Generated Text on video

akkasper wrote on 5/25/2012, 10:35 AM
How do I add text that is on top of a block or bar of color so that the text is more readable than just appearing right on top of the video? I know that iMovie has this simple feature of allowing you to have a slightly transparent white bar across the bottom of a video and then allowing you to add a black text font on top of that bar, thereby making it easier to read the text. I am trying to be able to add the names and titles of the people talking in the video, but I'm not sure how to do this in a way that makes it easier to read. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comments

rs170a wrote on 5/25/2012, 10:49 AM
What you want is called a lower third and is discussed in the Sony webinar (skip up to the 39:30 mark) at http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/brandvideowebinar
There's also a newsletter article on this at http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/creating_lower_thirds_with_vegas_pro_8

Mike
Duncan H wrote on 5/25/2012, 8:53 PM
Excellent advice & links Mike. As many others do, I've had various projects where I needed to include numerous, diverse text elements , ranging from titles, headings & bullet point slides for training. Not requiring animated backgrounds etc, I (like others) have settled on developing texts in an external graphics proram (having set up a custom 1920x1080 template & then very quick to produce a whole set of themed text elements. I prefer Xara (xara.com) , a fabulous vector program (about $70) which is a brilliant partner to Vegas. Others use photoshop or a host of alternatives. Thought I'd just offer an alternative, although Mike's suggested approach is absolutely fine, without additional outlay.

Duncan
richard-amirault wrote on 5/26/2012, 12:50 PM
Yes, a lower third is a common way to do what you want ... however, I've found that often I can do without the background block (either solid or animated) by just adding a black border to my text characters.

With a black border on white characters .. the characters do not "dissapear" in whole or part when placed over light/white colored objects in the video.

I also add a slight, diffuse shadow to help seperate the text from the video.

All these controls are in the box (under seperate tabs) where you enter your text.
JackW wrote on 5/26/2012, 1:57 PM
Also experiment with very narrow drop shadow with no feathering. This, too, tends to separate text from background.

Jack