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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Open the Essential Graphics panel
You will style the words in the Essential Graphics panel, so make sure it is open. If you cannot see it, go to Window in the top menu and tick Essential Graphics. Then switch to the Edit tab inside the panel. The menu has a checkmark next to every panel that is already on screen.
Step 2: Add the first Source Text keyframe
Select the text layer on your timeline. This works best with text that is already timed to your audio, such as captions or lyrics. Open Effect Controls and expand the Text section of that layer. Click the stopwatch next to Source Text (the tooltip says Toggle animation) to create the first keyframe. Each keyframe stores the look of the text at that moment, so every color change you make later will be saved on its own keyframe.
Step 3: Color the first word
Play the video and listen for the first word. Pause the playback right when it is spoken. Now double-click the text layer in the Program Monitor to enter text editing and select the first word only. In the Essential Graphics panel, scroll down to Appearance, click the Fill color box and choose the highlight color you like. Press OK. Premiere adds a new Source Text keyframe automatically.
Step 4: Move on to the next words
Play the video again until you hear the second word, pause, and select that word in the Program Monitor. Change its Fill color in the same way. You will notice that the first word is still highlighted, because the earlier color stays in place. To make it white again, select the first word and set its Fill to white. Now only the word being spoken is highlighted.
Repeat this for each word: listen, pause, highlight the current word and switch the previous word back to white. It takes a little patience, but it is simple and you control the timing frame by frame.
Step 5: Fix the timing in Effect Controls
If a color change is not in sync with the audio, you do not have to redo it. Open Effect Controls and look at the Source Text row, where each color change appears as a keyframe. Drag the keyframes left or right until the highlight lands on the word. You can also play the clip, pause at the exact moment and drag the keyframe to the playhead position.
Step 6: Repeat for every text layer
Do the same on all the text layers and words in your sequence. To pick colors faster, use the Color Picker eyedropper next to the Fill swatch and click a color you already used instead of searching through the color window each time. Keep the same highlight color across the whole video so the look stays consistent.
Tips
- Use one highlight color. A single bright color like yellow or orange against white text is easy to read on any background.
- Zoom into the timeline. Working at a high zoom level makes it much easier to place the keyframes on the exact frame a word starts.
- Combine it with motion. A karaoke highlight pairs well with a typing animation. Take a look at our typewriter text effect tutorial for another way to reveal words in time with the voice.
FAQ
Why does each color change create a new keyframe?
Source Text keyframes store the full look of the text at a point in time. When you change the fill color of a word with the stopwatch turned on, Premiere saves the new look as a keyframe, which is what makes the word-by-word highlight possible.
Can I make a karaoke effect without keyframes?
Premiere Pro has no one-click karaoke effect, so keyframing Source Text is the simplest built-in method. Text presets can save you setup time if you do this often.
What if the colors change at the wrong time?
Drag the Source Text keyframes in Effect Controls until each one lines up with the word, or move the playhead to the exact frame and place the keyframe there.
If you would rather start from ready-made text animations, the Ultimate Text Preset Pack gives you a big library of styles you can drop straight onto your captions. See the text presets
