 related, 5-10 second looping text-animations. These 3 animations should work as a series - they can either divide the text up, or animate and display the same text in different ways. The 3 text animations should contain a combination of the required keyframe animations listed below. These transformations, along with other design choices such as color, composition and font-selection, should work to create a visual meaning that corresponds with and adds to the literal meaning of the text.

GETTING STARTED WITH AFTER EFFECTS

  • Opening After Effects for the First Time: double click your After Effects (.aep) file to open

  • Opening Character Tab: Window > Click Character (make sure it's checked)

  • Layers: Click and move Layers to change their position with in your composition

KEYFRAME ANIMATIONS

BASICS

POSITION

Note: Turn off the visibility of layers by deselecting the Eye icon next to each layer

  1. Expand Transformation Properties for Layer: Select layer > Click the triangle to expand your layer properties> Click Transform > Select Property (Position) and adjust its (x & y) values to mark the layer's position

  2. Creating a Key Frame - A Start (Point A) and End Point (Point B) in you Timeline: Click the Stopwatch next to the Position property to add a key frame starting position > Click and move the play head in your Timeline > Change the property values (in this case location: x, y values of your text) to create an end (point B) keyframe> Click and drag the play head to scrub through your Timeline to preview changes

  3. Setting Another Key Frame Point: Click and drag the play head forward on the Timeline> Change property values (in this case: the x, y location of your text) to create a new key frame point

  4. Alternate Way to Create Key Frames: Change the time of the play head > Select the Selection tool (hotkey: v) > In the Canvas window select the whole layer and drag it to change the text position

Editing + Navigating with Key Frames:

  • Hold Shift to select multiple key frames

  • Alter Timing: Select the key frame in the Timeline and move it closer to, or further from, the other key frames to change the speed of the moving text

  • Deleting Key Frames: select the key frame and click Delete

  • Copy/Paste: select frame(s) > Edit > Copy (hotkey: CTRL or CMND V)> Move play head forward or backward in time > Edit > Paste (hotkey: CTRL or CMND V)

  • Change the Value: Double-click a key Frame > Change properties values in the Dialog Box

  • Snap Between Key Frames: Hold shift as you move the play head to snap between keyframes

SCALE + ROTATION

  1. Expand Transformation Properties for Scale and Rotation: Same as Above

  2. Setting Scale Key Frames: Move the play head to the time you want the key frame to begin > Click the Stopwatch icon to create first key frame> Change the time again > Adjust percentage property to increase/decrease the scale and create second key frame

  3. Alternate Way to Adjust Scale Value: Select Layer > Adjust the bounding box around the layer to change scale> Hold shift to make scale adjustments proportional

  4. Creating More Scale Key Frames: Same as Above

  5. Changing the Position of the Scale Layer: Same as Above

  6. Expand Rotation Layer and Edit its Transformation Properties:

  7. Rotate Layer: Click rotation stopwatch to set first Key Frame> Move time play head> Enter values numerically next to the Rotation Property> Scrub through video to see the layer rotate

  8. Change the Position of the Rotation Layer: Same as Above

OPACITY

  1. Expanding Transformation Properties for the Opacity Layer: Make the Opacity Layer Visible > Same as Above
    Note: Opacity Values: 0% = fully transparent & 100% = fully visible

  2. Set Key Frames for Transparency Property: Click the Stopwatch > Move forward in Timeline > Change the numerical transparency value to set the next keyframe

  3. Altering the Rate of Change in Transparency Over Time: Click and move your key frames closer to, or further from each other in the Timeline window

  4. Create a new keyframe (helps make transition constant): Hit the blank key frame icon to the left of the layer to add or remover a key frame at that time in the timeline > impute desired value for the key frame by double clicking it or manually changing the numerical value

  5. How to Make a Word Disappear and Reappear into the Same Word:

  • Make Disappear: Select the opacity transformation property > Start the stopwatch > Move the play head forward > Change the opacity value to 0% > Snap to the key frame and zoom into the timeline > Move the play head 1 frame before the last keyframe > set the opacity to 100% then zoom back out

  • Make Reappear: Select the time you want the word to reappear > Set the opacity property to 100% and press enter > Snap to the key frame and zoom in to the timeline > Move the play head forward > change the opacity value to 0% > Snap to the key frame and zoom into the timeline > move the play head 1 frame before the last key frame > Set the opacity to 0% then zoom back out

