Common text controls> Path Controls group
All of the text plug-ins can enable their text streams to follow vector paths. Create a mask on the plug-in layer, assign that path to the streams, and streams of text will fly across the screen. Make a mask of a star or wave and the streams will happily follow around its outline.
Some of the plug-ins can be controled with built-in path capabilities. Create a mask on the plug-in layer, and use the mask to guide the text characters. Make a mask of a star or wave and the streams will happily follow around the outline. Of course, the plug-ins support animated paths, so you can animate that wave and the streams will follow it along, undulating with the wave motion.
What are common controls? Many of the Text plug-ins share parameters that behave the same. To avoid having to repeat these definitions, we cover them once here. If a parameter has special attributes in a plug-in, it will be further explained on that plug-in's manual page.
Limitations to Paths
One of the downsides to using paths is that they slow down the plug-in, especially for long animations. Keeping track of the streams on a vector path gets a bit processor intensive. The further into the animation, the more streams that need to be kept track of, and the slower the particle system gets.
Keep in mind that the first point in the path doesn’t determine where the text on a path begins. That starting point is defined by the Main Setup> Text Position parameter and the text follows the path shape from there. Read about Text Position in Common controls> Font & Characters.
NOTE: Paths don't work in any host application except After Effects. It's a limitation of the other host applications, not the plug-ins.
Preset Path pop-up
Lets you choose a pre-defined shape for the vector path. The option name is descriptive of its shape.
If you select one of the paths from this pop-up then anything selected in the Path pop-up is ignored. This provides a quick and easy way of selecting some common path shapes. They work like normal paths, except the size can be adjusted with the Path Size parameter, which provides an additional way of animating within Text Spiral.
Wave, Double Wave and Square Wave have a particularly useful attribute. They never end. So unlike other open paths, as you animate the Start/End Point your text makes like a bunny and keeps going and going and going in a wave.
Spiral and Square Spiral shapes bounce when you hit the center. If you animate the text down into the center, it doubles back on itself. Meaning in Text Spirl (and other plugins?) if you animate the text down into the center, it doubles back on itself. Normally, with an open path like that, the text will either go off in the direction of the last point on the path (Wrap Text Off) or wrap around to the beginning of the path (Wrap Text On).
Path Size
Sets the percentage of the circumference of the path occupied by the text characters. At 100%, the text fits the path shape precisely. At lower values, the text fits a smaller version of the path shape. At higher values, the text fits a larger version of the path.
This only works for the preset paths. It allows you to scale the paths up or down, making adjustments easy. Makes for some cool animations.
In Text Spiral, from left to right, Path Size at 40 and 100.
Text Path pop-up, Path pop-up
Lets you select a custom path. Since this pop-up recognizes any path, you can create a variety of paths and try them with a given animation, or use the same animation to follow different shapes. The Preset Path pop-up (say that three times fast) needs to have the None option selected for the Path pop-up to work.
In Text Spiral, Path set to Mask 1, Preset Path at None.
Characters Perpendicular checkbox
Orient Characters to Path checkbox
Adjusts the rotation of characters to the angle of the path, keeping each character perpendicular to the path.
In Text Spiral, left to right, Characters Perpendicular turned on (the default) and turned off.
Reverse Direction checkbox
Causes the text to follow the path in the opposite direction. Usually a path has a direction from the first point to the last point. Text will be flowed according to that, with the first character of the text by the first point created. Reverse Direction switches that, so that the first character appears by the last point creating and flows towards the beginning of the path.
In Text Spiral, Reverse Direction turned on.
Path Start/End Point
Determines how your text is flowed by adjusting where the text starts and ends on a path. This moves the starting point of the path. Usually, streams will start at the top, and work there way around a path. This parameter allows you to shift the starting point.
By default, Start/End Pont is set to 0, which means the text characters will start from the first point you draw on the path. (Though you also have to factor in the Text Position control).
However, there are times when that default is not desirable or you may want to animate the text along the path. Use Start/End Point to make adjustments to account for not placing the first point at the correct location. Or you can simply animate the text and it will travel around the path.
The Start/End dial simulates a closed path. If you move the dial around in a full revolution, the text will end up back where it started, at the first point of the path. If you are using an open path, a full revolution will move all the text off the path so it disappears. You can also move the text in the negative direction, making the text go off the start point of the path. This behaves exactly the same as going past the last point... the text continues in a straight line in the direction it was traveling when it when passed the start point.
Keep in mind that paths -- even closed paths like a circle -- have a start point, end point, and direction. The start point is the first point you create. The end point is either the last point in the path (in open paths like a sine wave), or it’s the same point as the starting point (if the path is closed). A common mistake is to create a closed path and get the impression that the plug-in places its text randomly because the text doesn’t travel as expected.
In Text Spiral, left to right, Start/End at 70 and 240.
At TOP is your standard path. Turn on a mask from the pop-up, and this is what you’ll get.
The BOTTOM image has the Start Point moved 90 degrees, and the Orient Characters to Path checkbox is selected.
Using Illustrator and Photoshop paths
You can paste a path from Photoshop and Illustrator into a layer or to a Position parameter. To do either, select all the points on your path in either Photoshop or Illustrator, then switch over to After Effects and paste. If you select a layer, the path gets applied as a mask shape in the layer you paste to. You can then use the path to control Cool Text or Text Spiral.
If you select a Position parameter in the Timeline, like Text Position, the path gets pasted into the Timeline as keyframes for that parameter. its a fast way to animate complex motion. Pasting paths is a great way to use sophisticated shapes that may exist in the other applications, or to create paths with Illustrator’s more powerful and complex mask tools.