@CubeAce

Hi Ray

Here is my take on challenge 2.

Same technique as before however I hit a bug in the Size/Position effect - if you set the width height too high it goes berserk, the limit appears to be about 36000, and will not allow you to centre the mask, had to work with that.

This bug was introduced back in MEP 2015 IIRC - not fixed.

Note the fade in on the mask - could not use a normal fade in, it messed up what I wanted - it is done using keyframed Brightness 0 at start increasing to 50 over the 'fade in' time.

and the timeline

In case your are wondering - it is a Quokka.

@terrypin

Hi Terry

. . . . An extra lockdown shed? . . . . .

Custom plant trellis's for a friend. - the new summerhouse arrives end of the month.

John EB

Hi All,

My version is rather simple, although even this took me a couple of hours! In practice I doubt that I would invest the effort to build such transitions between scenes. Mostly I show a plain caption, which is sometimes just a timestamp.

@terrypin

Hi Terry

Looks good, nice and clean - what does the timeline look like?

John EB

@johnebaker@johnebaker

Hi John. Hi Terry.

Hi John.

If nothing else I love your camera's output. Very clean and detailed. You seem very adept at keeping it steady as well, so I love the footage.

You have grasped the whole idea fully but as John CB pointed out and I've been painfully aware of throughout, that the edges become ill defined when colours between the two sets of clips become similar at the text boundaries and become almost impossible to make out. Brisbane I found impossible to read whereas the other main two after, particularly Perth, worked well.

For the period of time the text above showed before it expanded I could not make out the Brisbane text. Perhaps a slight linger of the word before expanding it may have helped but a defined edge would probably work better and faster for someone to read. I suspect if people can't read something easily they would switch off looking which for me would be a problem.

Again, this is why I understand what Terry was trying to get. Edge definition, I think which calls for a black mask. At least I've not found another way to get a drop shadow or edge to work. In fact, that idea is my now sixth track in my timeline.

By exporting the mask with the background clips as a whole clip the length of the project, and allowing parts of the background that now becomes foreground into the exported video clip, I can then put that in on track 6 in perfect synchronisation with the whole video. The imported file is then cut where it is not needed to produce a shadow and mixed into the rest of the tracks using a black mask background with the Chroma Key Editor not within the fade areas of the text tracks or it will dim the background as well.

Really it only needs five tracks with audio but I had an extra audio track at the end to mix in for the music ending.

The red ovals are the soloed tracks to produce the file on track 6 which was then cut to the end of the fade points shown above by the green Arrows.

I also cheated with the expanding text problem by producing a second bitmap where needed of the view of the expanded text for Chatham and Dockyard outlined in yellow.

[Edit] I've just realized I've got my yellow boxes in the image mixed up but I hope you get the idea.

This in now my new result for edging the lettering.

A part of the Backing video clip

[Edit 2] Replaced video with corrected scene (saw it wasn't transitioning well) and rectified sound.

Hi Terry.

As you may notice in my and John's videos that the imagery within the text then becomes the next foreground for the next set of lettering to appear in. Hence the need to expand the text and fade. Love your clips though. Nice scenery.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . For the period of time the text above showed before it expanded I could not make out the Brisbane text. Perhaps a slight linger of the word before expanding . . . .

I agree when I went back later to review the video I too noticed that the display time is short before movement commences - I will have a look at the timing and also the borders.

John EB

@CubeAce

Hi Ray,

...the imagery within the text then becomes the next foreground for the next set of lettering to appear in.

My project had only two 'scenes': a video leaving Zion Park and two clips (animated images) of Grand Canyon. Because of contrast and colour (and relative simplicity) I chose the second of the latter as my alpha text, so it took two steps to fade to that. So my straying from the spec was deliberate .

@johnebaker

Hi John,

Thanks for the compliment.

Worked on my irrigation system this afternoon and managed to get water into the outdoor mains socket, tripping a circuit breaker. So my PC had rebooted on returning inside, with some lost MEP project files. Tidying up now, but meanwhile I'm pretty sure this is the appropriate timeline:

My preferred method for exchanging details accurately is to send the whole project and its media.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fv0phy08pztismh/SceneChange-1.zip?dl=0

Terry

Hi Terry.

I've downloaded your files and will have a look at them between now and tomorrow.

Would it be OK to have a go at rearranging the project as well?

Ray.

@terrypin

Hi Terry

A very neat timeline, will also have a look at your project.

. . . . Worked on my irrigation system this afternoon and managed to get water into the outdoor mains socket, tripping a circuit breaker. . . .

Ooops good things RCD breakers for power in the garden and you are safe.

John EB

Hi Ray,

Would it be OK to have a go at rearranging the project as well?

Sure, the fiIes are now yours to do with as you wish. And I'd benefit from any corrections/changes/extensions. Send me any results you want to discuss in the same way I've done. Easier than a lengthy explanation and minimises ambiguities.

Terry

@terrypin

Thank You Terry.

Will do.

Ray.

@terrypin

Hi Terry.

I did a quick rearrange.

Sorry about the end. I was playing with the masking effect. Needs more work or different file with more contrast. Not your fault, I was just curious.

Ray.

