Fun Text Effects in Apple Final Cut Pro

Most of the time, titles fit nicely in the frame. But, there are some very interesting things we can do with titles that don’t.

Especially when we add compound clips into the mix.

Here’s something fun. This effect takes less than five minutes to create – using only Final Cut.

This is where we are heading: A very large title that flies across the screen, filled with video, placed over different video and including a drop shadow. (What’s the secret sauce? A compound clip.)

The text can be filled with generators, a still image, a video or a group of videos. The effect can be placed over a single background clip, or added to an edited sequence. There’s an almost unlimited number of ways to customize this.

CREATE THE COMPOUND CLIP

While you can store compound clips in any event, I prefer to create an event specifically for compound clips. That makes them easier to find.

Make sure nothing in the timeline or Browser is selected, then choose File > New > Compound clip (shortcut: Option + G). Give this new file a name and storage location, BUT! don’t save it. Instead, click Use Custom Settings.

Here are the changes:

• Set Video to Custom
• Set Rendering to Apple ProRes 4444. This retains all the colors created by the computer.
• Change Rate to match the frame rate of the project.
• Change Resolution to make a very wide compound clip. I used 5000 x 1080. This means the height fits perfectly into a 1080p project, but not the length. The width will vary depending upon how much text you use.
• Click OK to create the clip.

NOTE: Don’t worry if you don’t get the horizontal dimension perfect, you can always change it.

FILL THE COMPOUND CLIP

• Double-click the compound clip in the Browser to open it in the timeline.
• Add any video you want into the Primary Storyline. I’m using Generators > Blobs because it contrasts nicely with the background. This is the video that fills the interior of the text.

NOTE: You can even build a sequence of clips to fill the text. No limitations. Just put them on the bottom layer of the compound clip.

• Edit a text clip on top of the video. I’m using Basic Text because I don’t need any animation.

Format the text so it fills the compound clip. I’m using

• Giza
• 1500 points (click the numbers to change)
• Centered
• Tracking: 8.2%
• Position (X) = 0
• Position (Y) = -525.0

NOTE: If the compound clip isn’t wide enough, select it in the Browser, then click the blue Modify button in the Inspector (just as with a project) and change the horizontal dimension.

• Select the text clip and, in the Video Inspector, set Blend Mode (at the top) to Stencil Alpha. This fills the text with the video below it.

The compound clip is now complete.

CREATE THE EFFECT

• Go back to the project and place the compound clip on top of the clip(s) you want to use as background.
• Select the compound clip and set Video Inspector > Spatial Conform to None. This displays the compound clip at full size. Don’t worry, I know the text doesn’t fit. It’s not supposed to… yet.

Add Effects > Stylize > Drop Shadow to the compound clip. In the Video Inspector adjust the shadow settings to get a look you like. I increased Blur and adjusted the Position settings.

ADD ANIMATION

• Position the timeline playhead where you want the effect to start.
• Set Transform > Position (X) so the text just disappears off the screen. I used 3400.
• Move the playhead to where you want the effect to end.
• Set Transform > Position (X) so the text just disappears off the screen. I used -3400.

Play the clip.

Ta-DAH!

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s a link to play the finished movie. (Right-click to download it.) Granted, the size of the text is pretty, ah, “in your face,” but there’s all kinds of ways you can play with this to make it work for your projects.

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