What does the range selector do in After Effects?

It decides which part of a text layer an animator's properties apply to, and how strongly. Animating its Start, End or Offset makes the effect move through the text letter by letter, word by word or line by line.

Why is my text animating all at once instead of per letter?

The animator's property (opacity, position and so on) is keyframed rather than the selector. Set the property once as a fixed offset and keyframe the range selector's Offset instead.

Can I use more than one selector on an animator?

Yes. Both After Effects and Premation let you stack several selectors on one animator, and Premation also has a wiggly selector for randomised per-glyph motion.

Glossary

Range selector

Name: Premation
Author: Premation

The part of a text animator that decides which characters, words or lines an animation applies to. Animating the selector, not the property, is what makes text arrive letter by letter.

Also called Range Selector 1, Text range selector, Text animator selector.

In After Effects

In After Effects it appears as Range Selector 1 inside a text layer's Animator, added from the Animate menu on the text layer in the Timeline. Its main properties are Start, End and Offset, with Units, Based On, Shape and Ease High/Low under Advanced.

In Premation

Properties ▸ Text animators on a text layer: add an animator, then a range or wiggly selector. Offset is the property you usually keyframe.

Step by step

Select a text layer and open the Text animators section of the Properties panel.
Add an animator, then add the offsets it should apply, for example Opacity 0 and Position +40 px.
Add a range selector and choose its unit: Characters, Words or Lines.
Leave the offsets static and keyframe the range selector's Offset from 0 to 100 so the change sweeps through the text.
For a quick start, select the text layer and pick Typewriter, Bounce In Words, Spin & Fade Characters or Tracking Reveal from the toolbar's Animate menu, then open it up to see the selector.

Tips

If the whole line animates at once, you keyframed the offset property instead of the selector. Keyframe the selector.
The offsets describe the state the text arrives from; the selector passing over a glyph returns it to its resting value.
Words or Lines as the unit gives a calmer reveal than Characters for long sentences.
Ease the selector's Offset keyframes in the graph editor to change the pace of the whole sweep without touching each letter.

Walkthrough: Kinetic typography

Read the docs: Text animators

Questions

What does the range selector do in After Effects?: It decides which part of a text layer an animator's properties apply to, and how strongly. Animating its Start, End or Offset makes the effect move through the text letter by letter, word by word or line by line.
Why is my text animating all at once instead of per letter?: The animator's property (opacity, position and so on) is keyframed rather than the selector. Set the property once as a fixed offset and keyframe the range selector's Offset instead.
Can I use more than one selector on an animator?: Yes. Both After Effects and Premation let you stack several selectors on one animator, and Premation also has a wiggly selector for randomised per-glyph motion.

Related terms

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