[malatekid]

I am working on a home video of a concert. Like in a regular movie, I tried putting opening credits (title, each performer's name, etc.). Basically, I would like to present one credit at a time that fades in and fades out. I was able to do this by adding as many text effects I need on the text track.
a) Is there an easier way or efficient way to do this? Right now, I do copy and paste.
I don't find any tool to adjust the duration other than dragging the icon to shorten the duration. Even right-clicking the icon does not show any menu to do it.

Thanks.

This post has been edited by malatekid: 08 May 2006 - 05:43 AM

[Patty]

What are you wanting to use for the background of the credits? Pick a picture, color panel (which you can add a texture effect to) Then for the first listing drag text down to the panel in storyline or use timeline and double click on the panel your adding text to and open the internal tracks and drag your text to text track. right click on track and choose edit, there you can do the fade in and out and adjust the timing. Do that for all your credit listings side by side with no transitions you will end up with a fade in and out of each credit. You will probably have to play with it a little to get the timing effect that you want. I have done this with the Star Wars credit effect that Windows Movie Maker has and then I saved it to my hard drive and then added it to my Roxio Project, that is really a cool effect. I have also used the Brady Bunch look, which entails a lot more work using head shots of each person. You can really get creative.

This post has been edited by nanaoneal: 08 May 2006 - 02:56 PM

[malatekid]

nanaoneal, on May 8 2006, 01:08 PM, said:

What are you wanting to use for the background of the credits? Pick a picture, color panel (which you can add a texture effect to) Then for the first listing drag text down to the panel in storyline or use timeline and double click on the panel your adding text to and open the internal tracks and drag your text to text track. right click on track and choose edit, there you can do the fade in and out and adjust the timing. Do that for all your credit listings side by side with no transitions you will end up with a fade in and out of each credit. You will probably have to play with it a little to get the timing effect that you want. I have done this with the Star Wars credit effect that Windows Movie Maker has and then I turned it to my hard drive and then added it to my Roxio Project, that is really a cool effect. I have also used the Brady Bunch look, which entails a lot more work using head shots of each person. You can really get creative.

Hi Patty,

The background is the actual video--like a commercial movie where the movie is playing and the credits pop in and out (fades in and out --from the title to the stars. etc. director's name, etc.). Will adding color panels work (like putting it as an overlay)? Will they not overlay the movie? I'm not in front of the machine that has VW8 so I cannot test how it looks like.

Thanks.

Jess

[Patty]

What I was suggesting won't work with a video it would only work with stills and color panels. The only way you could get it to work with video is to actually split the video into short segments, adding text as I suggested above and fade in and out. I would suggest that you put in the first credit, adjust the fade in and out then go back and split the video right after the fade out, add the next credit, adjust the fade in and out and continue until finished. Do not put transitions inbetween the clips so it plays smoothly. The color panel idea was just if you were going to use something other then the video itself for the credit background. I have also used the credit roll and done the effect with the credit rolling on just the right side of the video. All these things take a little time but work really well.

Also when I mention adding texture to a color panel, you find the texture in the overlays. There are actually a few more in v7 then v8. I only explain this because someone wrote and asked about it. I used the word effect which might lead someone to believe that that would be found in the effects menu when actually it is in the overlays.

This post has been edited by nanaoneal: 08 May 2006 - 02:55 PM

[ggrussell]

Why would you split the video just because of the fade in/out of the text? I placed 3 consecutive Text and they all fade in/out.

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This post has been edited by ggrussell: 08 May 2006 - 04:00 PM

[Patty]

Thanks Gary
It wasn't the fade in and out I didn't realize you could put in separate text. I haven't done it with video before and I didn't realize it would accept individual side by side text. Good to know.

This post has been edited by nanaoneal: 08 May 2006 - 04:32 PM

[ggrussell]

Technically you can put text anywhere. Screenshot is a slideshow where the images fade in/out and the text fades in/out in between the images fades. Text and images do NOT have to coincide.

