Re: Zombieland Intro (Animating individual letters of text)

i think you'll be able to get something close if you try the shatter effect setting the text layer as the custom shatter map.

to get started, created your text layer and add the shatter effect and set the view property to rendered. in the shape properties set the pattern to custom and choose the text layer as the custom shatter map. you'll notice that the text edges get a little crunchy, so ultimately you'll need to use masks, split layers and motion blur to help overcome that. also, you can define the color/textures for the front, sides and back of the letters in the textures properties.

if you were to ram preview now, the layers will just explode outward and tumble off screen. to get control of the exploding, you'll need to adjust the force properties. there are two, and from the looks of most of those titles, that's all you'll need. you'll want to make the forces smaller and then animate the depth to get the forces to burst through the letters timed with the footage you are matching to.

you can further refine the movement of the letter in the physics properties, and you can use the camera properties to set the viewing angle of the text, or set it to use a comp camera and adjsut the comp camera accordingly.

if you footage is slow motion like the title sequence, then you can use time stretch on the shatter/text layer to give it the same slow-mo look.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW