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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Add and style your text
Put your video on the timeline and add a text layer above it with the Type Tool (T). Type the sentence you want to reveal, then open the Properties panel (or the Essential Graphics panel) to style it. In the example the text is set in a bold font, in white, with a thick black outer stroke. That combination stays readable on any background, from bright beaches to dark scenes.
Step 2: Find the Text Animator transition
The word by word effect is a video transition. Open the Effects panel (Window > Effects) and search for text animator. It sits under Video Transitions > Text > Text Animator.
The Text Animator comes from the Smooth Text Animation Template, which you can find at the end of this post. If you can't see it in the Effects panel, install the template first and restart Premiere Pro.
Step 3: Drag it onto the start of the text clip
Drag Text Animator to the very start of the text clip on the timeline, the same way you'd drop a cross dissolve. A small transition block appears at the beginning of the clip. You can drag its edge to make the transition shorter or longer, and a tooltip shows its duration while you drag. A longer transition makes the words appear more slowly.
Step 4: Shape the animation in Effect Controls
Click the transition on the timeline and open Effect Controls. Here you find everything that controls how the words arrive:
- Preset offers ready-made styles such as Fade.
- Visual Curve Editor shows a curve graph, with a Type dropdown (set to Bezier in the example), plus Ease In, Ease Out and Fade to soften the motion.
- Distribution and Variation decide how the animation is spread across the words.
- Animation Controls include Push Position, spacing, zoom, Angle, Degrees and Spin for extra movement.
Change one value at a time and play back the clip, so you can see what each does. There are no perfect numbers: keep adjusting until the words arrive with the speed and feel you like.
Step 5: Play it back and repeat for each caption
Press the spacebar and watch the words appear one by one over your video. Because the animation is a transition, you can copy the finished text clip, paste it further along the timeline and change the text. For longer videos, you can group clips by right-clicking and choosing Nest to keep the timeline tidy.
Tips
- Keep the text short. Two or three words at a time read best on a phone.
- Use a strong stroke. A thick outline keeps captions readable over busy footage.
- Add a typewriter look. For another reveal style, see our guide to the typewriter text effect.
FAQ
How do I make text appear word by word in Premiere Pro?
Add your text, then drop the Text Animator transition onto the start of the text clip and adjust it in Effect Controls.
Where is the Text Animator transition?
In the Effects panel under Video Transitions > Text > Text Animator, once the template is installed.
How do I make the words appear slower?
Drag the edge of the transition on the timeline to make it longer, or adjust Ease In and Ease Out in Effect Controls.
Get this effect ready to use with the Smooth Text Animation Template.
