Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 - Example: to Animate Characters with the Wiggly Selector

ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0
User Guide
306
“To specify ranges with the Range selector” on page 300
“Using keyframes” on page 192
“Methods for previewing compositions” on page 134
Example: To animate characters with the Wiggly selector
This example demonstrates how easy it is to animate the position of individual characters. It also shows how the
Wiggly selector can create a dramatic change to the animation simply by adding it to the layer. The effect is
spectacular, but the keyframing is minimal.
Animating the color and position of the characters in the word Galaxy
1 Create a new composition.
2 Create a new text layer with the word Galaxy and set the color to blue in the Character panel.
3 PositionthepointerawayfromthetextintheCompositionpanelandwhenthetypepointerchangestothemove
pointer , drag to move the text to the center of the panel. Resize it if necessary so that it fits within the panel.
4 Choose Animation > Animate Text > Position.
5 In the Timeline panel, drag the Position property’s y value to the left until all the characters are off the screen.
6 Expand Range Selector 1.
7 Click the Start stopwatch and leave it at 0% at 0 seconds; then move the current-time indicator to 5 seconds and
set Start to 100%.
8 Preview the animation.
9 Collapse the Animator 1 group.
10 Make sure that nothing is selected except the text layer name in the Timeline panel, and choose Fill Color > Hue
from the Animate menu. A new animator group, Animator 2, appears in the Timeline panel.
11 Set Fill Hue to 1 x +0.0.
12 Expand the Range Selector 1 for Animator 2.
13 Click the Start stopwatch and leave it at 0% at 0 seconds; then move the current-time indicator to 5 seconds and
set Start to 100%.
14 Preview the animation. The colors change now as they drop from the top of the screen, but they all use the same
color and end up the same, original color.
15 With Fill Hue selected, choose Selector > Wiggly from the Add menu.
16 Expand the Wiggly Selector 1 property and choose Add from the Mode menu.
17 Preview the animation.