> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.febucci.com/text-animator-unreal/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.febucci.com/text-animator-unreal/effects/add-effects-to-your-texts.md).

# Add effects to your texts

## Categories Overview <a href="#effects-categories" id="effects-categories"></a>

Effects are divided in three categories, based on their functionality/application. They consist of:

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th align="center"></th><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="center"><strong>Behavior Effects</strong> </td><td><img src="/files/ErJa9AI1D3NEL6ZBQ0nn" alt="An example of the Behavior Effect <wiggle>" data-size="original"></td><td>Behavior Effects animate letters continuously during time, as long as a letter is visible.</td></tr><tr><td align="center"><strong>Appearance Effects</strong>   </td><td><img src="/files/gn8RJ2zEqFp67G6URYXg" alt="An example of the Appearance Effect {vertexp}" data-size="original"></td><td>Appearance Effects animate letters only when they’re appearing on screen. For this reason, they’re mostly used in combination with the typewriter, which shows letters one after another.</td></tr><tr><td align="center"><strong>Disappearance Effects</strong> </td><td><img src="/files/ei7NAUXddYdHIpFlmbFa" alt="An example of the Disappearance Effect {#size}" data-size="original"></td><td>Disappearance Effects animate letters when they just became not-visible, and under the hood they’re simply Appearance effects in reverse.</td></tr></tbody></table>

{% hint style="info" %}
A list of built-in effects is available here: [Built-in effects list](/text-animator-unreal/effects/built-in-effects-list.md)
{% endhint %}

***

## How to Apply Effects <a href="#how-to-apply-effects" id="how-to-apply-effects"></a>

You can set different effects to your text in two main ways:

* [#set-default-effects-to-the-entire-text](#set-default-effects-to-the-entire-text "mention") (details panel)
* [#set-effects-to-specific-parts-of-the-text](#set-effects-to-specific-parts-of-the-text "mention") (rich text tags)

### Set default effects to the entire text <a href="#set-default-effects-to-the-entire-text" id="set-default-effects-to-the-entire-text"></a>

You can set which effect(s) will be applied to all letters by default in the Animated Text Block Widget Details panel, **without having to write effects tags for every text**.

1. Head over to the Animated Text Block Widget details panel and visit the “**Default Tags**” section&#x20;

   ![default tags section in the widget details](/files/Im1eVbCN9KoVvLMjv9pk)
2. Add any effect tag you want to include, example "`wave`" or "`wiggle`"

{% hint style="info" %}
&#x20;If you don’t want any effect applied by default, simply set the array size to zero.
{% endhint %}

* You can also change the "**Default Tags Mode**" to "**Constant**" if you want effects to be applied all the time, on top of everything.
* You can add Modifiers to each array element, like "shake a=5", read more here: [Modifiers](/text-animator-unreal/effects/add-effects-to-your-texts/modifiers.md)

### Set effects to specific parts of the text <a href="#set-effects-to-specific-parts-of-the-text" id="set-effects-to-specific-parts-of-the-text"></a>

You can apply effects to specific parts of your text by using rich text tags, overriding the default ones (if any "**Fallback**" is present).

The effects tag will look like this:

* **Behaviors**: `<tag>` to open, `</tag>` to close
* **Appearances**: `{tag}` to open, `{/tag}` to close
* **Disappearances**: `{#tag}` to open, `{/#tag}` to close\
  \&#xNAN;*(basically an appearance tag with a `#` before it, to simply remind you that disappearances are appearances in reverse)*.

{% hint style="info" %}
Once you close an effect tag, the letters will be affected again by the default effect (if any "Fallback" is set).
{% endhint %}

<details>

<summary>Example 1: Simple Effect</summary>

Example: “`I'm cold`” can be written as “`I'm <shake>cold</shake>`” (in the Text property of the Animated Text Block widget) in order to apply a *shaking* behavior effect on the specific word “cold”.

<figure><img src="/files/YqA059GkAplLdtjmIcFr" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

</details>

<details>

<summary>Example 2: Fallbacks</summary>

Let's say that we have one default effect ("size"), but we want to apply a specific part of the text with the "fade" effect.\
We can achieve that result by writing: \
"default default default `{fade}` fade fade fade `{/fade}` default default"

<p align="center"><img src="/files/2oYArJdFHk7eG0yMd8x9" alt="" data-size="original"></p>

As you can see, the letters that are outside the "fade" tags will have the default effect(s) applied, while the part inside "`{fade}`" and "`{/fade}`" will only have "fade".

</details>

***

### Extra notes about Rich Text formatting <a href="#extra-notes-about-rich-text-formatting" id="extra-notes-about-rich-text-formatting"></a>

By using TextAnimator for Unreal:

* You can stack multiple effects together (e.g. “`<shake><size>`”).\
  (also have a look at [Styles](/text-animator-unreal/effects/add-effects-to-your-texts/styles.md))
* You can close **all** currently opened effects with a single ‘`/`’ character, like:
  * ”`</>`” for **Behavior** Effects
  * ”`{/}`” for **Appearance** Effects
  * ”`{/#}`” for **Disappearance** Effects.
* There is no need to close tags if you’re at the end of the text, since Text Animator starts applying effect from the moment you open a tag. (e.g. "`<shake>hello`" will result in "hello" already animating).