How to make text write itself on screen and stay readable while it does
Ask Vizard Agent for a write-on reveal and ask it to check the middle of the animation rather than the end. The effect is a mask travelling along the stroke, so for most of its duration the word is incomplete. It builds the mask to follow the writing, inspects a partway frame for readability, and paces the reveal so the line is legible before the last letter lands.
What do you type into Vizard Agent?
Name the effect and the check together. Asking for a handwritten opening gets you the effect; asking Vizard Agent to look at a partway frame gets you one that works, because that is the frame the effect is actually judged on. Say how long the shot runs, too, since the reveal eats into it.
Prompt
What does Vizard Agent actually do?
A write-on looks like handwriting appearing on the screen. Underneath, it is the finished text with a mask moving across it, and the frames a viewer judges it on are the ones where the text is still half there. The readability check is what separates a handmade feel from a loading bar. In the sessions behind this article it:
- Set the line in a face that suits writing and built a mask that follows the writing rather than sweeping across, so each letter appears as it would be drawn.
- Rendered a preview of the reveal and checked readability partway through, not at the end.
- Slowed or sped up the pacing so the line read in time.
- Checked the mask edge against what was behind the text, and added a marker accent on the stroke where one was wanted.
- Confirmed the finished frame held long enough to be read, since a reveal that ends on the shot's last frame leaves the completed line unread.
When does this not work well?
Write-on is a slow effect, and Vizard Agent will say when it does not fit. It is the wrong choice for long text, wrong for anything a viewer needs to take in immediately, and it fights any typeface that was never designed to look as though it had been drawn by hand. On busy backgrounds the mask edge becomes visible.
Common questions
Is this the same as a typewriter effect? No. Vizard Agent draws the strokes rather than adding whole characters.
Will it hold at the end? Yes, and Vizard Agent sizes the hold so the finished line can be read.
Why did mine look like a loading bar? Because the mask wiped across the words instead of following the writing.