Animated text to use as chapter transitions in videos

[MusicalBox]

This is a text animation I stumbled upon in a Youtube video. The Youtuber used it as a transition between the different parts of a DIY project. I liked it, so I tried to replicate it in Shotcut.

Shotcut - Animated text to use as chapter transitions in videos - Demo

I you like it, you can download the MLT file, modify the text and use it in any of your projects :

MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE.mlt (24.7 KB) (works on a 1920x1080 video at 30 fps. Not tested on other formats. )

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EDIT: As you can see in the discussion bellow, the file was updated 3 times since I posted this. Thanks to @Namna for his contribution, making it easier to modify the color of the lines.
So here’s the 4th (and hopefully the last) version of the text animation:
MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE_V4.mlt (17.1 KB)

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If you download it and try it, let me know if it works well for you.

HOW TO EDIT MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE.mlt FOR YOUR PROJECT :

1. Open MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE.mlt in a new Shotcut window.

2. Go to File > Save As… and save a copy of the template in your project folder under a different name. For example, if you want to use it to introduce Part One of your video, you could save it as title_part01.mlt

3. Open the Filters tab (View > Filters)

4. In the Timeline, select the transparent clip in the SMALL TEXT track.

5. In the Filters tab, Make sure the Text: Simple filter is selected and edit the text.

6. Select the transparent clip in the BIG TEXT track and repeat step 5.

NOTE: In the template, I used the “OratorStd” font. If you want to use another font, make sure you ajust the size so your texts height is about the same as the ones in the template.

7. Save the modifications (File > Save).

8. Repeat step 1 to 7 each time you need this title effect in your project. Don’t forget, of cource, to give a different name to each copy: title_part02.mlt, title_part03.mlt, title_part04.mlt etc…

HOW TO INSERT THE MLT FILES IN YOUR PROJECT

1. Open your project in Shotcut and go to File > Open MLT XML As Clip….

2. Navigate to the location where you saved the MLT file (or files) you just created.

3. Choose the one you want to use and open it. The text animation should start playing in the preview window of Shotcut.

4. Drag the animation from the preview window to the Playlist, or directly to the Timeline.

5. Position the MLT clip where you want it on the track and apply a Blend Mode effect to it, with the Add parameter.

6. Done.

NOTE: The parameters of the filters in this example are set to work in a 1920 x 1080 project at 30 fps. If your project have different dimensions and frame rate, you’ll probably need to edit those parameters.

[Epsilon85]

Thank you for this tutorial, it does work perfectly, and easy to use you even change text color.
Thank you again for sharing.

[MusicalBox]

You’re welcome @Epsilon85. And thank you for the comment.
You can also change the color of the lines, but it is a little more work. You need to go to Property for the 6 clips of tracks V4 and V5 and change the color there.

Also, I modified the animation. I didn’t like how the line behaved at the end.
Here’s the updated version of the MTL file :
MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE_V2.mlt (26.3 KB)

And here’s how it looks now:

Shotcut Template - Animated text to use as chapter transitions in videos

[Epsilon85]

Merci a vous cousin du Canada !!!
Amicalement

[jonray]

@MusicalBox - this is really great. I love the way you made the line appear beginning with two short lines converging in the centre.Thank you for sharing this, it will be really useful to me.

[jonray]

And also thanks for the tip about adding the blend mode “Add”. I tried it without doing this and the text faded in from black. The blend mode fixed this…Woo hoo, I’ve learned something new…

[jonray]

Working great …

https://streamable.com/idw7xq

[Namna]

@MusicalBox

You can also change the color of the lines, but it is a little more work. You need to go to Property for the 6 clips of tracks V4 and V5 and change the color there.

Voici une version modifiée, tous les clips qui concernent les lignes sont regroupés en un seul. Une seule propriété à changer.

Here is a modified version, all the clips that concern the lines are grouped into one. Only one property to change.

MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE_V3.mlt (17.0 KB)

[MusicalBox]

Thanks a lot @jonray. I’m glad you like it

[MusicalBox]

@Namna

Here is a modified version, all the clips that concern the lines are grouped into one. Only one property to change.

@Namna.
This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments
Well done and thank you. With less tracks and clips, I guess this will make the MTL file easier to manage for Shotcut when using it in a project.

I did change two small things in your file though :

Track V4, Mask: Simple shape, frame 15: The height is at 1% leaving a small gap between the two small lines when reaching frame 15. I added keyframes to the height parameter allowing the mask to stay at 1% until frame 14 then dropping at 0% on frame 15.

Track 14, Size and Position, frame 17: The line disapears on frame 17 because the X size (width) drops to 0 when reaching that frame. To fix that, on that keyframe I changed the width to 100, and the X position to 910 instead of 960 (To keep everything centered while the two small lines moves towards each other from frames 6 to 17).

So here’s version 4: MB-PartsTitles_TEMPLATE_V4.mlt (17.1 KB) (hopefuly the final version)

[Namna]

@MusicalBox

Track V4, Mask: Simple shape, frame 15: The height is at 1% leaving a small gap between the two small lines when reaching frame 15.

On peut dire que vous avez l’œil fin, personnellement je n’arrive pas à voir ce petit espace lors de la lecture de la version exportée ( ma vue baisse avec l’âge )

We can say that you have a fine eye, personally I can’t see this small gap when reading the exported version (my eyesight gets worse with age ).

@MusicalBox

Track V4, Size and Position, frame 17: The line disapears on frame 17 because the X size (width) drops to 0 when reaching that frame

Vous avez raison, je n’ai même pas vu sur votre version d’origine que la ligne n’atteignait pas la longueur 0, autant pour moi

You’re right, I didn’t even see on your original version that the line didn’t reach length 0, so much for me

[MusicalBox]

@Namna, ma vue n’est probablement pas meilleure que la vôtre
J’ai tout simplement remarqué ces détails en scrutant votre fichier “frame by frame” pour découvrir comment vous avez fait pour combiner les clips en un seul

@Namna My sight is probably not better than yours
I simply noticed these details while studying your file frame by frame to find out how you combined all the lines clips into one.

[seemon]

Excellent idea … and thanks for the MLT.
Will add this in my next video story line !!

[MusicalBox]

You’re welcome @seemon. Thanks to you too.

[seemon]

Hi @MusicalBox,

I had just applied this MLT technique to my new tutorial related to Blender 3D model animation.

#60T How to import motion files into a 3D human model in Blender 2.8 (free download)

[MusicalBox]

Hi @seemon
Nice, I’m glad it was useful to you !
It was not intended for long titles though. It goes away too fast to be able to read all the text.
If you can wait until tomorrow night (or tomorrow morning in Australia) I’m planing on making a version 5. It will allow to easily adjust the length of the “paused” part in the middle of the animation, without messing up the keyframes.