Video-in-Text: How to Put Footage Inside Your Letters
You’ve seen it on every title sequence lately: a giant word with video playing inside the letters. It looks like motion-graphics wizardry; it’s actually one setting. Here’s how.
A giant word with your footage moving inside the letters — it’s one of the most-copied title looks in short video, and it reads as high-end motion design. In ExpoCut it’s a single fill setting on a text layer.
Step 1 — Set big, bold text
Add a text layer with your word
One short, punchy word works best — “SUMMER,” your brand, the topic.
Make it big and heavy
Crank the size and pick the boldest font you have. The footage only shows where the letters are, so thin type leaves nothing to see.
Step 2 — Fill it with video
Open the text fill and choose a media fill
Instead of a flat color, the letters get filled with media.
Pick your video (or image)
The clip now plays inside the glyphs. Pick footage with motion and contrast so the effect is obvious.
FILL ▸ Video in Text — fill the glyphs with footage instead of a flat color
Bold = thicker letters = more video shows
Bigger letters, more video. The thicker and larger the type, the more of your footage shows through. If the effect looks subtle, go bolder.
Footage plays inside the glyphs — sky up top, reeds below
Step 3 — Place and animate it
Center the word as a hero title, or anchor it as a lower banner. For extra punch, keyframe the text scaling up on your hook, or slide it in — the video keeps playing inside the whole time. What you see on the canvas is exactly what exports.
Make it land
- One word, not a sentence. The effect is a hero moment, not body copy.
- Match the footage to the message — beach footage in “SUMMER,” city lights in “NIGHTLIFE.”
- High-contrast clips read best inside letters.
Where to go next
- Style the rest of your text: animated text & titles.
- The advanced version (track mattes): every effect explained.
- Animate the hero word: keyframes & motion paths.
Big word, bold font, video fill — three steps to the title look that’s all over your feed.
Frequently asked questions
How do I put a video inside text?
Add a big, bold text layer, then set its fill to a media fill and choose a video (or image). The footage plays through the shapes of the letters — a single word becomes a window into your clip. Bigger, heavier fonts show more of the video.
What font works best for video-in-text?
The boldest, chunkiest font you have. Thin letters leave almost no room for the footage to show; a heavy display font gives the video space to read. Big and bold wins every time.
Can I animate the video-in-text?
Yes — keyframe the text scaling up on the hook, or have the letters slide in. The footage keeps playing inside them the whole time.
Footage inside your title
Fill big bold letters with video for that scroll-stopping title look — one setting, no compositing. Make your intro pop.
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