Motion tracking text, one of the first things I learned as a filmmaker. With motion tracking you can track the movement of a certain object and add that data to another object. In this case, text. In this class, you will learn how to do motion tracking in After Effects in 3 different ways. Motion Tracking the position 2. Get the latest version of After Effects here: how to use motion tracking with the 3d camera tracker tool to attach and float text. What are Track Mattes in After Effects? To put it simply, a track matte is a still image, video clip, graphic, piece of text or shape used to create a variable transparency in another layer within your motion graphic design. The track matte carves out a portion of a layer, exposing the layer beneath it.

1. Text Tracker After Effects
2. 3d Text Tracking After Effects
3. After Effects Animate Text Tracking
4. Text Tracking In After Effects
5. Motion Tracking Text After Effects

Animating type tracking

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

Customizing placeholder text

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.

Text Tracker After Effects

1. Switch to the credits Timeline panel and select the Your Name Here layer.
2. Using the Horizontal Type tool (), 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. Press Enter on the numeric keypad when you’re done.

Applying a tracking preset

Now you will animate the director’s name with a tracking preset so that it starts to appear on-screen 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 Bridge and go to the Presets > Text > Tracking folder. Locate the Increase Tracking preset and double-click it to apply it to the Your Name Here layer in After Effects.
4. Drag the current-time indicator across the time ruler between 7:10 and 9:10 to manually preview the tracking animation.

Customizing the tracking preset

The text expands on-screen, but you need the letters to initially be so close they’re that they’re on top of each other, and then expand to a reasonable, readable distance apart. You also want it the animation to occur faster. You can adjust the Tracking Amount to fix both of these problems.

1. Select the Your Name Here layer in the Timeline panel and press UU to reveal the properties that were modified by the preset.
2. Go to 7:10.
3. Under Animator 1, change the Tracking Amount to –5 so that the letters are squeezed together.
4. Click to select the Tracking Amount keyframe at 9:10, and then delete it. This leaves a second (final) Tracking Amount keyframe at 8:10, set to 0.
5. Drag the current-time indicator across the time ruler between 7:10 and 9:10. The letters expand as they appear on-screen and stop animating at 8:10.

3d Text Tracking After Effects

Note: This excerpt does not include the lesson files. The lesson files are available with purchase of the book.

Getting started

Adobe After Effects offers many ways to animate text. You can animate text layers by manually creating keyframes in the Timeline panel, using animation presets, or using expressions. You can even animate individual characters or words in a text layer. In this lesson, you’ll employ several different animation techniques, including some that are unique to text, while you design the opening title credits for an animated documentary called Road Trip. You’ll also take advantage of Adobe Typekit to install a font for use in your project.

As in other projects, you’ll begin by previewing the movie you’re creating, and then you’ll open After Effects.

1. Make sure the following files are in the Lessons/Lesson03 folder on your hard disk, or download them from your Account page at www.peachpit.com now:

   • In the Assets folder: background_movie.mov, car.ai, compass.swf, credits.psd
   • In the Sample_Movie folder: Lesson03.mov

2. Open and play the Lesson03.mov sample movie to see the title credits you will create in this lesson. When you’re done, quit QuickTime Player. You may delete this sample movie from your hard disk if you have limited storage space.

   As you start the application, restore the default settings for After Effects. See “Restoring default preferences” on page 2.

3. Start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences.

4. Click Close to close the Welcome screen.

   After Effects opens to display a blank, untitled project.

5. Choose File > Save As > Save As, and navigate to the Lessons/Lesson03/Finished_Project folder.
6. Name the project Lesson03_Finished.aep, and then click Save.

Importing the footage

After Effects Animate Text Tracking

You need to import two footage items to begin this lesson.

Text Tracking In After Effects

1. Double-click an empty area of the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box.
2. Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson03/Assets folder on your hard disk, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select both the background_movie.mov and compass.swf files, and then click Import or Open.

After Effects can import several file formats including Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator files, as well as QuickTime and AVI movies. This makes After Effects an incredibly powerful application for compositing and motion graphics work.

Creating the composition

Now, you’ll create the composition.

1. Press Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (Mac OS) to create a new composition.

2. In the Composition Settings dialog box, name the composition Road_Trip_Title_Sequence, select NTSC DV from the Preset menu, and set the Duration to 10:00, which is the length of the background movie. Then click OK.

3. Drag the background_movie.mov and compass.swf footage items from the Project panel to the Timeline panel. Arrange the layers so that compass.swf is above background_movie.mov in the layer stack.

4. Choose File > Save.

Motion Tracking Text After Effects

You’re ready to add the title text to the composition.