In this tutorial you’ll learn how to utilize the FCPX Custom text tool to animate text in Final Cut Pro X without using keyframes or plugins. With the often overlooked custom text tool you can easily create great text animation with just a couple of clicks. Change opacity, position, rotation, scale, duration, spread, blur and easing all without creating a single keyframe!

As a bonus we’ll also cover an advanced technique for creating an animated text overshoot look for FCPX. This technique does utilize a few keyframes, but still benefits from many adjustable parameters of the custom text tool including unit size, easing, duration, and spread. Who knew animate text in fcpx was this simple!

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Animating Text without Keyframes
00:00 Intro
00:32 What is the FCPX custom text tool?
02:30 Animating opacity
03:03 The unit size parameter
03:43 Sliding text animation
05:00 Adjusting duration
05:39 Changing the spread (number of objects in motion at once)
06:51 Adding motion blur
08:34 Control easing with the speed parameter
09:53 Animating scale
11:20 Add some rotation
12:45 Add position animation
13:49 Scaling on the z axis
14:49 Adding out animation
16:12 Changing the out animation

Advanced Technique with Keyframes: Creating an Overshoot Look
16:58 Advanced overshoot technique using key frames
17:42 Setting keyframes
18:36 Show the animation timeline
19:14 Change sequencing to from keyframes
21:53 Wrap up
22:18 Shameless plug http://www.bretfx.com