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[malatekid]

ggrussell, on May 8 2006, 09:21 PM, said:

Technically you can put text anywhere. Screenshot is a slideshow where the images fade in/out and the text fades in/out in between the images fades. Text and images do NOT have to coincide.

That's what I am doing -- putting text anywhere using the text effect track. The only thing missing is a menu(shortcut) to specify the duration of the text effect instead of dragging the end of the icon and estimate the length of the duration you want.

Also, I struggle when editing the text themselves in EMC8. In my opinion, the the text editor and GUI used in in EMC7.5 is seamless and easier to work with. Also the image produced (letters and fonts) is much much better than EMC8.

[ggrussell]

you are correct. There is a no menu or shortcut for text duration. Not even in the Deluxe version. You wouldn't believe how many times I complained about that during testing. There should be a default (user selectable) duration for ALL items that is not video.

One very nice thing about the Deluxe version is having multiple text tracks. The Deluxe version can have up to 5 text tracks and 5 overlay tracks. Can be much more creative with multiple tracks.

Oh yeah, don't forget about the internal tracks, too. I hardly use them. When you place text or effect on an internal track, they only last the length of the clip or if you have a really long clip, you can add more on a single internal track. You can then add more text during the same time on the external track having two different texts on screen.

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This post has been edited by ggrussell: 09 May 2006 - 09:08 AM

[malatekid]

ggrussell, on May 9 2006, 10:12 AM, said:

you are correct. There is a menu or shortcut for text duration. Not even in the Deluxe version. You wouldn't believe how many times I complained about that during testing. There should be a default (user selectable) duration for ALL items that is not video.

"There should be a default (user selectable) duration for ALL items that is not video." -- I totally agree with you! I'm glad you brought it up during testing --hopefully, this ended up in their "wish" list of future enhancements.

Since each all video sources that require the text effects are identical (in the case of the project I am working on now, I just need to show the title and composer of the song in each of the string quartet's repertoire where each video source shows a music selection), I just copy and paste the text effect and edit accordingly.

Thanks for the infor re: internal/external tracks. I'll keep in mind. One gets to be more creative as more features in the software become available to users.

This post has been edited by malatekid: 10 May 2006 - 09:08 AM

[ggrussell]

For more effects, use PNG image files with transparent background behind your text. Just place them on the overlay track.

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[malatekid]

ggrussell, on May 9 2006, 10:33 AM, said:

For more effects, use PNG image files with transparent background behind your text. Just place them on the overlay track.

This will enable to assign specific amount of duration to that png file, isn't it?

I've seen png files (they're like jpg files). How do you create one (e.g., the example you provided above)?

[ggrussell]

Photosuite 8 included with EMC8 supports PNG with transparent backgrounds. PNG is open source. Formats like TIF, JPG and GIF have patented technology and must be licensed.

The overlay duration and text duration are independent of each other.

This post has been edited by ggrussell: 09 May 2006 - 09:13 AM

[malatekid]

ggrussell, on May 9 2006, 01:12 PM, said:

Photosuite 8 included with EMC8 supports PNG with transparent backgrounds. PNG is open source. Formats like TIF, JPG and GIF have patented technology and must be licensed.

The overlay duration and text duration are independent of each other.

So basically go to PhotoSuite and create an image with background and text and save as png file, right?

[ggrussell]

Yes, but with or without the text. In the example, the PNG was just a rectangle filled with gradient blue to white at 33% opacity. The text was done in Videowave.

You could also make the text part of the PNG. Either way would work. If they are separate, then they both could be animated independently.

[malatekid]

ggrussell, on May 9 2006, 03:34 PM, said:

Yes, but with or without the text. In the example, the PNG was just a rectangle filled with gradient blue to white at 33% opacity. The text was done in Videowave.

You could also make the text part of the PNG. Either way would work. If they are separate, then they both could be animated independently.

Got you; thank you.