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Participant
August 20, 2026
Answered

How to scale animated text on path WITHOUT scaling mask path?

  • August 20, 2026
  • 8 replies
  • 81 views

Hello!! I have to make a video template that features a single line of text which repeats using an echo effect and moves along a frame, similar to what the Montreal Victoire did for their goal videos as seen here. Because I’ll have to make about 30 of these videos and the text that needs to travel along the path will be different lengths, I set up a separate comp to use as a parent layer with an expression to scale text in that comp to its width (in this case, 200px), so I would only have to set up the number of echoes/delay between echoes one time. I tried using the expression “comp("Dynamic Text (player names)").layer("Player Name").transform.scale;” in my main composition to adjust the text moving along the path to match this scale, but this changes the scale of the path the text is travelling along as well. Is there an expression I can use to scale the text, but not the mask/mask path it’s travelling along? Alternatively, is there a way for me to have text move along a path in this way but not have the path be linked to the text so both can be edited freely?

    Correct answer Warren Heaton

    @maddie_swse 

    At least with how it’s done in the sample I posted (a single Text Layer with text repeated on a path and a Position change applied to an Animator, spacing adjusted between each repeat, Force Alignment enabled, and Last Martin adjusted), I’m not sure there is a way to make it one-size-fits-all;  at least not if keeping the Font Size the same for names of different lengths.  Shorter names will repeat more times while longer names will repeat fewer times and then there’s the adjustment to the space between the names and the last margin.

    8 replies

    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 21, 2026

    @maddie_swse 

    Are you looking to create something like this?
     

     

    Participant
    August 21, 2026

    @Warren Heaton I sure am!! I’ve managed to achieve this effect in AE, but I want to see if I can find a way to make it one-size-fits-all so I don’t have to adjust the number of echoes/delay between echoes for each player. That’s mainly where my problem lies.

    Nishu Kushwaha
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    August 25, 2026

    Hi ​@maddie_swse,

     

    I'm not the strongest with expressions, so I can't give you a clean answer on how to achieve exactly what you're after. That said, worth trying the new AI Assistant available in the latest Beta build — it's genuinely helpful with writing expressions from plain-language descriptions.

    Here’s how you can use it: 

    Let us know how it goes.

     

    Thanks,

    Nishu

    Community Manager
    August 21, 2026

    Hi @maddie_swse,

    Thanks for posting. I can see why this would be frustrating when you're building a reusable template for multiple player names.


    What you're running into is that scaling the layer via Transform > Scale also scales the mask path the text is following. Instead, try using a Text Animator > Scale, which scales the characters without affecting the path itself.


    You can then drive the Text Animator's Scale value with your expression rather than scaling the entire layer.

    For more information, see: Animating text in After Effects.


    You could also keep the dynamic text in a separate precomp if you need additional flexibility with names of varying lengths.

    If you'd like, share a screenshot of your layer setup and current expression, and we'd be happy to take a closer look.


    Regards,
    Kevin

    Participant
    August 21, 2026

    Hi Kevin, thanks for your reply! I did try the text animator scale value trick you suggested, but it messed with the kerning a lot...is there a way to adjust that automatically without setting anchor point grouping to line (because that would mess up the existing animation)?

     

    Here are the two comps I’m working with, as you can see one is for text, and one is for the actual animation (only expression not pictured is the time expression used on the first margin line to get the text moving along the path).

     

    Thanks,

    Maddie