Alpha Gradient??

[zhac]

I've got grey text on a white background, and I'm trying to get the text to fade out as it reaches a spot on the stage. The text will be moving back and forth throughout the movie, and I need for only the part of the text that is crossing (or has crossed) the area to fade out (not the whole text line at once!), and for it to fade back in when it moves back the other direction.

I figured this would be simple enough, just putting a white object over the text in the area, and using a gradient from Alpha 0 ---> Alpha 100...but there doesn't seem to be an Alpha option in the gradient tools!

Any ideas??

Thanks!

 

[rubychyld]

do this to get the alpha with a gradient

make any shape
select the filled area
go window >> panels >> fill
chooser linear or radial gradient
select one of the colors on either end
no find the mixer panel
and adjust the alpha or color

wha la!!! Catch the vigorous horse of your mind!