Show a text conversation that plays out on screen
Ask the Tella Agent for an animated text message conversation. Tella Motion builds the chat bubbles from shapes and text and pops them in one by one.
Try it in Tella
Paste a prompt into the Tella Agent in the editor, or into Claude or ChatGPT connected to Tella, then ask for changes.
In this Tella Motion clip, show a text conversation between Priya and the Brightwick support team on a dark gray background. Put Priya's bubbles on the right in blue #2F6BFF with white text. Put Brightwick's bubbles on the left in light gray #E5E7EB with dark text. Give all bubbles a 24 px corner radius. Pop in one bubble every 1.2 seconds: "My export failed twice", "Sorry! Which file?", "quarterly-report.mov", "Fixed. Try again now". Before each Brightwick reply, show three dots that bounce for half a second.
When I say "this is what your customers see", show two chat bubbles in the top right corner: a customer asking "Where's my Larkspur order?" and a reply saying "Out for delivery, arriving by 5 pm". Pop them in 0.8 seconds apart, hold them for 4 seconds, then fade both out.
Make a text thread between two friends, Mo and Dee, planning a hike at Copperleaf Ridge. Use six messages on alternating sides, with green bubbles for Mo and white bubbles for Dee, all with a soft drop shadow. Pop each message's words in, and start each bubble 1 second after the one before.
How do I make an animated text message or chat conversation for a video?
In Tella, ask the Tella Agent for a chat conversation. Tella Motion builds it from rounded shapes and text and pops in each bubble after the one before. Put it in its own clip (Add clip → New Tella Motion clip), or ask for it as an overlay on your recording, timed to what you say. Every bubble stays editable, so you can ask the agent to change the wording, colors, sides or timing.
How to do it
- Open your video in the Tella editor. If the sidebar with the Tella Agent chat is hidden, press Shift + S.
- For a standalone scene, choose Add clip → New Tella Motion clip. For an overlay on your recording, say which words it should appear on.
- List the messages in order and say who sends each one.
- Describe the look: bubble colors, which side each sender is on, corner radius and the gap between messages.
- Preview it, then ask for changes like "slower" or "move the reply higher".
Good to know
- Available to everyone: through the Tella Agent on a paid plan or the 7-day trial, or through Claude or ChatGPT on any plan.
- The agent draws each bubble as a rounded rectangle with text, so describe the style you want instead of naming a messaging app.
- A Tella Motion clip has no transcript, so bubbles in it are timed in seconds. You can only time bubbles to your words when they're an overlay on a recorded clip.
- Reset all overlays on the Overlay timeline removes motion graphics as well as text, media and sound effects.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Ask the Tella Agent for three dots that bounce before a reply. Tella Motion can loop that animation. For a sound, open Overlay → Sounds and add a click or pop from the Interface sounds where each bubble appears.
Yes. Tella Motion can animate text by character, word or line, with presets such as typewriter, pop and rise. Tell the Tella Agent which preset to use and how fast.
Yes. An AI assistant connected to Tella's MCP server can build Tella Motion clips and overlays with the same commands the Tella Agent uses, including shapes, text and timing.