I would also add Asymetrix Web3D (FX) to the list.

Are all the listed software above true NTSC?
I thought some of those were more for web page creation.
Sorry for my ignorance.
Spot, did you set up your list in order of your favourite?
Do any of these compare to the demos I've seen of LiveType? That program is absolutely astounding, from what I have seen. Too bad it is Mac only.
If you could only afford one, I'm guessing you'd go with the Cayman, correct?
(I'm trying to talk the brass at my place of employment to let me buy a titler and, though we already have Boris RED, a great program, I am still too vexed with the way it doesn't integrate well ((using proxy images)). That's why ((in another post)) I asked if Cayman is a true plug in, where you can watch your video as you create your graphic; time it to the background video.)(And, I do know that you CAN do this in Boris by importing your clip, but it's still an awakard workaround, in my opinion.)
Can anyone answer if Vegas and Boris will ever play perfecly together? Or is that one of those, Wait And See things? I just love Red, and am spoiled in its integration in my old editing software, since it was completely seemless (I used to use Speed Razor under a DSLE).

Cayman is a true plugin, it shows up within Vegas, as you edit it within Vegas, you see the changes applied on the timeline. The application works much like Pixelan.
for Boris and Vegas to play together perfectly like you see in AE and other apps, will take Vegas displaying each frame to the application. I don't know if/when that will happen.
I love Cayman, because of all the great looks you can get with it. My ONLY complaint is that it's an older looking interface. I guess I have a second complaint, it uses a USB key dongle. I'm always leaving mine in my laptop bag.
that list is kinda my faves in order, yeah.
I use Vegas itself a LOT, just cuz I've gotten used to it, and know how to get fairly fancy with it. But....with Boris, Cayman, and swish, there's some serious power there.

What is really needed is titles with many, many adjustable presets.

You can save title Presets with Vegas. I have some that have migrated with me since VideoFactory! - G

Now, I've got this image stuck in my head of little presets waddling along behind Grazie, following him around where ever he goes like little ducklings. LOL

CAREFUL! Don't go off topic Jay! Here chick . .chick chick .. . here chick . ..

Sweet image . . . . really like it! Specially roasted and served with cherry sauce HHHHmmm...! NICE!

I use Heroglyph by ProDad. I works as a standalone application or as a plug-in in Vegas (media generator).

Don't forget my favorite standalone titler:

Photoshop

My opinion...
I have been testing Wildform, Bluff Titler, ProDad and Cayman. Cayman seemd to be a more pro type product, proDad Heroglyph was a step down but I like it more than Wildform. Wildform looks more like a home DVD titler (although there are times when that is just what you need). I like the look of Bluff Titler output but I don't like the interface at all. I think I will buy proDad Heroglyph and Wildform FX Pro with the add-ons.
Anybody use Cool 3D Production Studio? I would like to test that before I buy anything. Spot didn't list it so I am wondering what the quality is?

And: what about TitleDeco from Pinnacle?

Joran

I use Cool 3D Production Studio. Since I have used it for several years, I seem to keep coming back to it. Render times are pretty good....32 bit alpha channel works well. As with any program it has it's quirks. I toyed with the trial version of Cayman and liked it...especially the fact you can use it inside of Vegas. But again, nothing that really blew my socks off.

I keep waiting an hoping someone will release a top notch title generator for Vegas that beats them all............

I don't think you will go wrong with either of your choices.

Good luck.

As far as the animation (one letter at a time) I've never tried it, I cheat with a wipe, but for all my CG I use Titlemotion.

https://shop.inscriber.com/Product/Lookup.html?_function=details&_ID=17&PHPSESSID=25456dd9b762e44cf023a05bb1478209

- R

I use Boris Red and After Effects to create motion text [like 'type on'] effects and export uncompressed .avi's.
Fireworks and Photoshop for crisp .png stills.

Jameson_Prod
I download Cool 3D Prod Studio and testing. Looks good but most of the files I try to save end up hanging my system. What settings do you use when saving an AVI? Renders seem to take a long time. I managed to save 2 AVI's out of 6 attempts.

Thanks,

Thanks Tom.
Yep, I agree I most likely will pick Bluff up soner or later.

Harold

Harold....I render out with the following settings:

24 Bits, 720 x 480, 4:3, 29.97 fps
Frame-based
DV Video Encoder -- type 2
No Audio

Generally I use about 300 - 360 frames set at 29.97 for my titles.

Display Quality is Draft....and Output quality is set to Fair. I have tried Better and Best but don't see much difference. With the above settings I can render out 300 frames with average movement in less than 3 minutes. (btw, P4 2.8, 512 RAM, 800 FSB Radeon 9250 AGP) Go to Output quality of Best and the time jumps to about 20 minutes for the same project. For me and what I do, not a noticeable difference in quality.

Give those a try and with the other suggestions from Marquat and see what you get.

Good luck.

Problem with only using 24 bits... is that does not include alpha channel... which makes it a little difficult to overlay the result in Vegas.

I generally render to an image sequence (32 bit) (TGA) as that gives the least amount of problems with AVI format/codec etc etc.

That is true....but I generally make my titles on a black background and simply use the chromakey in Vegas.....

Different strokes for different folks!!

Thanks Jameson_Prod and everyone else. I will give all of these suggestions a try an see what happens.

I just upgraded to Graffiti 4.0 and find that it integrates into Vegas 5 very well. You do have to change | Options | Preference | Video Tab | Dynamic Ram Preview max (MB) : 0 , so that it will display the upgrades in the vegas preview window. I don't think there is any package available that will do any more things with text animation and only Boris Red will do as much for text in my estimation. I would think the latest version of Red ought to work as well in Vegas 5 as Graffiti 4.0. Besides Red has all of those really nice features to enhance Vegas with besides text. All I was pursuing at this time was the enhanced text, so I bought Graffiti. Maybe one of these days when I have a little money burning a hole in my pocket, I will upgrade Graffiti to Red. It is nice to know that Boris gives you that option to upgrade to Red from Graffiti.

I would probably have bought Cayman if it wasn't for the dongle copy protection. I just refuse to buy anything that uses one.