A picture is indeed worth a thousand words. However, when it comes to videos, you can make your composition more eye-catching if you find the right balance between text and objects.
We know you want to create motion graphics that grab your audience, but let's take it one step at a time. Before we get to animate each element of your project, we'll give you a quick overview of how to add text in After Effects.
First, go to the Toolbar and hit the Type tool (click ctrl + T if you are working on Windows or cmd + T if you use macOS to make it faster). Then, hit anywhere on your composition and start to write from left to right (to type vertically, hit once more ctrl + T/ cmd +T).
To modify the style of your text, pay attention to the panels of your workspace.
If you've worked with Photoshop or Illustrator before, then you'll easily recognize the main Text tools in After Effects. If not, start by activating these boxes because you'll need them if you want to write in your compositions.
Remember you can activate these boxes from the Main menu by clicking their names from the Window option, too.
As with every shape and mask you make in After Effects, every time you type on your composition, a new layer is added to your Timeline. It's called Text Layer, but you can rename it as you like to find it faster when working with multiple texts. You will recognize it because it is red and has a T to identify it.
Having this new red layer will let you mask your text, modify its Anchor Point and apply some effects to animate it later.
More tutorials on how you can use the Text tool:
