AfterEffects

Example: Animate text position with expressions

This example uses the textIndex and textTotal attributes with the wiggle expression to animate a line of text.

  1. Create a new composition.
  2. Create a new text layer.
  3. Expand the text layer in the Timeline panel to view the text properties. Add a Position animator group from the Animate menu.
  4. Delete the default Range selector, Range Selector 1.
  5. Add an Expression selector by selecting the Add menu, then choosing Selector > Expression. Expand the Expression selector to reveal its options.
  6. Expand the Amount property to reveal the expression. The following expression appears by default: 
    selectorValue * textIndex/textTotal
  7. Replace the default expression with the following expression: 
    seedRandom(textIndex);
amt=linear(time, 0, 5, 200*textIndex/textTotal, 0);
wiggle(1, amt);

    The linear method is used in this example to ramp down the maximum wiggle amount over time.

  8. Set the vertical position value. The greater the value, the more the characters wiggle.
  9. Preview your composition.