Kinetic Typography & Typewriter Text (Words That Move)

Static captions inform; kinetic ones perform. Text that types itself, pops in word by word, or hits on the downbeat is the signature look of modern short video — and it comes from two controls: the typewriter reveal and per-character animation.

The two building blocks

Tool	What it does	Use it for
Typewriter reveal	Characters appear one at a time, with a cursor	“Live typing” intros, suspense, captions
Per-character animation	Each letter/word animates across a range	Word-by-word pops, wave-ins, kinetic captions

Step 1 — Typewriter reveal

1. Add your text

   A short line lands best — a hook, a question, a punchline.

2. Turn on the typewriter

   In the text layer’s Behaviour tab, open the Starting animation and choose a Typewriter style. Set the cadence (the Duration — how fast it types). The line types itself out on screen.

The Typewriter category 20+ reveal styles — Classic, Cursor, Word-by-word, Scramble Decode, Glitch…

Step 2 — Per-character (and per-word) animation

For the punchy “viral caption” look, animate each character or word across a range so they cascade in — a slight delay between each, timed to the speech. Letters can fade, pop, slide, or scale as they appear. Keep the per-item delay small so the whole word still reads quickly.

Caught mid-type — only the first letter has appeared The reveal plays across the start of the clip

Step 3 — Time it to sound

Kinetic type lives and dies on timing:

• Captions: pop each word as it’s spoken (pairs perfectly with animated titles).
• Hooks: land the last word on the first beat of the music.
• Lists: stagger each line in, one per beat, for a building rhythm.

Don’t overdo it

Kinetic type is seasoning. If every word does a backflip, nothing stands out. Animate the hook and key phrases; let the rest be clean and readable.

Where to go next

• The static foundation: animated text & titles.
• Sync the reveal to the track: add music & audio.
• Drive timing with the music: keyframes & motion paths.

Type it, pop it, hit it on the beat — kinetic typography turns plain captions into the thing that actually stops the scroll.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I make text type itself out?

Add a text layer and turn on the typewriter reveal. The characters appear one at a time at a cadence you set, with an optional cursor. It's the 'someone is typing this live' effect, great for intros and captions.

What is kinetic typography?

It's text treated as motion — words and letters that animate in, scale, and hit with the rhythm rather than just sitting on screen. In ExpoCut you build it with the typewriter reveal plus per-character animation, where each letter or word animates across a range.

How do I make word-by-word captions?

Use per-character (or per-word) animation so each piece pops in slightly after the last, timed to the speech or beat. It's the punchy caption style you see on most viral talking-head clips.