How to create a typewriter effect in After Effects.
with Setta Studio
Check out Setta’s tip for animating text with a preset.
Add your text.
In Adobe After Effects, select the Type tool and drag over the video to create a text area. Type a string of words and style them with settings in the Essential Graphics (Window > Essential Graphics) panel. From the Text dropdown menu, you can search through thousands of fonts from the Adobe Fonts library to find the style you like. Setta Studio chose Lo-Res.
Apply a text effect.
Choose Window > Effects & Presets. Select the text layer in the timeline, type Blinking Cursor Typewriter in the search bar, and then double-click to apply the effect.
Pro tip: To customize the effect, click the arrow on the text layer dropdown menu to see more properties. Then you can change the cursor’s shape, blink speed, and opacity to best fit your style.
Adjust the speed.
The Typewriter effect added two keyframes to the timeline on the text layer. Press the U key on your keyboard to show all keyframes.
Adjust keyframes as you like. Move them closer together to speed up the typing, or farther apart to slow it down. To replicate Setta’s text effect, move the last keyframe to 4 seconds.
Export your animation.
Choose File > Export > Media and change the filename and location if desired. Then select a format — H.264 works well across platforms — and click Export.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Tim Saccenti and Dina Chang are filmmakers, photographers, and visual artists who founded Setta Studio based on their shared love of art, technology, and music. You’ll find their immersive and experimental work in Paper Magazine and The Sunday Times, campaigns for Nike and Mercedes-Benz, and music videos for Metallica’s 2023 album 72 Seasons.
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