@Jonathan
Thank you for taking the time ! The GSAP forum team is just amazing.
The ultimate goal is to explore if GSAP can eventually be used to create animations that combine the power of SplitText and filters.
The SVG solution looks great ( just learned about GSAP AttrPlugin ). My guess is that it cannot be applied when using SplitText.
Using CSS filters looks like the way to go. But making this work with a SplitText stagger seems like a daunting task. Does the mandatory use of "onUpdate", means that "stagger" cannot be used ?
GSAP, please consider adding something for a cleaner way to tween filters. When scanning through code, the solution feels long, complex, and less intuitive than classic Tweening. These 4 lines of codes are beautiful, but they won't work
var h1 = document.querySelector( "h1" );
var split = new SplitText( h1, { type: "chars" } );
var tl = new TimelineMax();
tl.staggerFrom( split.chars, 0.7, { opacity: 0, filter: "blur(5px)" }, 0.1 );
Happy Tweening!