Visual QuickStart Guide [Electronic resources] : Final Cut Express HD for Mac OS X

Generating Text

Use text generators to create text elements and title screens in Final Cut Express. A text generator can create titles using any TrueType font currently loaded in your System Folder. You can specify text size, style, color, tracking, and kerning.

Final Cut Express offers six built-in text generators, which appear in the Text submenu of the Viewer's Generator pop-up menu (Figure 17.5 ):

• Text: Generates static text in a single size and style. This option allows carriage returns.

  Figure 17.5. Six text generator options are available from the Generator pop-up menu's Text submenu in the Viewer window.

• Lower 3rd: Generates two lines of static text. Each line has separate controls for font, style, and size. The Lower 3rd generator is designed to create the standard titles used to identify interview subjects in news and documentary programs.

• Outline Text: Generates static text with an adjustable outline stroke and background matte. You can also matte graphics into the text, outline, or background elements.

• Scrolling Text: Generates animated text that scrolls up or down the screen vertically. A longer clip duration results in a slower scrolling speed. Scrolling text allows carriage returns.

• Crawl: Generates a single line of animated text that scrolls across the screen horizontally. Crawl speed is determined by the duration of the clip: a longer clip duration results in a slower crawl speed.

• Typewriter: Generates animated text that appears on the screen one letter at a time, as if typed.

Creating titles with Boris Calligraphy" later in this chapter for more details.

You can edit a text generator clip into a sequence in the Timeline and apply effects, just as with other clips. You can also animate static text by using keyframes to make dynamic adjustments to a text generator clip's motion properties.

Your animation applies to all text in the generatoryou cannot control individual letters, words, or sentences.

Tips

Text generator options checklist

On the Controls tab, you can specify the following text control settings (Figure 17.6 ):

• Text: Enter your text in this field or cut and paste from a word processing program.

  Figure 17.6. Style your text generator on the Viewer's Controls tab.

• Font: Choose a font from this pop-up menu.

• Size: Use the slider or enter a point size for your type.

• Style: Choose a font style (Plain, Bold, Italic, and so on) from this pop-up menu.

• Alignment: Choose Center, Left, or Right alignment from this pop-up menu.

• Font Color: Click the expansion triangle to reveal the full set of color controls; then

  do one of the following:

  FCE 1 Projects in FCE HD: Your Text May Vary If you're working on a project that originated in Final Cut Express 1, you may find that your text tracking has changed, and your titles appear narrower or wider than they did in FCE 1. Check your work before you output.

• Leading: Use the slider or enter a value to specify the spacing between lines of text.

• Aspect: Use the slider or enter a value to specify the height:width proportion of your selected font.

• Auto Kerning: Check the box to enable automatic adjustment of the spacing between individual letters.

• Use Subpixel: Check the box to enable subpixel accuracy in your rendered text generator. Subpixel rendering takes longer.

To generate a basic title screen:

1.	To generate a title screen, do one of the following: From the Generator pop-up menu in the lower right of the Viewer window, choose Text > Text. On the Browser's Effects tab, choose Text from the Video Generator folder (Figure 17.7 ). Figure 17.7. Choose the Text generator from the Video Generator folder on the Effects tab of the Browser window. The Text generator appears in the Viewer.
2.	In the Viewer, click the Controls tab to access the generator's controls; then specify your text control settings as outlined in the previous section, "Text generator options checklist" (Figure 17.8 ). Figure 17.8. Enter and format text on the Controls tab. You can specify only one font per text generator.
3.	Click back to the Viewer's Video tab and edit the text clip into your sequence in the Timeline. If you want to superimpose your text over video, choose the Superimpose edit type when you perform your edit (Figure 17.9 ). Figure 17.9. Drop the text clip on the Superimpose area of the edit overlay. A Superimpose edit automatically places your text clip on a new Timeline track above the target track, starting at the sequence In point. You can edit, filter, and animate text clips as you would any other video element.

Tips for Better-Looking Titles Always check your type on an actual television monitor. (If you are outputting for home viewing on video tape, preferably test it on the absolute worst television set and VCR you can find in the nearest back alley or junkyard.) Text should be larger than 24 points if you want it to be legible on TV. Black-and-white titles will never look their best if you use pure white and pure black; these extreme values exceed DV video's capacity to handle contrast. Try using a 10% gray over 90% black. (Compare the results on your video monitor with a title composed using pure white over pure black.) The same principle applies to color titles; using pure red, green, or blue will produce that bad, late-night infomercial look you are probably trying to avoid. When you superimpose a solid-color title over production video, try setting the title's opacity to 90%. Don't forget the simple drop-shadow effect found on the Motion tab of any clip. With some tweaks, you can create a professional-quality drop shadow that really pops your title out from any background.