I can animate text with the following:
var headline = document.querySelector('#headline');
var splitHeadline = new SplitText(headline, {type:'words,chars'});
var chars1 = splitHeadline.chars;
gsap.from(chars1, {duration: 0.5, autoAlpha:0, ease: SteppedEase.config(6), stagger: 1 / 10 })
However, if I change "autoAlpha:0" with "visibility:'hidden'" to remove the opacity, the text doesn't animate. I'd appreciate your expertise.