How to Add Text to Animations in KeyShot

Today, we’ll walk you through two different ways to add text to an animation inside KeyShot. This approach works well when you need to keep everything contained in your scene or simply prefer to use KeyShot for a complete workflow.

Add Text to Animations in KeyShot

Simple, dynamic text transitions are an important part of product animations, effective for providing technical information, detailing the function or build process, or simply adding more animations effects around your product animations. After you learn these two methods, I’m sure you’ll have your own ideas about how to use text more effectively in your animation. Let’s dive in.

The headphone model shown in the video is set up for you to explore and available for download at CG Trader page.

1. Use a Frontplate

First, the easiest way to add text is to use a Frontplate. To add a Frontplate, go to the Project, Image tab, then select the Photographic Image Style option and expand the Layers section. Select an image with your text that uses a transparent background, making sure it matches the aspect ratio of your scene, and KeyShot will simply overlay that text. While this is the quickest way to add text overlays or callouts to your video, there are some limitations. Most importantly, the text won’t move with the animation. So, if that’s what you’re going for, here’s another solution.

2. Use a Plane and Opacity Map

This method allows more flexibility with your text or even to animate it within your scene. First, add a plane and position it where you’d like the text to appear. Next, select the Material tab in the Project window. We’ll add an Opacity map to this material.

What is an Opacity Map? Opacity maps allow you to use a black and white image or alpha channel transparency of your text to make those areas of the material transparent.

So, if I add an image that contains white text and a transparent background, the text is the only part that appears on this material. This makes it really easy to add text to any scene and have full control over its size and position. You can change the material, the color, even add some texture if you’d like.

If you want to add even more dimensionality to this text you can animate this plane. A simple fade animation going from 0% to 100% (to fade the text in) would look really nice but you could also use a translation or rotation animation as well for some very dynamic transitions.

Now you see how easy it is to create animated text in KeyShot. Have some ideas about how they can be used in your animations? We can’t wait to see them! If you would like to learn more about all things animation, check out the
Animation section in the KeyShot Manual.

What Can You Create?

We would love to see what you create with this tip. Visit the KeyShot Amazing Shots forum to see what others are creating and share your own work or tag us on Instagram. And if you have a suggestion for another tip share it in the comments below.