Once applied, I can animate the Start, End, and Offset properties of the stroke path for some cool results. This is a powerful tool that provides me with a keyframable range selector. To do this, I’ll add a Trim Paths attribute via the Add button in the Timeline panel. However, I just want to animate the path of the stroke in and out. The new stroke attribute contains a number of keyframable properties, including color, opacity, width, and a handful of others. Since I’m just creating an isolated animated stroke, I’ll turn off the fill property for each letter. This adds a new stroke that applies to the entire word. I’ll go to the Add button and select Stroke. To do this, I need to add a new stroke attribute. While all of the letters have their own stroke attribute, I want to control all of them at the same time. My new shape layer contains every letter as an individual shape element, each with its own path, stroke, fill, and transform properties. Shapes have a star, while text layers have a T. You can tell the difference between Shapes and Text layers via the symbol next to the layer’s name in the Timeline panel.

To create my shapes, I’ll grab the text layer and select Layer > Create Shapes from Text. By converting my text to shape layers, I’ll open up a number of animation features that weren’t previously available. While After Effects has a lot of tools for text, shape layers provide a bit more versatility. This will preserve the sharp edges of my text no matter how many adjustments I make. An After Effects text layer is a simple vector file, meaning the layer will continuously rasterize as I change the scale or font size.

I can use the Type tool and start typing, or I can highlight the Timeline panel and select Layer > New > Text. Animating attributes of a stroke can be a bit more complex, so let’s take a closer look at a unique method that will bring a text stroke to life in just a few simple steps.įor the first step, I will create some text. The Character panel gives you color, width, and positioning options, but not much else. These tools, however, are often lacking something. Adobe After Effects has a number of tools that allow you to quickly add and modify a text stroke. When it comes to working with text, the stroke can be a powerful design element. In this video tutorial, learn how to create a customized animated stroke effect in After Effects for your next video production project.

Add stroke to text after effects