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If you want to create a motion trail text animation then you are at the right place. In this tutorial, you will learn to create a nice-looking motion trail text animation After Effects without using any plugins.
Step 1: Open Adobe After Effects then Create a New Composition. Rename it to Motion Trail Effect or whatever name you like. Set the Resolutions to 1920×1080 Pixels. Frame rate to 30 frames per second and Set the duration to 10 Seconds.
Step 2: Go to the Toolbar and select the type tool. Click anywhere on the screen then type your text. Then align your text to the center. Right-click on the Text layer and choose pre-compose.
Step 3: Select the Text layer and Hit the R Key on the keyboard to open rotation properties. Go to about 10 frames forward. Then Add a Keyframe. Go to 1.5 seconds forward then change the rotation to 360 degrees. Go to a few frames forward then add a keyframe with the same value. Go to 1.5 seconds forward. Then change the rotation value back to 0. Repeat the same process till the end.
Select all Keyframes > Right-click > Go to Keyframe assistant and choose easy ease.
Keep the keyframes selected. Holt the Alt Key on the Keyboard and drag the last keyframe to the end of the timeline.
Step 4: Go to Graph editor then slightly change the curves to make it a smooth animation.
Step 5: Go to the Projects panel and drag and drop the text layer to the composition. Go to Effects & Presets and search the Effect Fill. Drag and drop to the bottom text layer. Select the Bottom text layer and Drag the pick whip to the top text layer.
Step 6: Go to Effects & Presets and search the Effect echo. Drag and drop to the bottom text layer. Set the Echo Time to -0.020. Change the number of echoes to 40. Change the Decay to 0.85. Then just turn on the Continuously Rasterize option.
Step 7: Go to the Layer Menu > New > Select the Null Object. Rename it to Color control. Right-click on the Color control layer. Go to Effects > Expression controls > choose color control. Change the color if you like. Lock the Control options and select the Bottom Text layer then press the E Key on the keyboard to open Effects. Then under the Fill Effect, Hold the Alt Key on the Keyboard and click the little stopwatch icon to add an expression. Then Drag the Pick whip to the Color Control.
Step 8: Duplicate the bottom text layer and change the decay value to 0.91. Select the middle Text layer, go to Effects & Presets and search for the Effect of Gaussian Blur. Drag and drop to the text layer then change the blurriness to 20. Also, apply the same effect on the bottom text layer.
We are done! Our Motion Trail Text Animation is Ready in After Effects.
Here you can download the Project File (File Size: 38KB)
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