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Adobe After Effects - Creating a Video Text Intro (complicated but good)

So I took a spin with Adobe After Effects (AAE) today.

I was thinking of doing a quick tutorial on AAE but to be honest, it's too complicated for beginners. For those with a fairly good understanding of Photoshop you might be able to start playing around after a few hours of training, but otherwise forget it.

The reason I tried out AAE was that I was looking for a way to animate text in video format. Why you might ask?


Using programs like Fraps and PowerDirector (PD) are great for capturing content and editing video, but neither are good at creating something appealling in terms of an intro and outro. PD has fly-in and fly-out text, but it's about as appealing as powerpoint.

Having a slick video intro or outro for your organization is highly useful. Just off the top of my head some applications might be:
  • Front ending corporate videos
  • Front ending podcasts that are uploaded to YouTube
  • Front ending powerpoint presentations that have been converted to video
  • Front ending instructional videos made for customers

The applications of a nice front end video clip are endless.

In the spirit of playing around with AAE I created four such videos. Well, actually I created a single video in AAE, then I took that video over to PowerDirector where I tossed in some music and fade-in fade-out transitions.

I've done four versions of the video I created in AAE to give you a sense of how music adds a whole different feel to the video.  It also shows how easy it is to modify your intro for various purposes you may have.

For instance you might know that your client likes heavy metal music, just swap out one audio track for another and you've got an intro they will enjoy.

Anyway, here's an example of how you can combine AAE and PD to create a nice little video intro (you'll find future videos I do will be front ended by one of these intros)....


Classic Rock Intro



Rap/Urban Intro




Heavy Metal Intro



Alternative Ambient Intro





[note: I should also say, this was just my first stab at creating something in AAE. I will probably create something spiffier down the road. This video took me hours in AAE, but next time it will probably take me all of 30 minutes.]

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