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[Filip Vandueren]

It can be done, if you limit your font choice to a font that has a full Unicode set (or at least one that contains the unicode characters 9834-9836 which are the symbols for musical notes)

If you use os X you can find out which fonts contain a given Unicode character using the Character Palette. On Windows, I don’t know.

On Mac good examples are the Asian fonts like Batang, or Hiragino or Apple Gothic, Microsoft also seems to install a few with Ofiice like MS Gothic, MS Minchu, but their kerning is bad on os X.

So:
– Create your text using a Full Unicode font
– Add an animator for the property “Character value”
values: Character Range= Full Unicode; Character Value=9836 (the value for a double sixteenth note)

All your characters should now be double sixteenth notes

– Add a new Wiggly Selector using these values:
Max amount=100%; Min Amount=99.969%; Wiggles/Second=0; Correlation=0%

this will vary your characters between Unicode 9836 and 9834 (9834 = 99.969% of 9836) so you get random notes.

– set the standard range Selector in the Advanced section to Mode=Subtract
-now animate the Offset of your range from -100 to 0% to animate the text in.

Most of these Unicode or Asian fonts have rather bland typographic Design, so this might be a no good solution for you if you need a nice handwritten font, although you could also use a font editor to paste some note characters into any font.

Here’s an example that’s a bit more worked out:

download an after effects 7 project here:

bluenotes.aep (right click, Save as)

(the fonts will probably fail if you’re on Windows, do a Google or *gasp* search the windows help to find a full unicode font)

cheers,

Filip

[Paolomart]

Thanks Filip for your reply.
My intent is actually a bit different from your example.
What I need to do is to make random notes that transform to each letter.
Let’s say like a “slot machine” type.

So, many notes that go to “B”, then again notes that go to “E”, and so on in a consecutive way.

I don’t know if I can explain it properly.

You have suggestions?
I’m not much into expressions even if I can use AE well.

Thanks a lot.
Paolo

[Filip Vandueren]

Hmmm.

If I understand correctly, maybe a particle system that explodes letters into note-particles, then reverse It.
Every Letter will become a seperate Comp though: no Quick Way I guess…

I used Particular:

FreeVideoCoding.com