---
title: "Glass type"
description: "Lesson 11.4 of Creator Terminal's lesson films (Materials): Make a lock screen's time out of glass, each digit bending the photo behind it, as Apple's clock does."
canonical: "https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/glass-type/"
last_updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Glass type

> Lesson 11.4 of Creator Terminal's lesson films (Materials): Make a lock screen's time out of glass, each digit bending the photo behind it, as Apple's clock does.

- The film (0:53): https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/1886be3cf112/11.4-glass-type.mp4
- Vertical cut: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/4c50493d622f/11.4-glass-type-vertical.mp4
- Captions: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/95716bf7285e/11.4-glass-type.vtt
- The page: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/glass-type/
- The document the film opens: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/1f0fbc164aee/lock.ctd

## Step by step

In this tutorial you'll make a lock screen's time out of glass, the way Apple's lock screen clock
is: each digit bending the sky, the sun and the hills behind it. Glass is one of Creator
Terminal's materials, and it works on text as well as shapes, so the time stays a text layer you
can still edit.

### Before you start

- Creator Terminal, open. [Your first material](/your-first-material/) shows what a material is.
- A text layer over a picture. The film's is a photo at dusk whose hills drift slowly, with the
  date and a big time, `9:41`, in white over it.

### 1. Find the time

The lock screen is on the stage (the canvas, in other tools): the photo, the date and the time
over it. The rail (the Properties panel, in After Effects or Figma) is on the right.

![The lock screen on the stage: a dusk photo with the date and 9:41 in white over it.](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/c700ce00bc01/glass-type-the-lock-screen-on-the-stage-a-dusk.webp)

### 2. Make it glass

1. Click the time on the stage to select it. The rail shows its text rows.
2. Click **↓ more** at the foot of the rail, then **+ material** in the **Effects** row. A
   **Material** section opens, its look reading **◂ Mesh ▸**.

   ![The rail's Effects row, with + material under blur, shadow and glow.](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/3904ca345146/glass-type-the-rail-s-effects-row-with-material-under.webp)

3. Click **▸** to step through the looks: **Chroma**, **Aurora**, **Chrome**, and then
   **Glass**.

Glass's own rows follow: **Light angle**, **Light**, **Refraction**, **Depth** and the rest. New
glass starts lit from the top left. Under **Material**, the rail notes **players draw it plain**:
apps that play Lottie files show the white text, and videos show the glass.

![The rail's Material rows, the look set to Glass, with Light angle, Refraction and Depth below.](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/e0822059af21/glass-type-the-rail-s-material-rows-the-look-set.webp)

### 3. Look closely

Each digit now bends the sky behind it. Where the sun and the hills pass under, they curve round
its edges, and a thin light runs round each rim. Over a smooth picture like this, glass stays
clear; over busy detail it frosts.

![The time made of glass: each digit bending the sun and the hills behind it.](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/88b349a6179f/glass-type-the-time-made-of-glass-each-digit-bending.webp)

### 4. Let it move

Press `esc` twice to let go of the time, then `0` to go to the first frame and `space` to play.
The hills drift by, and the glass bends them as they go. Press `space` again to stop.

![The lock screen playing, the hills drifting under the glass digits.](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/11.4-glass-type/0eb45c29548b/glass-type-the-lock-screen-playing-the-hills-drifting-under.webp)

### What you learned

- Glass works on a text layer as on a shape: each letter or digit bends what's behind it.
- **+ material** in the rail's **Effects** row adds a material; **◂ ▸** steps through the looks.
- Players draw the text plain, so export a video to keep the glass.

[Materials](/docs/layers/materials/) in the manual has all twelve looks and Glass's rows. That's
the materials chapter: a backdrop that breathes, glass that merges, light that travels, and type
made of glass.

## In this lesson

### A lock screen (0:06)

Here's a lock screen. A photo at dusk, with the date, and the time over it.

### Make it glass (0:13)

Click the time. In the rail, click more, then plus material. Step it along, past Chroma, Aurora and Chrome. And now, Glass.

### Made of glass (0:24)

Look closely. Each digit bends the sky behind it. Where the sun and the hills pass under, they curve round its edges.

### Let it move (0:33)

Press escape twice, then zero, and space. The hills drift by, and the glass bends them as they go.