There are effects which are basic to the toolbox of every motion designer.
This series shows how they're accomplished using After Effects for Windows or Mac.

Today we present the write-on effect in a solid tutorial by vvincefantasy on YouTube. Vince uses the stroke effect, rather than After Effects' built-in Write-on effect. The result is the same but this method is much more versatile. You're working with the pen tool and it's so much easier to see and adjust your lines. If you've ever used Write-on you'll see the difference.

Enjoy.