After Effects 4
Matttuc
Using text made in After Effects T - Type tool Y - Pan behind tool Double clicking text on the timeline window hi lights the text The anchor point isn’t central when you initially insert your text. (Y shortcut for the pan behind tool to re posotion the anchor point. Additional properties for text in the drop down menu on the timeline bar
Source text allows you to change the content and / or the formatting of the text over time (drop down menu on timeline)
Same technique also applies for point size, colour, weight etc
Using the animate key on the text timeline Position - Adds animator layer, contains a position property and range selector. Can change position without changing the anchor point.
Using the advanced drop down menu, working with a percentage of a whole piece of text Units - Index - Changes from percentages to Index, deals with characters not the amount of text, allows you to specify exactly how many characters you want to use.
Can work using indidivual charachters including or excluding spaces, can also be edited using whole words or lines. Smoothness affects how the letters interact. A 0 smoothness will result in the letters either being up or down rather than making smoother transitions.
Grouping allignment allows you to scale words or lines instead of individual charachters. All to do with the anchor points.
Difference between using just charachter (top) and word bottom
Editing the scale of each individual letter from its own anchor point across the timeline.