The point of creating this reveal effect is to give the illusion that a hand is actually drawing this effect. Whiteboard Animation In After Effects: Timing Determine the timeframe of your animation (1 second in this example).Choose Effect > Paint Style > Reveal Original Image.If you’re creating a mask on text over another image you have to take a few extra steps to create the reveal illusion. In the “ Stroke” menu click the box that says “ All Masks” to apply the effect to both masks.Create an individual mask for each line of text (in this example, Scott creates two masks).Click on the start point of your mask and add anchor points around the word in the order you want to reveal them.That means you have to set your initial mask anchor point at the top left of the first letter being animated. the hand will move from left to right, top to bottom. When you create an animated reveal of text you have to account for the way that people write, i.e. The process is almost identical to masking an image with a few differences. How To Create A Mask For A Layer Of Text In After Effects Hold “ U” key to set the keyframes for this effect to the desired time (1 second in this video).Click the “ Stopwatch icon” in the “ start” layer.Move any mask points to completely cover the image.Increase the brush size until the mask covers up the artwork.Change the color of the mask (for better visibility).Click on the start point of your mask and add anchor points around the shape in the order you want to reveal.How To Create A Whiteboard Mask Reveal In After Effects You can add as many layers as you need for the project, and still use the same techniques from the video. He uses three layers to keep things simple-a white background, an illustration layer, and a layer of text. Scott sets a standard 16:9 aspect ratio and 24 fps of this project to 1280 x 720 px. Scott starts this project with a simple look at layers. Scott really is an animation expert, and if you follow along you’ll have a great understanding of how to create professional level whiteboard animation using After Effects. In the video, Scott walks you through the process step by step, including the tools he uses, how to sync up the keyframes for seamless animation, how to add a realistic drop shadow to your animated hand, and a few of his own personal tips and tricks to make the whole process as easy as possible.

How to add and animate a hand to “draw” the revealed animation in After Effects.

How to create a mask effect to “reveal” whiteboard animation in After Effects.

The devil is in the details, and to demonstrate just a hint of the meticulous care that goes into smooth seamless whiteboard animation, we asked one of our top animators, Scott Strong to break down two fundamental whiteboard animation effects in Adobe After Effects. Whiteboard animation comes in all shapes and sizes, but there really is a difference between budget whiteboard animation effects and quality animation.

After effects brush stroke reveal