ANIMATION, DESIGN + MEANING

CHANGING TEXT PROPERTIES

  1. Change Paragraph Properties and Align Text: Highlight the text > click left align under Paragraph

  2. Change Color properties of words in a text:

  3. a. Highlight the text you want to change the color of > Click the color box under Charater and choose the color > Click OK
    b. Use Source Text to Make Words and Other Properties Appear and Disappear: Select text layer and expand its properties > Expand the Text properties > Click the stop watch next to Source Text to create a key frame > Move the play head to desired time > Highlight the text you want to change and alter its color
    Note: by moving the play head to a new time and then altering a property of the text (Ex: adding/removing words, font color, font style, etc.) new key frames are made > scrub through your timeline to preview the property changes you make

  4. Change Scale Property of your text layer: Review setting scale key frames from step 2 B.2

  5. Don't forget to save your file frequently!

  1. Change the Source Text of a Text Layer that already has Transformation Properties:
    a. Working with one word: Double-click your layer in the canvas window > Change your word > All animations done to the previous word are retained after it is changed
    b. Working with Changing Words: Move the play head to where you want the Stopwatch to begin > Click the Stopwatch > Make sure the Paragraph setting is left-alined > change your word, letters, or sentence to create a new a keyframe

Submitting projects

To complete and submit this project, export each of the 3 animations in After Effects as a video file as shown in Step 1. For 1 point of extra credit, follow the instructions in Step 2 to use Photoshop to convert the video files to Animated GIFs to submit directly to Canvas. This process is very quick, and should take less than 5 minutes per animation.

If unable to convert the videos to Animated GIFs, upload to YouTube and submit the 3 urls for full credit - you can post as unlisted videos, and use your UCSC account instead of your personal account.

Step 1 - Exporting Video in After Effects

Once ready to export video files in After Effects, I recommend downloading and installing Adobe Media Encoder, as this will make several additional compression formats and codecs available. There is a video for working with Adobe Media Encoder below. In the video and steps below, I use the H.264 codec within the Quicktime format, which is not available on most newer versions of After Effects. If this option is not available, work with the Animation codec in Quicktime or use the AVI format if on a Windows machine and Quicktime is not available. These will produce larger files, but they should still work for both submission options. I was unfortunately unable to update my version due to an Operating System issue, so, there might be a few things that are different between versions.

1. Exporting your Composition: Make all of your layers visible > Click Composition > Click Add to Render Queue > Click OK > Then in the Render Queue change the following:

a. Go to "Output To" and click to edit > Select your project folder > Hit save
b. Go to "Render Settings" and click to edit > Set Quality to Best > Resolution to full > The rest of the default settings are ok (match with canvas requirements) > Click OK
c. Go to " Output Module Settings" and click to edit > Set format to QuickTime > Video Output > Click Format Options... > Set Video Codec to H.264 > Click OK > Then hit OK in the Output Module Setting Window
d. Click Render in the top right-hand corner of the Render Queue dialog box

2. After you Render: Click x in the top left-hand corner the Render Queue to close out the dialog box

3.Check your Rendered File: Go to your desktop project folder > Double click the .mov file to see your text animation

4. Save your project files you will use the videos to export GIFs in Photoshop. I will post that video by some time tonight (4/26/21), the process takes about 3 minutes. In the meantime I have posted another YouTube video showing a similar process.

Possibly Easier / faster Export Alternative - Using Adobe Media Encoder

Since I cannot update my version of Adobe Media Encoder, I needed to use a short video tutorial from YouTube to show this process. Since this is for exporting only, it will not impact the instruction for the studio project. This might be the easier option, as it seems like Adobe is trying to move rendering and exporting away from After Effects and into the Media Encoder.

Step 2 - Videos to Animated GIFs in Photoshop

Aim to keep the GIFs below 2MB, which can be achieved by lower colors, dithering and the dimensions. Frame rate at 12 FPS is great for Animated GIFs.

Optional Text Effect Tutorials

Tutorial 1 - Text Moving Along a Path

Tutorial 2 - Typewriter Effect

Also, a few reminders of your options with this different video format:

  1. Pop out of Canvas and watch in a new tab if any of the features aren't working

  2. There are fullscreen and CC (Sub-title) options available in the right hand corner. For being YouTube auto-captions, these are pretty clear. I think they must have improved their algorithm. Please email me with any accessibility needs.

  3. If you are feeling pressed for time, but don't want to miss anything, you can watch with audio in 1.5 speed by hitting that little gear icon.