Problem
Animated lower-thirds overlap one another because their collision logic does not account for variable name length.
Solution
Root Cause / Diagnostic:
Multi-tier motion graphics templates (e.g., lower-third name banners with accompanying subtitle tags or social handles) frequently use hard-coded spatial offsets. When a contributor has an unusually long name or multi-line job title, the primary text layer expands into the physical screen space occupied by the secondary subtitle container. Because there is no dynamic collision detection or responsive coordinate linkage between the elements, the layers collide and obscure text legibility.
Actionable Fix:
1. Link the vertical and horizontal position of secondary lower-third layers to the primary title's bounding box using sourceRectAtTime(): p = thisComp.layer("Name").sourceRectAtTime(); [value[0], p.top + p.height + 24].
2. Apply an automatic text-scaling expression on the primary text layer to dynamically reduce point size if character count or pixel width exceeds safe title bounds.
3. Test the template with extreme variations (e.g., a 4-letter name vs. a 35-letter hyphenated name) to confirm that secondary graphics automatically shift down to maintain consistent 24px margins.
Pro Tip:
Build responsive lower-thirds inside After Effects using Responsive Design - Time and Responsive Design - Position features, or bundle them as auto-wrapping Essential Graphics templates.
Multi-tier motion graphics templates (e.g., lower-third name banners with accompanying subtitle tags or social handles) frequently use hard-coded spatial offsets. When a contributor has an unusually long name or multi-line job title, the primary text layer expands into the physical screen space occupied by the secondary subtitle container. Because there is no dynamic collision detection or responsive coordinate linkage between the elements, the layers collide and obscure text legibility.
Actionable Fix:
1. Link the vertical and horizontal position of secondary lower-third layers to the primary title's bounding box using sourceRectAtTime(): p = thisComp.layer("Name").sourceRectAtTime(); [value[0], p.top + p.height + 24].
2. Apply an automatic text-scaling expression on the primary text layer to dynamically reduce point size if character count or pixel width exceeds safe title bounds.
3. Test the template with extreme variations (e.g., a 4-letter name vs. a 35-letter hyphenated name) to confirm that secondary graphics automatically shift down to maintain consistent 24px margins.
Pro Tip:
Build responsive lower-thirds inside After Effects using Responsive Design - Time and Responsive Design - Position features, or bundle them as auto-wrapping Essential Graphics templates.