Paint animated brush strokes

Create an animated brush stroke

1. In the Timeline panel, double-click the layer to paint. The layer opens in the Layer panel.
2. Select the Brush tool, and set the workspace to Paint.
3. Set the brush options in the Brushes panel.
4. Set the Duration in the Paint panel to Write On.
5. Position the current-time indicator to the frame where the paint will start animating.
6. Paint with the brush stroke in the Layer panel.

Adjust the brush stroke in the Timeline panel

1. In the Timeline panel, select the layer that contains the paint effect, and press the U key to open any animated properties.
2. Reposition the keyframes on the End property under Stroke Options to retime the speed of the paint stroke.
3. Collapse and open the Paint effect to open all of the paint properties.
4. Set Paint On Transparent to the desired setting.
5. Adjust the blend mode of the painted layer to blend it with the background.

Create an animated fill for a specific shape

1. Duplicate the layer you want to fill with a paint stroke.
2. Turn off the visibility of the newly created duplicate layer in the Timeline panel.
3. Paint with the brush stroke on the original layer in the Layer panel.
4. Set the track matte to Alpha Matte for the lower layer that contains the brush stroke.
5. Preview the animation.