Throughout my career, one of the trickiest things I have had to deal with is making text interesting. It’s the first thing people see, therefore the first thing they are going to judge. This means care must be taken in how it is displayed in an edit. If done wrong, it can feel like exposition for exposition’s sake.
One way I found to add a fun element is to actually put video within the text itself. This is a great way to give a mood to your text. For example, a title with “Sahara Desert” feels a lot warmer when the desert itself is present in the text. This can also be used as a great way to transition from one scene into another. Think James Bond Transition!
Today we are going to go over how to add this video inside text to your next edit in Premiere Pro!
How to Insert Video Into Text in Premiere Pro CC 2024
From personal experience, the key to pulling off this effect is to make sure the video you are using is related to the text. So if you are doing “New York City”, make sure you have a really recognizable shot of New York. Don’t pick a forest, or an unrecognizable road. Make sure it’s Time Square, the Statue of Liberty, or a nice shot of the skyline.
The more punchy and vibrant the shot is, the more it will resonate as well. This will elevate the video inside the text from borderline cheesy to epic!
So let’s get started with this effect. Get Premiere Pro opened up and let’s get that video inside the text!
Video Inside Text Step-By-Step
- Import some footage into the sequence. I went ahead and used Envato Elements, a great subscription based service where you can download a near unlimited amount of stock footage!
- Click the type tool and type out your text.
- Go to the Essential Graphics pane. You can now edit the text and make it appear how you like it to be. If you don’t see the essential graphics pane, make sure to go up to Window->Essential Graphics. This small detail has tripped me up MULTIPLE times. Premiere pro is all about getting the workflow setup for your particular task.
- Grab a second piece of footage and drag it into the essential graphics pane under the edit column. So you aren’t dragging this onto the timeline itself, but rather in the Essential Graphics pane itself.
- Click on the text in the edit pane.
- Go down to the “Mask with Text” checkbox. Click on that and switch it on.
With that single button click you have created your mask, and your text should now be inside the video! This used to be a lot more of an advanced effect utilizing multiple layers and effects to get to this end result. Adobe has listened though and included a great quality of life improvement. You can add a drop shadow, animations, or any other effect to the layer to further enhance your changes!
If you have any questions or comments, comment below, or on the video itself!
