Aescripts MonkeyWords v1.0 (WIN+MAC): Automated motion-based typography. The easiest method to create animated text. Ever.
MonkeyWords is the quickest and most simple method to create animated typography. It was created to make use of the capabilities and versatility that are available in After Effects native text animators. It can create many complex kinetic motions immediately using random or custom settings.
MonkeyWords is different from other tools by its capacity to create animations using distinct layout options as well as an animation system that has a dual emphasis on keywords. Perfect for quotes, callouts lower thirds of credit roll corporate, advertising broadcast and viral videos, lyric videos, and any other type of content that requires dynamic motion typography. Ideal for any level of expertise.
How to install
MonkeyWords requires AE CC 2017 or later. To install the script as a dockable panel, place “MonkeyWords.jsxbin” and the accompanying “MonkeyWords” folder into (Windows) “After Effects/Support Files/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels” or (Mac) “After Effects/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels”.
Note: Do not put the “MonkeyWords.jsxbin” script inside the “MonkeyWords” folder. The script and the folder should be adjacent to each other, inside the “ScriptUI Panels” folder.
Getting Started:
To generate a default build, simply launch the script, create a comp, set your text specs in the AE Character and Paragraph panels, and click Do It!
The Process
Once Do It! is clicked, MonkeyWords creates one or more pages in the selected composition. Each of these pages is a composition comprised of a series of text layers and a control layer. A set of text animators is applied to each text layer,
as determined by the settings in the Text Animator Section of the UI. All pages have effects controls (on the control layer) which are used to control the animation parameters of all the text animators within that page.
TEXT PANEL
The Text Panel and AE’s native Character and Paragraph panels dictate the look of the text layers generated.
MonkeyWords uses the font and color information from AE’s Character panel and an alignment based on the selection in the Paragraph panel.
In the Text Panel, there are several basic rules:
1) Skipping a line will result in the creation of a new page.
2) Spaces at the beginning of a line are ignored.
3) When saving a UI setup, text in the panel won’t be saved. It’s best to save that in a separate file.
Key Commands
There are several Key Commands that can influence the text in the text panel.
These can be displayed by using the Star button above the panel
1) A Caret symbol (^) at the beginning of a line indicates that the line is a keyword. The size, Color, and animation of that line are controlled by the various Keyword parameters in the UI. Carets need to be placed at the beginning of a line. If a space is placed prior to the caret, then it will show up as normal text.
2) On either side of a word, Square Brackets [ ] indicate that the Keyword Color will be applied to that word. A start bracket without the end bracket will result in all words after that bracket being colorized.
3) Placing a Pipe (or Vertical Bar |) as the first character in an otherwise empty line will result in an empty line being generated for that page (without generating a new page)
