Time Effects
- Echo
- Wide Time
- Time Blend
- Posterize Time
- Forced Motion Blur
- To simulate handwriting, always use the Stroke Effect, NOT the Write-On effect (Effects > Generate > Stroke)
- Using the stroke effect:
- Create a solid black layer (Layers > New > Solids)
- Select the layer you want to reveal, and use the pen-tool to trace the shape. You don't have to close the mask path. If you do close the mask path, make sure to set the mask to "none".
- Create more masks for better timing control
- Add Stroke effect to the layer
- In the "Path" pulldown , chose a mask, or turn on "All Masks"
- Adjust stroke effect settings:
- color: always make it white
- brush size: make it slightly thicker than the shape you are revealing but not thick enough to reveal undesired parts of the shape out of order
- paint style: on original image
- Animate by changing the values of "Start" or "End"
- If you are animating multiple Stroke effects, set keyframes to the first one and duplicate (Command + D) in the "Effect Controls" window and change the "path" of each to correspond with the desired mask. When you duplicate a stroke effect, the keys are also duplicated.
- Tutorial: http://layersmagazine.com/animated-handwriting-in-after-effects.html
