Path Crawl

Path crawl is the position animation for text on path shapes. A text on a path follows its shape, so it moves by sliding along that path.

The crawl moves the text between two positions measured from the beginning of the path: the start offset and the end offset.

With it you can:

• Slide a text along its path: forward or back, and around a closed path as many times as you want.
• Move several texts together: each one covers the same share of its own path.
• Adjust the crawl on the board: drag its handles and its line along the path.

Creating it

Adds a block that slides the selected texts along their paths.

• Operation:
  1. Select only text on path shapes on the board.
  2. In Animation mode, choose Path Crawl in the Actions panel.
• Result: a selected block starts at the playhead and slides each text from where it is along its path.
  • Open path: the text stops when its last letter reaches the end of the path.
  • Closed path: the text goes around once and ends where it started.
  • No path left ahead: the text goes back instead, until its first letter reaches the start of the path.
  • Duration: it comes from the distance traveled at the board's base position speed, 150 board units per second by default. You can change it afterwards.
  • Continue from its end: the playhead moves to the end of the block, so the next crawl you create starts where this one stops.

Several texts at once

One block moves all the selected texts:

• The same share of each path: at any moment, the texts are at the same percentage of their paths, so a text on a path twice as long travels twice as far in the same time.
• One starting point: all texts start from the same percentage, so creating the block can move some of them to that point.
• No text runs past its end: the new block ends where the first text reaches the end of its path.
• Duration: it's based on the text that travels farthest.
• Stagger shapes: with it on, each text reaches those positions after its own delay.

The path crawl block in the Timeline panel

In the Timeline panel, path crawl blocks appear in indigo (), like the other text animations.

1. Blocks that move one text use circular handles.
2. Blocks that move several texts use square handles.
3. Staggered blocks show a marker where each later text starts.

The crawl indicator on the board

The crawl indicator shows a crawl line over the part of the path the text covers, with a handle at each end. It shows while the block is selected, or for the selected texts when Show all animation indicators is on.

Handles and crawl line

• Start handle: the short bar where the text starts.
  • Drag it along the path to move the start offset.
  • When the crawl follows an earlier crawl on the same text, it is grayed out and stays at the end of that crawl.
• End handle: the arrowhead where the text stops, pointing in the direction it travels.
  • Drag it along the path to move the end offset.
  • Dragging it back past the start handle reverses the direction.
  • Moving it also moves the start of the next crawl on the same text.
• Crawl line: the line over the path between the handles.
  • Click it to select the crawl block, even where it lies over the shape the text follows.
  • Drag it along the path to slide the whole crawl. Its length, laps, and duration stay the same.
  • Sliding also moves the start of the next crawl on the same text.
  • When the crawl follows an earlier crawl on the same text, it can only be clicked, because its start stays at the end of that crawl.

With playback stopped, the handles and the crawl line respond at any playhead position.

On a closed path

When every text is on a closed path, the indicator covers one lap at most:

• Each handle stops one lap away from the other.
• One full lap highlights the whole loop, with both handles at the same point.
• Extra laps are set with Laps in the attributes.

Attributes

A path crawl block's settings are in the Text on Path Crawl section of the Attributes panel.

Timing

• Time: when the crawl starts and ends, in seconds. Each time is outlined while the playhead sits on it.
• Duration: the block's total length, including staggered texts and block pauses.
• Speed: speed multiplier relative to the board's base position speed (150 board units per second by default).
  • A crawl and a position block use the same base speed.
  • It measures the text that travels farthest.
  • Changing it keeps the start time and moves the end.
  • It depends on the distance traveled and the duration, so changing a path's length changes it.

Offsets

• Start offset and End offset: where the text is at the start and at the end of the block.
  • Each shows twice: as a percentage of the path, and in board units along the first text's path.
  • With several texts, each one moves the same percentage of its own path.
  • Before its first crawl, the text waits at that crawl's start offset.
  • When the crawl follows an earlier crawl on the same text, the start offset is grayed out and follows that crawl's end.
  • Maintain speed, in the Timeline panel header, decides what changes when you move an offset here or with the handles on the board:
    • On: the speed stays and the duration adjusts.
    • Off: the duration stays and the speed changes.

Laps

• Laps: extra full laps around a closed path, added in the crawl's direction after the end offset.
  • It shows only when every text is on a closed path.
  • It takes whole numbers from 0 up.
  • An end offset typed more than a lap away from the start moves its extra full laps here.
  • With Maintain speed on, the duration adjusts to the new travel.

Stagger

• Stagger shapes: starts the texts of a block one after another. See Stagger shapes.
• Reordering panel: with Stagger shapes on, sets the order in which the texts start. See Stagger shapes.
• Stagger text: moves the characters or words of each text one after another. It can be combined with Stagger shapes. See Stagger text.

Easing

• Easing: controls acceleration along the path. Cubic in and out is the default. See Easing.

In the Text on path section

With the text selected, the Anchor distance along the path field in the Text on path section also edits the crawl:

• With the playhead at the start or end of a crawl, it sets that crawl's start or end offset. At a start that follows an earlier crawl, it sets that crawl's end.
• Inside the crawl, it shows the moving value and cannot be edited.

Past the ends of the path

Offsets can go below 0% or above 100% of the path:

• On a closed path, the text keeps going around.
• On an open path, the text continues in a straight line past the end, in the direction the path had there.

Actions

With a path crawl block selected, the Actions panel offers these block actions:

• Delete: removes the block. See Block actions.
• Cut, Copy, and Paste: move or copy the block to another time or sequence. See Cut, copy, and paste blocks.
• Reassign: changes which texts the block moves. See Block actions.
• Create Block Pause: holds the text in place for a moment inside the block. See Block pauses.