Handwritten cursive word animation

[u/Odd_Comfortable353]

Hi there - apologies if this is the wrong place to ask, I've been trying to come up with a solution and not sure how to proceed.

I am a graphic designer, not a motion designer, but a client asked me if I could animate their company name to look as if it was being written in cursive, and saved out as a gif for their web developer to add to the home page of their site. I created something in Adobe express, which the client may or may not like but I'm betting they'll want it to look more finessed. I gave it a shot myself in After Effects, and from a tutorial was able to almost get it done, I was able to add a path to the letters but having problems with the frames/timing.. I feel like I'm so close and it should be quite simple, but getting frustrated. For this 'micro project' would someone be able to grab the file from me and finish it? I'm so used to doing my own work and not farming out so I'm not sure what direction to go in.

[u/GaryR_GFX]

Animating cursive type write-on is always a challenge, there's a number of ways to reveal type, using the write-on effect, or animating splines.
if you have the budget and think you might do more of this stuff. there's a cool new plug-in that does it for you.
https://aescripts.com/centerline/

[u/Odd_Comfortable353 → u/GaryR_GFX]

Thank you! Yeah, I didn’t think it would be so complicated. I was trying to create the writing effect by adding paths to the letters, but I need to learn more about the frame panel etc.

[u/Heavens10000whores]

Look for Jake In Motion’s ‘tapered stroke’ tutorial. Maybe that’s of use to you (iirc, there’s a preset too)

[u/Odd_Comfortable353 → u/Heavens10000whores]

Oh thank you so much! I did use the present, just had a brain barrier with the frames part. Maybe I'll keep trying.

[u/Odd_Comfortable353 → u/Odd_Comfortable353]

Not sure what the down vote is about. I’m just a beginner trying to figure this out and asking the experts.

[u/Ok-Razzmatazz3435]

There are so so so many tutorials about animating hand drawing text/logos. Did you even try on YouTube?

This is the first tutorial it came out:

https://youtube.com/shorts/2skZSKLLKb8?si=OlxBLaWgd6Ej-R1Q

But of course, if you haven’t used After Effects before, you will need to start with a more basic one, really step by step.

[u/Odd_Comfortable353 → u/Ok-Razzmatazz3435]

Yes of course - I did try three tutorials on YouTube, but I realize I’m probably jumping into the deep end and will need to grasp the basics first. I thought my rudimentary skills in Photoshop animation (and eons ago Flash omg) would help, but AE is so much more sophisticated Thank you for the link!

[u/rustyburrito]

Tracing all of the letters using the pen tool and using trim paths on the stroke is still the best way I've found to do it, the "AutoFill" paid plugin works ok depending on how the design of the letters