How to Animate Text

Text animation is a tool used in presentations or videos designed to gain and maintain an audience’s attention. The reason it’s so effective is that humans are visual beings.

Has it ever happened to you that you are talking to someone face to face, and suddenly your eyes turn to something that moved nearby?  You do it because your survival depends on it. If our ancestors didn’t notice subtle movements in trees or bushes, they might have missed out on hunting dinner or risked becoming the dinner themselves.

Here are some types of animations that would make the text on your videos stand out.

Types of Text Animation

1. FLY EFFECT

A very useful effect for headlines or presentations where the main focus is not the text included in this effect but rather a video, picture, chart, or another type of text. A heading is what lets your audience know what type of information they are going to receive.

So using this effect will help you to get their attention from the start. It is also great for bullet points or checklists. 

2. BOUNCE EFFECT

The bouncing effect can be flashy or subtle depending on the amount of objects/visuals on the scene. For example, in an empty slide, when some information is being described by the presenter, a sudden bouncing of a text can be very noticeable.

But in a packed scene with people engaged in conversations or with many objects, it can be a bit harder to notice. This is why it matters the size and color of the text; its’ appearance draws attention.

3. FADE EFFECT

This one is very subtle; use it when you need to make a statement with a short sentence or maybe a quote. If you use it in a scene with many objects, it might not get noticed. Also useful when the rest of the objects are static, and you only need the text to change.

So a fade-in and fade-out combination looks great. An example would be showing what a person is thinking. The person’s movement may not change, but his thinking might. Or an inspirational quote with an appropriate background.

4. GROW EFFECT

Great for bullet points or appearing items on a chart. It is flashy and very useful to show elements that need to appear in a certain order. Or to show that the text is coming from a particular item of the scene/slide.

5. Type/ Word by word

The two are very similar, with the difference that Type shows words letter by letter and word by word, well… word by word. Type is very helpful to show conversations between individuals or what someone is writing. It is useful because in a scenario in which people are talking, showing the scene/slide with all of the texts already on the video can be distracting as your audience might read it in the wrong order; read it too slow before you switch slides or the video switches scene, or they may not read it at all because they are not invested.

Displaying the text letter by letter gives them:

a) Constant movement to keep their eyes engaged so you know they’ll read it
b) The speed at which characters display marks a reading speed. So if someone reads slow, this will force them to step it up.

Step by Step Text Animation

To animate texts, all you need is an easy-to-use software with built-in effects from you to choose from, like Wideo.
Here is a step-by-step on how to animate your text:

1. Select the text you want to animate.

2. Choose your animation type by clicking on the “In” button from the object toolbar or from the timeline.

3. Make the effect faster or slower by stretching or comprising the blue bar of the effect in the timeline located on the bottom part of the editor.

4. If you want the text to disappear before the scene/slide ends, you can slide the out section of the effect earlier on the timeline.

5. You can add an effect on the way out of the text as well. You just need to choose which one and adjust its speed like before.

Improve the quality of your videos and presentations by using effective animations that will engage your audience today. Try it now for free.

Agus Esperón

Wideo Co-Founder & Head of UX/Design

@agustinesperon