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Step 1: Add your title text
Start with the text itself. Use the Type Tool (T) to add your title in a bold, chunky font, such as a short headline split over two lines. In the example, the first line is white with a thick outline and the second line is yellow. Place the text over a solid color background (a color matte works well) so the spiders stand out. For help styling the text, see our guide on the text outline effect.
Step 2: Add a spider overlay above your main video
Next you need footage of spiders crawling. Search online for a free spider overlay video, one with a plain white (or black) background, and check that its license allows your use. Drag the overlay into Premiere Pro and place it on a track above your text and background.
Many spider overlays move slowly. To speed it up, select the overlay clip and press Ctrl + R (Cmd + R on Mac) to open Clip Speed / Duration. In the video the speed is set to 400%, which makes the spiders scurry faster. Click OK.
Step 3: Remove the white background with Multiply
With the spider overlay selected, open Effect Controls and find Opacity. Change Blend Mode from Normal to Multiply. Multiply drops every white pixel, so you only see the black spiders on top of your picture.
Step 4: Mask the spiders to the text
Right now the spiders crawl over the whole screen, but you want them only on the text. Under Opacity, click the Free Draw Bezier pen icon. Then go to the Program monitor and draw a rough mask around your text, clicking point by point and closing the shape by connecting the last point to the first.
The mask does not have to be precise. Play it back and you will see spiders crawling around and over the letters only.
Step 5: Give the text a wobbly look with Turbulent Displace
For the second part of the effect, the text gets a shaky, hand-drawn feel. Open the Effects panel, search for turbulent displace and apply Turbulent Displace to the text layer. If the text is part of a graphic, select that layer.
Faster with BetterFX: skip the Effects panel. Press your BetterFX shortcut, type the first letters of Turbulent Displace and press Enter to apply it to the selected clip. Get BetterFX
In Effect Controls, set Amount to around 8 and Size to 12. These low numbers keep the effect subtle, so the edges of the letters ripple slightly instead of falling apart.
Step 6: Animate the wobble
To make the letters boil, you need to animate the effect. Go to the start of the clip, expand Evolution Options and click the stopwatch next to Random Seed to add a keyframe. Move to the end of the clip and raise the value slightly. The letters now keep changing shape as the clip plays.
To make the wobble faster, go to the last keyframe and increase its value a bit more. A bigger difference between the first and last keyframe means quicker changes.
Step 7: Add a grain overlay for the final touch
The last effect is film grain on the text. Drag a grain overlay above all other layers in the timeline. At first you may notice white grain over everything, but you want it black. Search for Invert in the Effects panel, apply it to the grain (under the Channel folder) and set the grain's Blend Mode to Multiply. Now the grain is black.
Because you only want the grain on the text, open Motion in Effect Controls and lower the Scale of the grain overlay so the box sits just around the text. That is the finished spider text effect.
Tips
- Keep the mask loose. A rough mask is fine, because the spiders move quickly and hide small gaps.
- Change the seed gently. Big Random Seed jumps make the text look glitchy rather than hand-drawn.
- Try other creatures. The same setup works with any overlay on a plain background, such as bugs, dust or smoke. For more text ideas, see our text collage tutorial.
FAQ
How do I remove the white background from an overlay in Premiere Pro?
Set the overlay's Blend Mode to Multiply in Effect Controls. White becomes transparent and only the dark parts remain.
What does Turbulent Displace do to text?
It warps the edges of the layer. With a low Amount and animated Random Seed, the text wobbles like a drawing.
How do I add black grain instead of white?
Apply the Invert effect to the grain overlay and change its Blend Mode to Multiply.
Want the grain from this effect? Grab the free grain overlay and add it to your own text.
