How to Create Light Stroke Paths in Adobe After Effects from Scratch

Light stroke animations are always impressive to watch. While they seem complex, creating stroke animations in After Effects is surprisingly easy with titles, shapes, or media layers. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to create a simple, animated light stroke effect so you can add a glowing flourish to your compositions.

• Learn to create incredible light stroke animations in After Effects from scratch.
• Discover the handy Light Flare effect for use with titles, transitions, and flourishes.
• Follow our step-by-step guide to create cool light stroke animations with titles or shapes.

Part 1: How to Create a Light Stroke Title Animation from Scratch in After Effects

Step 1: Creating an Animated Stroke Layer

The first step in creating a light path is to animate a stroke around your Title. The animated style doesn’t have all the flair of the light stroke, but it has a pretty cool effect on its own.

1. Create a Title in your Timeline and adjust the font, weight, and size to your design – chunky fonts work best for this effect.
2. Right-click on the Title layer and choose Create > Create Mask from Text.
3. Select the Mask layer in the Timeline and go to Effects > Generate > Stroke.
4. In the Effects Control Panel, set the Paint Style to On Transparent.
5. Click the All Masks checkbox and deselect the Stroke Sequentially option.
6. Place your Playhead at the start of the Title, create a Keyframe for Stoke End, and adjust the setting to 0%.
7. Move forward in the Timeline to the point you want the animation to finish, and adjust the Stroke End setting to 100%.

Step 2: Adding a Light Flare to your Animation

Light Flares are a lot of fun to use in a project, whether you’re creating transitions, flourishes, or light-leak style overlays. Once you understand how the Light Flare effect can be added to an animated path, you can apply this same technique to a wide range of effects.

1. Create a new Solid layer by right-clicking in the Timeline and choosing New > Solid.
2. With the Solid selected, go to Generate > Lens Flare.
3. In the Effects Control Panel, set the Blend Mode to Screen.
4. Toggle down the Title layer to find the Mask Path settings, or hit M on your Keyboard.
5. Select the Mask Path and hit Command/Control + C to copy it.
6. Toggle down the Solid layer options and find Flare Center.
7. Hit Command/Control + V to paste the Mask Path onto the Solid.
8. In the Effects Control Panel, play around with the Light Flare settings to produce a look you like.
9. Create new Lens Flare layers for each Mask Path until each Stoke has a Flare.

Top Tip: Using the After Effects Lens Flare can take a toll on your editing system, so if you’re experiencing playback issues, why not check out our handy troubleshooting guide.

Step 3: Creating an Animated Shape Stroke

Creating an animated Light Stroke around a Shape layer is the same process as for text, with a tiny change at the start.

1. Create a new Solid layer by right-clicking in the Timeline and choosing New > Solid.
2. Choose a Shape from the toolbar at the top and draw the Mask on your Solid.
3. To ensure the Mask is in the right place, click from the center of the Media Viewer.
4. From here, you can generate the Stroke and follow the exact same steps as with a text layer.

Step 4: Finishing the Effect

There are several things you can do to finish the effect and create a unique look. All of these suggestions are optional, and you can mix and match to create exactly the effect you want.

Fade out the Flare

When the animation is finished, the Light Flare will sit in its final position. If you want to transition the light out, all you need to do is add keyframes to decrease the flare brightness in the last few frames of animation.

Keep the Flare Moving

Another option for finishing the animation is to keep the Flare moving around the Stroke. To do this, select the Solid Layer and hit U on your Keyboard. Highlight all of the Keyframes, copy them, and paste them further down the Timeline, repeating the animation.

Adjust the Color

With the curves effect, you can change the overall color of your scene. Once added to your Solid layer, you can select between adjusting the Blues, Greens, or Reds in your composition or adjusting the light color naturally across the image.

Magic Energy Look

You can take your light stroke effects further by adding other available effects in AE. Using the Turbulent Displace effect, you can turn your animation into a mystical-style energy pulse in just a few steps.

1. In the Timeline, swap the order of the layers to the Title on top.
2. Right-click on the Timeline, then choose New > Adjustment Layer. Place this in the middle of the stack.
3. In the Effects Panel, search for Turbulent Displace and add it to the Adjustment Layer.
4. Play around with the Turbulent Displace settings in the Effects Controls Panel until you’re happy with the look. 
5. Use the Displacement dropdown to choose the type of look you want.
6. Increase the Size and Complexity to create a softer, wispy light, or decrease the settings to add more detail to the effect.

Part 2: Top 3 Motion Array Light Stroke Templates

If you don’t have time to create your own light stroke effects, Motion Array has tons of downloadable templates you can customize in just a few clicks.

Plasma Logo Reveal

The Plasma Logo Reveal template is a stunningly composed cyber-punk style ident, ideal for high-tech and futuristic content. The neon glowing text stroke animates in with a subtle zoom while electric energy pulses flutter across the background.

Neon Text Animation

The Neon Text Animation pack includes 5 incredible title elements, ideal for funky lower thirds or full-screen titles. The animation warps the title elements, creating a trippy wave effect surrounded by glowing neon stroke shapes, including lines, scribbles, and hearts.

Neon Logo Sting

The Neon Logo Sting effect is a simple but powerful ident with a unique lights stroke animation. The camera pans across the logo as light strokes complete the outline before bursting with a colorful fill.

Creating light stroke effects doesn’t take long, but the result can captivate your audience. Light effects are incredibly versatile and can be used across your typography videos, opening sequences, logo idents, and animated flourishes. If you’re looking for more cool light-based text effects, check out our After Effects light trails tutorial.