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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Draw a rectangle
Place your footage on the timeline. In the toolbar, click the Rectangle Tool, then drag out a simple rectangle in the Program monitor where you want the bubble. It will show up as a graphic layer on the track above your clip.
Step 2: Round the corners and pick a color
With the shape selected, open the Essential Graphics panel (Window > Essential Graphics) and switch to the Edit tab. In the Align and Transform section, raise the corner Roundness value until the rectangle becomes a soft pill shape. The video ends up around 150. Then scroll down to Appearance, click the gray Fill color box and choose the color you like, such as the classic light blue.
Step 3: Add the tail with the Pen tool
Click the gray empty space in the timeline to deselect everything. Then pick the Pen tool in the toolbar and click in the Program monitor to draw a small triangle at the bottom corner of the rectangle. Close the shape by clicking on your first point. Give it the same fill color so the triangle blends into the bubble and becomes the tail.
Step 4: Merge the shapes into one bubble
The rectangle and the triangle are still two separate layers. Click one in the timeline, hold Shift and click the other, then right-click and choose Nest. Name it and click OK. Now your chat bubble is a single clip that you can move, scale and animate as one object.
Step 5: Duplicate the bubble for the reply
Hold Alt (Option on Mac) and drag the nested bubble up one track to duplicate it. In the Program monitor, double-click the top bubble and move it down a bit. Next, search the Effects panel for Horizontal Flip, apply it to the top bubble and reposition it, so the tail points the other way like a reply from someone else.
Faster with BetterFX: skip the Effects panel. Press your BetterFX shortcut, type the first letters of Horizontal Flip and press Enter to apply it to the selected clip. Get BetterFX
To give the reply its own color, apply the Tint effect to that top layer. In Effect Controls, click the color swatches next to Map Black To and Map White To and pick the colors you like. The video uses green for the second bubble.
Step 6: Add the messages
Use the Type tool to write the message for your first bubble, then click the gray space in the timeline again and write the second message. Make each text sit nicely inside its bubble. To keep each message together with its bubble, select a bubble and its text (hold Shift to select both), right-click, choose Nest and click OK. Repeat for the second bubble and its text.
Step 7: Animate the pop-up
Apply the Transform effect to the bottom bubble. In Effect Controls, open Transform, click the stopwatch next to Scale to create a keyframe, and then set a second value so the bubble goes from 0 (not visible) to its full size over a few frames. Select both keyframes, right-click one and choose Ease In, then right-click again and choose Ease Out. This makes the pop smooth instead of mechanical.
Smoother with EaseFlow: select the keyframes and apply a real easing curve in one click instead of dragging Bezier handles. See EaseFlow
Finally, click the word Transform in Effect Controls, press Ctrl + C (Cmd + C on Mac) to copy it, select the second bubble and press Ctrl + V. The animation is now on both bubbles. If you do not want them to pop up at the same moment, drag the second bubble a little later on the timeline.
Tips
- Stagger the messages. Offsetting the second bubble by half a second makes it feel like a real conversation.
- Keep text short. Short messages read faster and sit better inside the bubble.
- Add a sound. A message pop or whoosh sound effect on each bubble makes the animation feel much more real.
FAQ
How do I make a chat bubble in Premiere Pro?
Draw a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool, round the corners in Essential Graphics, add a triangle tail with the Pen tool and nest the two shapes together.
How do I flip a chat bubble so it points the other way?
Apply the Horizontal Flip effect to the duplicated bubble and reposition it, so the tail points to the opposite side.
How do I make the bubbles pop up smoothly?
Keyframe the Scale from 0 to full size, then add Ease In and Ease Out to the keyframes. For more on this, read our guide to easing keyframes in Premiere Pro.
Want a ready-made version? Try the notification animation template and drop it straight into your project.
