Video has moved to the forefront of communication and in many instances replaced the written word. Video is more engaging than text. It’s eye-catching, auditorily stimulating, improves message retention, and can convey ideas using an infinite combination of visual representations. And when you combine the age-old communication method of the written word with video—you get kinetic typography.
Grab your audience’s attention by incorporating kinetic text in your video tool kit. In this post, we’ll cover the basics of kinetic typography, share inspiring examples, and teach you how to create kinetic typography videos on your own.
Kinetic typography
Kinetic typography, or kinetic type/text, is the technical term for “moving text.” It’s an animation technique that mixes movement and text to convey ideas and evoke emotion.
You might utilize kinetic text to emphasize a portion of a long audio recording, to advertise your product on social media, or to help your viewer remember terms more easily.
Having too much text on the screen can be overwhelming for viewers, but when done properly — with the combination of precise timing, music, and visual emphasis — text-based videos can be entertaining and effective.
When creating kinetic-type videos, it’s good to stick with one or two primary fonts and use stylized fonts to bring attention to certain words. It’s also wise to use an array of entering effects to keep the video engaging. This helpful example from The Futur communicates the rules of typography in a kinetic text video.
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Kinetic typography video examples
Here are a few inspiring video examples:
Lyric videos
Lyric videos are excellent examples of how to execute kinetic text videos.
R.E.M (1986) and George Michael (1990) are credited with creating the first lyrics-based music videos. Ten years later, Cee Lo Green (NSFW video) released the first official lyric video, and they’ve since become the norm.
It’s common for pop stars to release lyric videos before an official music video release. Record labels see them as a marketing tool to reintroduce music content as video and to build hype.
Plus, engaging with a lyric video helps fans learn the words. You can apply this same strategy to help your viewers retain your content.
Taylor Swift – You need to calm down
Taylor Swift and her marketing team know how to capture attention. Her most recent lyric video is a perfect example. The text effects are simple, but the combination of color, timing, and the occasional animated graphics make it incredibly captivating. Our favorite part about this video is that more than half of it could have been created in Vyond.
Two Feet – I feel like I’m drowning
This video uses black as the primary color to draw out the emotion in the song. The tone is quite different from Taylor Swift’s above, but the kinetic typography style is very similar. The simple text elements and color changes in this video could have also been created in Vyond.
Here are a few more great lyric video examples: Ciara, 5 Seconds of Summer, Snail Mail, Cuco, Ed Sheeran, and Demi Lovato.
We hope you use these lyric videos as inspirational examples and remember that importing music you don’t own into Vyond Studio is against our terms of service.
Informational videos
Kinetic typography videos are a great way to break down complex information. Here are a few more excellent kinetic typography videos to inspire your next project:
Curiosity
Dan Palmer is a skilled motion designer and animator. His videos artfully break down topics to inform viewers with beautiful and engaging text-based content. This video explains the importance of nurturing curiosity.
Is type dead?
This video, also by Dan Palmer, explores the development of technology and “new media” using text and animation.
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Type with pride
This video promotion from Type with Pride is beautifully simplistic. A video like this would be easy to emulate in Vyond.
The Gilbert font is available to download, for free.
WAKE COUNTY Schools
Wake County School District in North Carolina created this animated kinetic text video in a recruiting push to hire new bus drivers. The campaign generated 565 applicants in its first two months.
Kinetic type in Vyond Studio
The example videos in this post were created by professional animators and designers, but this medium isn’t limited to professionals. You can create stunning kinetic typography animations in Vyond without breaking the bank.
To show you how easy it is to create kinetic text videos in Vyond, we made this example in about an hour. Log into your Vyond account to open this video as a template.
Follow these tips to create your own kinetic type video in Vyond:
- Write out your full script in a word document and highlight or bold the words and phrases that are most important. These will be the elements that get extra design emphasis when you create your video.
- Create a new video in Vyond in any style. Start with a blank scene and update the background color or pattern if you’d like.
- Design and layout your text. Each word should be its own text element to ensure you have complete control over text transitions.
NOTE: Try not to overload the viewer with too many words on the screen at once, one sentence at a time is a good starting point.
- Apply your enter and exit effects to each word or text box. You can use simple effects like typing for the bulk of your text and then use more eye-catching effects like pop, slide, station panels, hand slide, or any other effect where you want to call more attention.
- Adjust the enter and exit effect timing of each text element. Preview your scene and adjust the timing until you’re happy with the results.
- Select Continue Last Scene on the timeline if you’re looking to extend the current text animation (zooming in and out, for example) or to adjust the background color.
- Add a motion path to your text. If you have multiple text elements to sync and rotate together, select all of your text boxes, right-click on the stage, and then select Group. Also, make sure auto-size is enabled on every text element.
NOTE: Always preview each scene you create and make sure you’re happy with the timing before you continue.
Experiment with fonts and animation options and have fun with what you create!
Kinetic typography resources
With its combination of simplicity and movement, kinetic typography videos are an excellent medium for communicating your message. Use this post as a guide to get started and create your first kinetic text animation video in Vyond. These links will provide you with additional resources:
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