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Referencing layers rather than duplicating
Hello!
I work mostly in AVID and FCP, so I apologize that this question is basic. The other day I made some graphics with text on them for a promo about UFOs that was supposed to have an eerie tone. I wanted some jumpiness in the text so I duplicated the text layers and changed some of the parameters for a frame or two to give it that static-y look and highlight individual words (I guess ’cause that’s what aliens would do?). I don’t think duplicating the text layers was very efficient, though, because when the text changed (and in this case the text changed about five times, of course), I had to do a lot of fussing with my “jumpy” layers. Is there a way to do this by somehow referencing the main text layer, so when the main text layer changes, all the other layers change automatically? If someone could just point me in the right direction, I’d greatly appreciate it!
Thanks in advance,
Jess -
2 Replies
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There are a couple of options, some better than others.
One is to link the Source Text property of the duplicate layers to the main layer with an expression (add an expression to the source text property on the duplicates and pickwhip it to the main layer). But this only accesses the text of the main layer, not the formatting, size, font or anything else.
Another is to consider using a text animator and the Time > Echo effect to create your jumpiness from one layer (I believe there are some text animation presets that use this, try browsing them).
And yet another would be to pre-compose your text layer and use duplicates of the pre-comp in your final composition. Then if you make any changes inside of the pre-comp, they will be reflected in each of its instances in the final comp.
Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA -
That is extremely helpful. Thanks so much!
-Jess
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