Question about using scale animator for text

[defaulttxao523zrca2]

I'm looking to make a karaoke/lyric video and I want the white text to fill in over a purple background that acts as a stroke when the white text appears. I figured the best way to do this while allowing for changes later is by creating the white text, duplicating the layer, changing the color, and then using a scale animator to size each letter/word up slightly.

Unfortunately, the background letters are scaling up from a point at the bottom of each letter, so they're not expanding uniformly around the white letters. I've attached a screenshot to show what I mean.

Any suggestions about what to tweak to change the scaling centroid or ideas as to how to do this a different way?

[Mylenium]

That workflow doesn't really make sense, given that you just could add a Stroke layer style like in Photoshop and not need worry about anything liek stroke with or it following the letters' animation. Otherwise you can of course adjust the anchor point in the advnaced settings of the animator, but that doesn't solve your problem, as it's still a global setting and can't be tweaked individually for each letter, so by all means just slap on that stroke or explore alternative ways of creating it like using the good old Vegas effect or a massively overcranked Glow effect that creates harsh edges.

Mylenium

[defaulttxao523zrca2]

Well I understand a stroke works but you have to create masks to define paths for a stroke, no? I'm looking to put something together so I can change fonts as I go and not have to remake masks for every text layer's stroke.

I guess creating another text layer doesn't really work because the anchor point would be different for each letter. I'll try messing with Vegas and Glow to make it happen.

[Mylenium]

You are mixing up shape layer strokes and the stroke layer style. They are completely differtent things. It might help if you read the help based on these keywords to alleviate your confusion.

Mylenium

[Rick Gerard]

Your cropped screenshot* leaves us guessing about your workflow. You are making things more difficult than they need to be. 

First, if you really want to use two text layers you have to understand that the scale animator scales from the baseline of the text. You will have to shift the baseline on the white text layer. Using two text layers is a pretty bad idea.

If I was trying to do what you are describing I would use a single text layer with a stroke, add a scale animator, if you want to also animate the stroke add Stroke Width to the Scale animator, then fiddle with the advanced settings to get the look you want. 

You could even add a second opacity animator to wipe the text off after you bring it on.

I'm showing you everything I did. The Offset was animated from -100 to 100 to grow the text from 0% in Y to 100% and change the stroke from 19 to the 10 pixels it is in the Character Panel. 

The second animator End is animated from 0% to 100% to wipe the text off.

I should also mention that you need to be careful with stroked text in video animations, especially if your fonts are small. Color compression in MPEG (H.264) delivery formats and the scaling that happens with media players can easily wreck your design. The text in your screenshot appears to be only about 10 pixels wide, the vertical part of the "t" looks to be about 3 pixels and the stroke looks to be about 1. That's never going to read in a video. It will be a mess.

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