It Works Like This

Check out this project's Ch_6_Final_Movie.mov file on the DVD. Most anything you produce in After Effects can be accomplished using a variety of different methods. Show other After Effects users something you've built and ask them how they'd do it, and you're bound to get several different approaches that will all work! But not all methods are equal.

If you were to produce the scaling text effects in this chapter's project on your own, you might choose to create a separate layer for each letter and animate the layers separately, or draw a mask around each letter in a single text layer and animate the masks, or perhaps use some expressions. Instead of those methods, this project will show you that using the text Animator and its Range Selector is probably the most elegant and efficient way to get these results:

1. Animate text by using a layer Animator instead of relying solely on a layer's Transform properties or on a Text Animation Preset.

2. Use effects to give the text a metallic look.

3. Create shadows that react to different implied light sources.

4. Use the Ramp effect to create the back wall and floor of the scene.

The title's horizon line

The title scales into place, casting shadows both behind and in front of the title.

As the title comes in, background lighting moves from right to left, and foreground lighting moves from left to right.