TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms for sharing short-form videos. One of the keys to creating engaging TikTok videos is animating text to move, scroll, fade, zoom, and more. Animated text not only looks cool, but it helps convey information to viewers quickly and keeps their attention.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn different techniques for animating text in your TikTok videos using both TikTok’s built-in editing tools as well as third-party apps.

Use TikTok’s Text Tool

TikTok has an easy-to-use text tool built right into its video editor. Here’s how to animate text using the TikTok editor:

Add Text to Your Video

1. Tap the “+” icon to open the video editor
2. Tap “Text” in the bottom menu
3. Select a text style and enter your text
4. Adjust text font, color, and more

Set Text Duration

1. Tap the timer icon next to your text
2. Set start and end times for when you want the text to appear and disappear

Move Text Around

1. Tap and hold the text box
2. Drag it around the screen to reposition

While simple, this allows you to make text fade in and out or scroll across the screen.

Animate Text with Keyframes

For more advanced text animation, use keyframes in an external editing app like CapCut, VLLO, or InShot.

Keyframes allow you to set multiple text positions with different timing. When played as a video, the text will smoothly animate between those positions.

Here’s how to animate text using keyframes:

1. Add text to your TikTok clip
2. Tap the text and select “Animation”
3. Tap “+” to add animation keyframes
4. Adjust the text position and timing for each keyframe
5. Preview the animation and adjust as needed
6. Export and upload to TikTok

This unlocks possibilities like making text zoom in/out, spin, bounce, and more.

Scroll Text

Scrolling text is a popular effect on TikTok. To scroll text:

1. Add text in an external editor
2. Make the text box much wider than the video frame
3. Slowly animate the text box position from right to left
4. Only the section in frame will be visible, making the text appear to scroll

Adjust the text speed to match the video pace. Adding background images/video makes this effect even more eye-catching.

Fade Text In and Out

Fading text in and out smoothly is easy with opacity keyframes:

1. Add text as usual
2. Tap the text and select “Animation”
3. Tap “+” to add two opacity keyframes
4. Set the first opacity to 0% and the second to 100%
5. Preview and adjust timing as needed

Text will seamlessly fade in, hold, and fade out.

Bounce/Jiggle Text

Bouncing or jiggling text adds fun energy to videos. To bounce text:

1. Add text as usual
2. Tap the text box and select “Animation”
3. Add a “Custom” animation
4. Adjust keyframes up/down to make the text bounce
5. Preview and polish the animation as needed

Experiment with fast, exaggerated bouncing or slower, smoother jiggles.

Spin Text

Spinning text makes an eye-catching transition. To spin text:

1. Add text to your TikTok video
2. Tap the text and select “Animation”
3. Add a “Spin” animation
4. Adjust speed and direction as desired
5. Preview and refine as needed

Spinning builds anticipation and energy before transitioning to the next video clip.

Zoom Text

Zooming text in or out adds drama and flair. To zoom text:

1. Add text as usual
2. Tap the text and select “Animation”
3. Add a “Zoom in/out” animation
4. Choose either zoom in or zoom out
5. Adjust animation distance and timing

Zooming text in/out smoothly can make a statement as clips change in your video.

Shake Text

Shaking text is an easy way to add flair. To shake text:

1. Add text to your clip
2. Tap the text and select “Animation”
3. Add a “Shake” animation
4. Adjust shake intensity as desired
5. Preview and refine timing/intensity

A subtle shake can add energy. An intense shake can punctuate an important moment.

Use Text Presets

Some text animation apps like CapCut offer customizable text presets that make animation easy:

1. Browse text animations and select one you like
2. Tap to customize text, color and timing
3. The animation will update live
4. Export and upload to TikTok

Presets remove the manual work while offering creative text animations.

Animate Text Behind Subjects

Animating text to appear behind people or objects is an advanced technique that adds production value:

1. Film your subject against a solid color background
2. Import into an editor like VLLO that supports layers
3. Add text in a layer above the subject
4. Use masking to cut out and hide the subject
5. Animate text position/opacity to appear through the mask

This creates the illusion of text appearing behind your subject dynamically.

Match Text Animation to Music

Syncing text animation timing to background music beats adds engaging energy:

1. Add music to your TikTok video
2. Mark music beats as reference points
3. Add text and animate opacity/position
4. Align text animations to beats
5. Refine syncing as needed

Matching text and music punctuates video edits and transitions.

Use Text to Transition Clips

Animating text can provide smooth transitions between video clips:

1. Add text at the end of a clip
2. Animate text to zoom in as first clip ends
3. Text fills frame and fades to black
4. Text fades back in and zooms out to reveal next clip
5. Or get creative with other text transitions!

Text provides informative transitions while maintaining viewer attention.

Get Inspired By Trends

Stay up on the latest TikTok text animation trends for inspiration:

• Scrolling text bars
• Text revealing scenes
• Animated captions
• Lyric videos
• Glitch text
• And more!

Trying trending effects is a great way to make engaging, relevant videos.

Use Third-Party Animation Apps

For professional-level text animation, use dedicated apps like Adobe After Effects:

• Import TikTok clips
• Add text and keyframe animations
• Use tracking to pin text to moving objects
• Animate text on 3D planes in space
• Export videos to upload in TikTok

The possibilities are endless for creating unique, dynamic text animations that captivate viewers.

Best Practices

When animating text in your TikTok videos, follow these best practices:

• Match duration to your video length
• Make text large and easy to read
• Use simple, readable fonts
• Limit animation to key moments
• Sync animations to music for energy
• Review on a mobile device before posting

Following these tips will ensure your animated text engages viewers rather than distracts on small screens.

Conclusion

Animating text opens up a whole new world of creative possibilities for your TikTok videos. Whether you use TikTok’s built-in tools or third-party editors, you can make text move, shake, spin, bounce, zoom, fade, glitch, and more.

Syncing text animations to backgrounds and music punctuates your video edits and transitions. The techniques shared in this guide reveal how to animate text to boost engagement and tell dynamic video stories on TikTok.

As you experiment, stay up on the latest trends and continuously find new ways to make your TikTok videos stand out from the crowd. With the right text animations, you’ll capture viewer attention and keep them watching your amazing content.