Revealing handwritten text is one of these unpleasant tasks every motion designer has to deal with at least once. In this tutorial I present possibly the quickest and most efficient way of producing this effect.

Since the reveal effect itself is quite simple to produce and would result in a very short tutorial, I added some bulk to the video by presenting a smart way of guiding a null along the reveal, using it to drive different effects, such as a lens flare or particles.

Running time: 35min
Difficulty: Medium
Required tools: After Effects, Illustrator, Trapcode 3D Stroke and Particular.
Optional tools: Video Copilot Optical Flares

Preview video:

 

Tutorial:

 

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You may also download the tutorial from its Vimeo page.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.