Comments

birdcat wrote on 6/12/2006, 12:37 PM
I have several thousand (not all installed thank goodness) but I have an affinity for Benguiat (several varieties). University Roman is great for wedding stuff. My wife likes Comic Sans. There are probably about thirty or so that I use on a regular basis.
johnmeyer wrote on 6/12/2006, 2:49 PM
Generally, I would recommend staying away from serifed fonts. The thin serif lines can cause nasties.
TorS wrote on 6/12/2006, 3:22 PM
I am disappointed because Vegas does not come with a few special fonts (three would be enough). As it is, I tend to use Courier new, Trebuchet and Lucida handwriting. But then I always choose readability before fancyness.
Tor
vitalforce wrote on 6/12/2006, 9:21 PM
Ah yes--if this were an Apple forum we'd be talking about 'type.' Right?
Grazie wrote on 6/12/2006, 9:51 PM


There would have to be a real good reason for me to use Times Roman!

My latest, uses a very readable "thin" type "Atila". I disagree with Torsie. This font PLUS judicial use of Tracking, to let the thinness "breathe" and each character to "step" slightly away from each character is very "new", very "now", very "mODeRNe" yeah? . . I like it! !

I've also used "CHALK" to great effect. This IS a kinda wispy font that looks gorgeous when used as part of a dreamy opening sequence . .

Yup, go with Trebuchet!! Excellent choice!!

. .again, this all depends on what the message and emotion is being conveyed at the time, what happens next .. or what has JUST happened! What style the vid has.

Grazie


TorS wrote on 6/14/2006, 12:06 AM
Grazie dear,
I see you disagree with me - on what point, exactly?
Tor
DGates wrote on 6/14/2006, 12:37 AM
Just like with print advertising, the more fonts you use, the less professional it looks.

A case in point: The full page Varizoom print ads. They are obviously designed in-house because they're pretty bad. Multiple fonts, italic style (who uses italic anymore?) and generally bad layout design.

Same with video. Stick to crisp text and keep it simple and uncluttered.
farss wrote on 6/14/2006, 1:10 AM
Take a look at some of the expensive fonts, mostly very simple but also very elegant. They can make a difference to the look of your work.

My favourite basic font, Arial Rounded MT Bold, holds together well in video.

Bob.
Grazie wrote on 6/14/2006, 1:13 AM
TORSIE!! Soooo sorry . .I have absolutely no bleedin' idea just WHAT I was disagreeing with you about - HUH!! . .I just read and re-read. No idea!

My "flummox" is complete in all aspects . .

Grazie
TorS wrote on 6/14/2006, 3:24 AM
As long as you know you disagree, I suppose it's all right :-)

Anyway, here's my latest fad in text treatment:
On a short succession of titles I will pan/crop/keyframe them from below the screen to above, selecting the "sharp" setting on the keyframes. The text will then roll graziously (!) up, grind to a stop and then roll nicely on to disappear towards the ceiling. I use two or more video tracks, so the next text item will enter the screen while the first is at its standstill. The second text will then appear to chase the first off the screen, replacing it with itself.
See for yourselves here (wmv - 2.2 MB)

By the way, you'll see both Tahoma and Trebuchet in use.

I have no idea why the "sharp" setting will make the pan/crop behave like that, but I like it.
Tor
farss wrote on 6/14/2006, 4:04 AM
Sharp seems to put a 'sharp' knee on the smoothing.
dand9959 wrote on 6/14/2006, 8:05 AM
I love me some Trebuchet.
craftech wrote on 6/14/2006, 11:08 AM
Safe fonts for video legibility are:

Arial, Franklin Gotyhic, Helvetica, Verdana, and Informal. Also TW Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold is good.

John
johnmeyer wrote on 6/14/2006, 2:04 PM
Safe fonts for video legibility are:

Very useful. Thanks.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 6/14/2006, 2:20 PM

For what it's worth, Futura is a nice one to use, too.

[edit]

Just found something kind'a cool...

If you open your "font" folder using Windows Explorer, under "C:\WINDOWS\Fonts" you'll see in the icon menu bar a button that looks like a browser with an "A B" in it. It's the "List fonts by similarity to:" option. It opens a drop down window that lists all your fonts. Select one and it will list the fonts in the right-hand window based on their similarity to the font you selected.

Very helpful!


Jay Gladwell wrote on 6/14/2006, 2:39 PM

Here's another interesting resource for seeing what's been used for titles. When I'm stumped for what to do for a title, I use this site for inspiration.


Grazie wrote on 6/14/2006, 10:30 PM
Thanks JAY!!

Great resource of Inspo. Been looking for something like this for years. Aint the Internet amazing???

Grazie
TorS wrote on 6/14/2006, 11:25 PM
Instead of changing the font, sometimes it helps to change the speed of the text movement, thus reducing the degree of interference. First of all though, use "force resample" and "reduce interlace flicker".
Flicker can also be reduced by blurring or darkening the background video.
On the safe side, all fonts big, bold and rounded will work.
Tor
vicmilt wrote on 6/15/2006, 3:54 AM
Lovely work Tors - very tasty.

Film fonts sorta have to be san serif and bold - NTSC still doesn't love fine details.

But I (personally) think the mark of the "non-pro" is HUGE full-screen titles. Watch high end TV commercials to see what I'm talking about.

Now if you're working for internet only, you need pretty big titles since your viewing screens are pretty small.
.
But if you're doing TV work, I'd say keep your titles to half screen or less EXCEPT when you're making a two or three word copy points.
And even then, I like to zoom them up to big sizes.

If you're going to be projecting in a theater (film style) your titles can be even smaller, although if you're shooting/delivering in video, you've got to be aware of resolution breakup.

v