Applying a tracking preset

Customizing placeholder text

Animating type tracking

Next, you’ll animate the appearance of the director’s name in the composition using a text animation tracking preset. By animating tracking, you can make words appear to expand outward as they appear onscreen from a central point.

Currently, the director’s name is simply a layer with placeholder text— Your Name Here. Before you animate it, change it to your own name.

1 Switch to the Credits timeline in the Timeline panel, and select the Your Name Here layer.

2 Select the Horizontal Type tool (), and then replace Your Name Here in the Composition panel with your own name. Use a first, middle, and last name so that you have a nice long string of text to animate. Click the layer name when you’re done.

_ Note: It doesn’t matter where the current-time indicator is located when you edit the text of this layer. Currently, the text is onscreen for the duration of the composition. That will change once you animate it.

_ Note: Again, the layer name doesn’t change, because it was named in Photoshop.

Now you will animate the director’s name with a tracking preset so that it starts to appear onscreen shortly after the words directed by reach the center of the composition.

1 Go to 7:10.

2 Select the Your Name Here layer in the Timeline panel.

3 Jump to Adobe Bridge, and go to the Presets/Text/Tracking folder. Doubleclick the Increase Tracking preset to apply it to the Your Name Here layer in After Effects.

_ Tip: If you’re tired of jumping to Adobe Bridge and don’t care to preview the preset, simply type Increase Tracking in the search box of the Effects & Presets panel. Then double-click the effect to apply it to the selected layer in the Timeline panel.

4 Drag the current-time indicator across the time ruler between 7:10 and 9:10 to manually preview the tracking animation.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-20