Select an animation, special effects or video-editing program to use for the process.
People avoiding the technical and tedious animation process may alternatively use animated title programs where they can simply type the title, then choose from available templates on how they want their title to look on screen. However, this option also means that there is no adequate control on how the title will look. Others who can handle a more technical process prefer professional animation, special effects or video-editing programs where they can have better control of both manual and automated functions when creating their title animations.
Configure your video project's settings. Depending on the original video where the title animation will be used, set your project either in standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD). Choose your video resolution, which can be 720 x 480 for an SD project or 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720 for an HD project. Also, select the frame rate used for your video, which is usually 24fps (frames per second) or 30fps.
Type your animated title on the space provided. This is typically located under the "Text" tab in your project interface. Then, drag the text clip into your project's "Timeline."
Highlight the video clip in your "Timeline," then set the initial image attributes of your title text. These includes the text's color, font, size and background color. Use the "Toolbox" found within your project's interface to change these attributes. This is usually found on one side of your work area. These functions are also typically located in the menu program on top of your screen, and sometimes, they appear after right-clicking your video-clip from the "Timeline." Use the "Preview Window" to check how your animated title looks.
Set your running time for the title animation and play around with your image attributes at specific parts of your "Timeline." Make the necessary changes in the location, movement and appearance of your text at different times. Use the program's title safe guides to make sure that any text is properly aligned on the screen. These also avoid unintentionally placing the text outside the playback screen.
Experiment on the lighting, texture and other special effects functions available in the program. Popular video effects used in many programs include "Glow," "Blur," "Stylize," "Particles," "Lens Flare," "Gravity" and a variety of video transitions like "Fade In and Out" and "Cross Dissolve." These functions are usually found under the "Video" or "Effects" menu located on the top of your screen.
Finalize the title animation by selecting the "Animate" button or any other similar function in your program. Some programs simply require going straight to the rendering process to finalize the animated title. Press the "Render" button, then wait for the process to complete. Rendering time varies depending on how simple or complicated the effects are, the length of your final video and whether the project is in SD or HD format.
Export the newly-rendered title animation into your desired video file format, then attach it to the video where the said title is meant for use.