Monday , May 29 2023

Create a Wave Text Animation in After Effects


SUBSCRIBE! It’s free and I will continue to give out free downloads!

If you are looking to create a nice-looking wave text animation, then this tutorial is best for you. In this tutorial, you will learn to create a wave text animation without any third-party plugins or expressions. After watching this tutorial, you will be able to create your own wave text animation in Adobe After Effects. You will also learn to create a loop animation, Sequence layers, and break up text into separate layers with a small script.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Open After Effects, then create a new composition. Rename it to Wave Text Animation. Set the resolutions to 1920×1080 Pixels. 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. I am using the Ranchers font by google fonts. But you are free to use any font you like.

Step 3: Right-click on the text layer then go to the Transform and click Center the anchor point. Then align your text to the center. We need to separate each character of a text into its own layer. If we do it manually, it will take too much time. So, I am going to use a free script called Decompose Text.

Decompose Text 1

Step 4: Select the text layer, then go to the window menu and choose to decompose text. Select the characters. Then click on decompose button. It will automatically create a separate layer for each letter. Select all layers, and press the U key on the keyboard.

Decompose Text 2

Step 5: Select all layers then drag them to the bottom side of the screen. Press the P key on the keyboard to open position properties. Then click the stopwatch icon to add a keyframe. Go to 1 second forward. Then change the letters position.

Wave Text Animation

Select all keyframes then right-click go to Keyframe assistant and choose easy ease. Go to the graph editor and slightly change the graph to something like this.

Wave Text Animation Graph Editor

Step 6: Select the first letter, then Press the P Key on the keyboard to open position properties. Hold the Alt key on the keyboard and click the stopwatch icon to add an expression. Type here loopOut(“pingpong”).

Wave Text Animation

Right-click on Position and choose, copy the expression only.

Wave Text Animation

Select the remaining layers and press Control V, to paste the same expression.

Step 7: Go to 2 frames forward then Select all layers. Press Alt + ]. It will split all layers timing.

Sequence layers

Right-click on all layers. Go to keyframe assistant and choose sequence layers.

Wave Text Animation

Step 8: Select all layers then right-click and choose pre-compose. Rename it if you want. Duplicate the layer. Go to Effects & Presets and Search the effect Fill. Drag and drop to the first layer. Change any color you want. Also, apply the fill effect on the second layer then change the color. Now duplicate the layer, then change the fill color. Repeat the same process 2 to 3 times.

Wave Text Animation 3

Step 9: Select the Top layer, then remove the fill effect. Select all layers. Drag them to start from 1 frame. Right-click on all layers go to Keyframe assistant then choose Sequence layers. Now, extend the timing.

Step 10: I am going to make it a perfect loop. Select the work area starting from 1.27 seconds, and ending at 7.27 seconds. Right-click on the work area. Choose trim comp to work area.

Wave Text Animation final

Finally, our wave text animation is ready. And I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you do have any questions or anything unclear, just send me a message.

Here you can download the Free project file (File Size: 965 KB)

Remain active on this page otherwise counter will be reset

Check Also

Mask Text Animation

Easily Create Mask Text Animation in Adobe After Effects

It’s free and I will continue to give out free downloads! If you are looking …