Add text to bottom throughout video

PeterWright wrote on 2/11/2011, 5:21 PM

Hi gg, greetings from Nanning, China

On a track ABOVE the rest of the video tracks, add a Generated Media / Text Event and drag the edge to cover the entire duration of your video. Choose a template with a chequerboard background, which means the background is transparent. If the template has a coloured background, this can still be made transparent by going to the Properties tab and dragging the Background Colour arrow next to the vertical panel to the bottom.

Back to the Edit tab - there will be the default words "Sample Text" at a font size of 72. Highlight this, change font size to something like 16, and type in the disclaimer text you need.

Now click on the Placement tab and under Text Placement, select Bottom Centre.

Now you can tweak your caption to look exactly as you want by changing font, colour (Under Properties) and add shadow or outline in the Effects tab. Colour and size of shadow or outline can be adjusted here - if a change does not appear in Preview immediately. click on the feather or width slider.

Once you're happy with everything, Render a new clip complete with captions.

Good luck

graphic_girl wrote on 2/11/2011, 7:22 PM

WOW Peter...

THAT'S what I'm talking about... excellent - CLEAR - instructions... appear very easy to follow... and as a graphic designer am verrrry familiar with the checkerboard transparent background... but THANK YOU for giving me EXACTLY what I asked for... again this forum and YOU Peter... ROCK!

Will go off to implement now... but do have ONE final question... In the last sentence you say "Render a new clip complete with captions" and my question is... do I have to do anyting DIFFERENTLY or specify something special to "render with captions"? (Rendering was my downfall last time as there was a million different options and it took trial and error to get it right... so I am a bit gun (render) shy...

THANK YOU AGAIN!

And hello to CHINA!!!?!?!?!?!? it is soooo cool to reach out and get help from all corners of the world.. I LOVE COMPUTERS... (and Hello from Chicago, Illinois USA)

gg

PeterWright wrote on 2/11/2011, 7:31 PM

I'd say use exactly the template you finally settled on after your previous trial and error, gg. and it should look fine. It will take a little longer to render as every frame will need re-writing with the caption superimposed.

Incidentally, I'm on holiday in China from Perth, Western Australia, which is even further away!

amendegw wrote on 2/12/2011, 3:01 AM

gg,

Once you've followed Peter's excellent advice, you might want to save your work for future use. Go to the "Preset" text box of the Text FX panel and give your text effect an name. Then click the save icon. Now you can reuse your text settings in other projects.

Good Luck!
...Jerry

Chienworks wrote on 2/12/2011, 3:23 AM

Where are folks from?

http://www.vegasusers.com/whereareyou/

graphic_girl wrote on 2/12/2011, 5:09 AM

Thank You Jerry... thank GOODNESS you taught me to do that last time after all the render trials we wnt through... as I would have NO idea what worked... but SAVED the template... YAY!

And thanks for the reminder to do it again! I wouldn't have thought of it and since I expect to be doinging tthis SO SELDOMLY... templates are EXCELLENT advice!

ONCE AGAIN YOU GUYS ROCK! And THANKS SO MUCH!

gg
p.s. How do I get on that map?

Chienworks wrote on 2/12/2011, 5:25 AM

Scroll down to the bottom and click "Put yourself on the map". :)

gpsmikey wrote on 2/12/2011, 5:35 AM

Ooops - I just put myself on the map ... again (forgot I had done it before). Is there an "unput" button somewhere or am I now permanently cloned ??

mikey

Chienworks wrote on 2/13/2011, 5:03 AM

You're unput now. ;)

graphic_girl wrote on 2/13/2011, 7:35 AM

Oh BOY... I reeeeeallllllly need to take a class or somethiing...

Was able to add text (several times :-()... but CANNOT figure out how to open and edit the text to change size... placement... etc... can do work around by simply DELETING and REDOING with my handy-dandy preset (thanks Jerry!)... but what a PITA... and I knoooooow it has got to be something really EASY and stupid... but there are just soooo many options and buttons and menus... I have right and left clicked just about everything... once I actually STUMBLED ONTO "Edit generated media"... but cannot find it again...

Sooooo how do I OPEN the generated text media editor where my preset is to EDIT it??? :-( (sorry I am SUCH a newbie... but all this trial and error IS helping me learn... :-)

gg
frustrated in Chicago... :-(

Jay Gladwell wrote on 2/13/2011, 7:48 AM

In Vegas, click on "Help" then click on "Contents and Index" in the drop down window. Click the "Index" tab and type in the key words "generated media" and select "Adding Generated Media to Your Project" from "Topics Found" window. Under "What do you want to do?" select "Edit generated media event."

Learning how to use the Help function will save time (you won't have to wait for answers here).

amendegw wrote on 2/13/2011, 7:51 AM

Don't forget to select the text (i.e. click-and-drag) before changing the font, size, etc.

Good Luck!
...Jerry

graphic_girl wrote on 2/13/2011, 7:59 AM

Thank You Jay... excellent advice... I will go try the help out... actually I am usually a big fan of help in most software programs... meanwhile I just deleted and recreated (AGAIN) and am doing a test render now...