Hi Ray,

I like it, nice work! I’m looking forward in particular to seeing exactly how you did that tunnel effect which could be useful in other projects. Can you upload the project?

Logically, introducing the journey, I might replace that opening Grand Canyon landscape with an equally colourful one from Zion Park.

Terry

Hi Terry.

Yes sure, my pleasure. I normally use Wetransfer so if you pm me an email address I'll send it back to you. I can't say I spent much time on it if I'm honest. I would normally do much more tidying up of the files but got a bit pressed for time today. I was considering using the tunnel file in reverse. I think the tunnel effect could also do with one more additional mask at the base to tidy up the road surface. Also maybe turning the clip to black and white before hand to be able to make a mask more easily. I think there are a lot of photography tricks that could be used for video if I understood some of the tools a bit more. About the only thing good about this lockdown is the time it's given me to experiment. I have tons of ideas but little experience to carry them out or to try tweaking on bits that don't work.

Ray.

@CubeAce @johnebaker @terrypin

Hi,

I didn't take on the second challenge but I did work out the first one a published another example video showing the two ways that I did it.

John CB

@browj2

Hi John.

Great to see you found it worthwhile doing an explanatory video. Nice work.

I would (humbly) suggest a very slight overlap of the foreground text to the layer that then transfers the text to within the Main text. Then at the end of the foreground text do a quick fade out. Then in the text behind, do a fade in of the same length These fades should only be of around a fifth of a second in duration in total. It helps the illusion of the text passing the 'barrier' of the main text.

I was trying to think of a way to get a dissolve of the text at that point, into the main text, similar to a ghost going through a wall, but couldn't think of a way to do that.

Still working on it.

Ray.

@terrypin, @CubeAce, @terrypin

Hi

After further experimenting, Terry's use of a Title object as the mask is easier than my image as a mask - it takes out a step that is not necessary, however I also removed a step that Terry took as I have not found the need for using coloured backgrounds.

The maximum zoom, before Size and Position goes 'berserk' does not enable the text to be large enough so that the width of an individual letter is sufficient to fill the screen.

However with the correct font, which must a fairly 'heavy' one, ie not a spindly thin stroke font, the softness that appears in the text edges as it approaches maximum zoom does make the final xfade more subtle.

My preferred method now for this effect is a hybrid of my original and Terry's.

John EB

@CubeAce

Hi Ray,

I think that that would be easy, but I don't understand what the advantage would be. The fade out would still be overtop of the main text (Bluff, in my case). The fade in would be inside but delayed. This does not give the impression of the text going into the main text. What I have is the text going straight into the Bluff word.

BT is a 3D program. The word Bluff sits in 3D space along the z-axis. When the 2020 text moves along the axis, as soon as it hits the word Bluff it starts to go into it. That is the point where I cut it off by making a very quick fade out. At the same point, but within the Bluff text, the 2020 fades in very quickly, thus giving the illusion that it is the same text going into another world.

For a dissolve, BT has many ways in which this could be done. The text could change to disappearing particles, for example.

I have another BT example, completely different that I am finishing up and will post. No text effect, just a waving flag.

I'm searching for inspiration for intros for my African adventures.

John CB

@browj2

Excellent video tutorial John! Have not yet attempted it but determined to do so sometime soon.

P.S. Am I alone in getting fed up with this persistent “Hello, Do you need assistance” intrusion and the (apparently permanent) MAGIX logo? Presumably anyone here is either seeking assistance or providing it? And we already have a search tool?

Have I missed some way to dispose of it for good?

Terry

@johnebaker

Hi John.

I must admit I didn't get the need for coloured backgrounds but would that have had something to do with using Bluff Titler?

As for the rest regarding the text itself. In theory, as long as you can make the image size large enough to be able to be imported without tripping something and the edging of the lettering can remain sharp enough, I don't see much of a problem but working with a thicker text is easier. I've seen something similar done with normal handwriting on a page being increased to go 'past' the viewing point. All be it on a professional production, so not impossible but possibly very difficult to do at a normal consumer level. The text itself must consist of reasonable amount of pixels to do this and subsequently the background would have to be huge to start with so you started with a text much smaller than initially needed to fill the screen. There was an old Adobe program that was very good at doing just that. I wonder if I can get it to work in Win 10 if I can find it again? I think it was Dreamweaver.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray,

Coloured backgrounds?

BT does handwriting, but I don't understand what you are thinking of.

Take a close look at the images for the BT text - crisp, 3D, can be rotated in 3D space.

As for a dissolve, maybe something like this, with fade out, gap, in?

@terrypin

I just click it off (the X) when it's in the way.

John CB

@browj2

Hi John.

It's not a criticism, just letting you know how my eye sees it or more like how my brain is interpreting the motion. It's totally up to the you as to how you wish to convey it. It was only a suggestion.

@terrypin

Hi Terry.

The assistant is trying to do what John EB is trying to avoid. Dragging up old posts for new people to add to.

I think it's here to stay. You could try disabling pop-ups in your browser but Ive almost learned to ignore it.

Ray.

@browj2

Hi John.

I was referring to Terry's initial project that John EB was referring to.

The handwriting example was from a feature film, going from a letter someone was reading in once scene into the action the letter was describing. Very effective.

Ray.