How to Create News Headline Overlay Lower Third in After Effects

In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through creating a news headline lower third in After Effects, allowing you to add a professional touch to your video projects. Let’s dive into the step-by-step process:

Setting Up the Composition

1. New Composition: Create a new composition named “Main Composition.” Set the width and height to 1920×1080, with a duration of 50 seconds and a frame rate of 30.
2. Obtaining Assets: Download a free world map image from a source like freepik.com. Import the map image into After Effects.

Manipulating the Map Image

1. Pre-composing the Image: Pre-compose the map image and apply effects like Color Key and Fill to customize its appearance. Use CC Sphere to create a spherical effect, adjusting radius, rotation, and lighting settings.
2. Tint and Colorization: Apply the Tint effect to the map layer, choosing a color scheme that suits your design.

Adding Footage and Shapes

1. Incorporating Footage: Import and adjust additional footage within the composition.
2. Using Shape Tools: Utilize the Rectangle Tool to create shapes, adjusting sizes, colors, and duplicating shapes as needed. Utilize Gradient Ramp for color transitions.

Animating Text and Layers

1. Animating Text: Apply text animation using the Animate feature, adjusting tracking, scale, opacity, and blur properties. Duplicate and adjust text layers for headline and lower thirds.
2. Animating Layers: Create keyframes to animate layer positions, adjusting appearances and using null objects for control and organization.

Text Looping and Effects

1. Looping Text: Pre-compose text layers and apply the Motion Tile effect to extend the text animation seamlessly.
2. Layer Manipulation: Duplicate shape layers, modify scale and color properties, and use track mattes for layer visibility adjustments.

Final Touches and Composition

1. Composition Refinement: Fine-tune layer positions, scales, and colors. Ensure layer parentings are set for smooth movements.
2. Review and Completion: Review the lower third design, animation, and text looping to ensure it aligns with the desired news headline aesthetic.

Conclusion

You’ve successfully created a dynamic news headline lower third in After Effects. This tutorial equipped you with the tools and techniques to animate text, manipulate layers, and create a professional visual element for your video projects.

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With this tutorial, you’ve acquired the skills to craft an engaging news headline lower third in After Effects, elevating the visual appeal of your video content. Experiment with variations to match your project’s style and branding.