Jerry... also thank you... you have been such a patient helper... :-) but actually my problem is getting to that box... I am really comfortable working within it... once I can open it... but finding the little bugger has been my issue... I even tried snapping it into my other open boxes along the top (like the preview pane etc)... and according to the drop downs... Alt+9 should open this panel but it doesn't work...

Thanks to all once again... and I even hesitated to post this questions as it was sooooo basic and stupid... kind of like... "what's a path" when I am telling someone to do a save as and change the path... basic computing skills... and I will figure Vegas out... eventually... it uses panels like my Adobe creative suite... it just has a LOT more buttons and gadgets... :-/

Thanks again and sorry....

gg
still rendering... and HATE the disclaimer text at bottom... but gotta do it for legal... :-(

graphic_girl wrote on 2/13/2011, 8:00 AM

LOL Jerry... you changed the graphic while I was typing my reply... and THANK YOU -- I believe that IS what I was looking for... after my test render is done... I will CHECK IT OUT! :-)

THANKS AGAIN - STILLLLLL LOVIN' THIS FORUM! :-)

gg

amendegw wrote on 2/13/2011, 8:06 AM

gg,

One more thing, suggest you take a 6 minute break and click HERE

Good Luck!
...Jerry

graphic_girl wrote on 2/13/2011, 8:12 AM

Awwwweee Jer... you are such a sweetheart! THANK YOU... have downloaded and am about to watch it... may I ask where you got it from so I may peruse for other training videos...

I recently had to learn another realllllly complicated financial analysis software... and their site had tons of these training videos that were MOST HELPFUL to me...

So... thank you again! and again! and again! YOU ROCK!!!! :-)

gg
getting another cup of coffee, some popcorn, and settling in to watch my new training video (ok maybe its too early for popcorn but DEF getting some more java! :0)

amendegw wrote on 2/13/2011, 8:19 AM

"may I ask where you got it from so I may peruse for other training videos..."Up at the top of this page you will see some menu items. Click "support", then "training", and scroll down to the section "free training videos". You'll want to look thru "Vegas Pro" & "Vegas Pro Training Series"

Good Luck!
...Jerry

graphic_girl wrote on 2/13/2011, 8:27 AM

Thanks Jer! :-)

gg :-)

graphic_girl wrote on 2/13/2011, 8:38 AM

NIIIIICCCCEEEEEE!

EXACTLY what I needed... and I *KNEW* it was going to be something reeeeeallllly easy (the media generator button on clip on timeline)... but WHO KNEW.... (Oh yea YOU GUYS DID!!!) and the training video was AWESOME... gonna be spending some time there perusing other training videos...

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!

gg :-)

autopilot wrote on 2/13/2011, 10:39 PM

( Maybe I missed it, but... ) You can also adjust the opacity of the letters and graphics by pulling down the bar at the top of each media clip.

It gives it that "watermark" look.

Grazie wrote on 2/13/2011, 10:54 PM

[I]( To gg! You is a breath of fresh air, blasting through this Forum! - Grazie) [/I]

Chienworks wrote on 2/14/2011, 5:12 AM

graphic_girl,

Something i found exceptionally instructive when i was learning how to use Vegas is to
- click on *EVERYTHING*
- right-mouse-button click on *EVERYTHING*
- shift-click on *EVERYTHING*
- ctrl-click on *EVERYTHING*
- alt-click ... well, you get the idea.

Almost every single pixel on the screen is a control for some command / feature / function / effect ... etc. There were many cases where something popped up i had never even dreamed of, and it immediately changed my editing for the better. Like ... wow!

Probably the most useful for me is right-mouse-button clicking inside a media event which brings up a submenu with a bunch of very powerful and useful features.

Also, as is true with a lot of graphics software, there's way more than one way to do it. Vegas has many different ways to access each feature. Some of them are easier and more memorable so it pays to take the time to find them.

Enjoy!

graphic_girl wrote on 2/14/2011, 8:31 PM

(Grazie... awe thanks! <blush>)

Chienworks.... soooooooo true.... and clicking madly away these days.... finding all sorts of nuggets... but some of these buggers are teeeeeeny tiny.... sheesh... hard to see them with these aging eyes of mine.. ;-}

But thank yu and I am definitely explorrrrring.... much easier to do now that I don't have a deadline... I always seem to get into panic-mode and can't think straight when the clock is running... and I am in unfamiliar waters (aka video project!)... but looking forward to playing around with lighting... sound... FX... and any other bells and whistles I can find...

Thanks also to all the suggestions for SHOOTING my next video... I guess I have a lot to learn... but KNOW I am in the RIGHT place...

THANK YOU!!!

gg :-)

graphic_girl wrote on 2/14/2011, 8:39 PM

ooooo autopilot... at first I didn't get what you were saying... and I believe my text has opacity... because it goes from light to dark on oposing backgrounds... BUT... I think I know what you mean... and the opacity of my text does NOT work well on my slides with a varied background... so I am going to experiment with that one....

THANKS!

gg :-)