flickering effect

[Kevin Camp]

you can probably create something pretty similar with turbulent displace and posterize time…

add turbulent displace to a text layer, decrease the size and amount (so it doesn’t look like water waves) and animate the evolutions (you’ll want it to be pretty fast).

then add the posteize time effect and set it to 5-10fps (or maybe less).

if you wanted it to repeat the same 5 frames or so over and over, you could use hold keyframes for the evolutions at the rate that you want (you wouldn’t need posterize time), then compy/paste those keys over and over for the duration you need. or you could use just the 5 keys that you need, then add an expression (select property with keys and choose animation>add expression). then type:

loopOut()

and those values will loop for the duration of the layer.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Robert Paynter]

Also adding a roughen edges might work for you. Then applying the same method of posterizing time or adding some random hold keys on a few different values of the roughen edges evolution then doing a loop expression. This might give you that sketchy look.

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

Or you can do it the old fashioned way- draw/write the plates yourself and then trace on top (different layer or paper depending of the method). The variation of the hand drawn lines will give you a nice organic look. Do that 4-5 times and you should get enough for a loop which you can time remap after if you want the “flicker”/jitter speed to slow down or to be variable.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Ivano Darra]

thanks guys, it works! I used them all – turbulent displace, posterize time and roughen edges. As for the last advice I am not really into drawing myself, but maybe one day I’ll give it a go!