While playing with After Effects, I rediscovered a way to reshape text to look like something else. The reason I say rediscovered is because even the best AE user will occasionally forget an effect that is not used too often. In this After Effects exercise (which will work in AE5.5 or the new AE6.0), we’ll use the Reshape effect to mold our effect.
Let’s begin by creating a new composition that uses the DV NTSC Preset. The length can be any duration you like, as we will not be animating the text in this lesson.[an error occurred while processing this directive]Creating text for this exercise can be done two different ways depending on what version of After Effects you are using.
For After Effects 5.5 users:
Create a New Layer by pressing Command+Y on the Mac or Control+Y on the PC. Name the layer Shark and make it the same size as the composition. Click OK.
With the Shark layer selected in the Timeline, apply the Basic Text effect from Effects>Text>Basic Text.
In the Basic Text Effect Controls Window, type the word Shark using a fairly bold font. For this exercise, I am using the Britannic Bold font.
Make the size fairly large – 120 pixels minimum should do.
For After Effects 6.0 users:
With the new Text Tool, you don’t have to create a solid layer first. Simply select the Text Tool and in the Comp Window click and type the word Shark. Use the Character Window to change the size and font style.
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