Text animations - All you Need to know

What is a text animation I hear you ask? With so many animation types to choose from it can often be difficult to decide which one best suits your message, communications channel or budget. We will try and demystify text animations and the varying types that you can choose from, hopefully helping you decide which text animation is right for you, if at all.

Text animation: The basics

Basically a text animation is just that. An animation that is made up primarily of text! Also known as an infographic animation these animations are usually combined with simple supporting animated images to get across complex or more textual information.

Why would I choose a text animation?

This varies greatly but is usually down to budget, content type, delivery method or a mixture of all three. Text animations are mainly used to get across information in a linear, presentation style rather than using a story based approach that is common in more traditional 2D animation and 3D animation productions.  This has a number of benefits:

/ Step your audience through a process or journey

/ Explain technical information or product information that doesn’t lend it’s self to a ‘story style’ approach.

/ Create a strong impact on your audience, by using the text to highlight key points that are supported by other visual and audio cues

Why wouldn’t I choose a text animation?

There are lots of good reasons to choose a text animation, but depending on what the content is and the length they can sometimes struggle to keep your audiences attention as they can become a bit repetitive. By choosing to use 2D animation or 3D animation you can often engage your audience more on an emotional level as they lean back and let the story take them through the journey. We also find that if clients haven’t used animation before they immediately go for a text animation as this is usually similar to PowerPoint presentation that they have on the subject and it feels most comfortable.  This is great, and often works well, but before opting straight for a text animation it’s best to think more visually on the subject matter and to discuss other animation possibilities before making your mind up.

Are there different types of text animation to choose from?

Yes! As with all animation you are really only bound by your own imagination and there are endless possibilities of what can be done. However, saying that, there are a few standard levels of text animation that I’ll explain below:

Simple text animation

These are the simplest and (usually) the most cost effective of all. These simple text animations consist mainly of animated text with clean/ plain backgrounds to get across the information required.  This type of text animation can allow you to get across information to your audience and often work as a shorter piece with simple statements or words. 

White board animations

This type of text animation is gaining in popularity recently, mainly due the perceived cost effectiveness of the animation. Basically a whiteboard text animation is where the action is from the audience’s point of view and a hand is used to draw out the action that builds up as the story unfolds. This gives the impression of interactivity and a mixed media approach.  A fantastic example of this type of animation was Volkswagen’s Blue motion animation

We tend to advise against these types as they aren’t always the most cost effective solution (very time consuming to film) and we find that we can produce much more engaging and less repetitive animations in other ways. This can be seen with our project for Arrow Creative.

Text and info graphic

The text and info graphic text animation is moving closer to the type of text animations that most people are familiar with and combine animated text with 2D animation or 3D animation and sometimes both. This enables your key messages to still be highlighted on screen, but the accompanying animations help your audience visualise the product or service better. Some examples of these from us are: Cambridge Cognition: Cantab Mobile

Delcam: Vortex and Machine DNA

Full infographic

The full infographic text animation is the type of text animation that most people are familiar with and integrate 2D animation and / or 3D animation with the onscreen text. By combining the text and strong visuals this really helps to engage your audience with you messages. For some ideas on this check out... Cambridge Cognition: Prevalence of Dementia

RJDM Studios: Process reel

To find out more about the examples shown above and the other animation styles we work across, check out the RJDM Studios animation portfolio on our website