SERIOUSLY CLASSY (!) lower thirds text effect with blur - written tutorial

Tutorial
#1

Hi folks,
I cracked a method of producing what I’ve called a “seriously classy” lower thirds text effect. Here’s a demo:

There are 2 elements to this:

  1. A subtle pointed animated horizontal line with gradient,
  2. Two lines of text which have a blur/fade effect at the end.

Here’s a little tutorial showing how I did it…

The gradient pointed line.

This begins life as an HTML file.

Gradient pointed line HTML file.zip (475 Bytes)

Try it - double click on it and you’ll see this:

Gradient pointed line screenshot
Gradient pointed line screenshot1912×1032 33.3 KB

Then I took a screenshot of it using the Snipping Tool, imported into SC, cropped out the edges and exported as a frame, to get this totally black and white image:

Gradient pointed line cropped
Gradient pointed line cropped1920×1080 10.8 KB

Then imported back into SC, applied keyframes to get an expanding line … then exported as a black/white resource video:

Then I opened a new SC project. The final project looks like this:

Seriously classy lower thirds text effect screenshot 01.PNG
Seriously classy lower thirds text effect screenshot 01.PNG1907×988 302 KB

On V1: the base video,
V2: The gradient pointed line MP4 with “Blend Mode:Add”. I’ve cut out a portion of the static middle section to make the duration slightly shorter.
V3: Top line of text.
V4: Lower line of text …

… then: I exported a frame of just the two lines of text, with a black background (achieved by temporarily hiding tracks V1 and V2):

Text exported frame 01 Beethoven Moonlight sonata
Text exported frame 01 Beethoven Moonlight sonata1920×1080 28.1 KB

Then re-imported the exported frame onto V4 and applied:

  1. a “Blend Mode:Add” filter,
  2. a “Blur:Box” filter - with the “width” keyframed from 0 to 100%,
  3. a fade-out.
    I positioned the effect using SPR filters and repeated the effect another twice for the demo, with different text.
    Ta-DAH.
11 Likes
New Shotcut video - A Medley of Christmas Carols for flute and piano
#2

Seriously classy is a very well chosen name. I love it. Can’t wait to try it.
In fact, I’m going to try it right now :slight_smile:
:+1: :+1:

2 Likes
#3

Here’s my first attempt:

That’s surprisingly easy to do. However, I feel the timing of the fades and blurs doesn’t look exactly like yours. Still need to work on it :slight_smile: Right now it’s just about 80% classy :face_with_monocle:

4 Likes
#4

That looks fine to me @MusicalBox ! Good work! :+1: Works better with classical music though :rofl: :rofl: (only joking)…

2 Likes
#5

Another way to create the line … and the width can be key-framed directly from the filter:

Screenshot from 2021-10-15 11-53-53
Screenshot from 2021-10-15 11-53-531920×1052 140 KB

3 Likes
#6

Brilliant! Makes it even easier to use

2 Likes
#7

That’s great! Thank you! :grinning:

#8

Hi @awake - I followed your method and keyframed the width of the line. Looks good! Note though, there’s oddly a tiny white dot at the end even though I keyframed the width down to zero …

1 Like
#9

Hi @jonray
Did you keyframe the Height as well ? Try turning it from your value to zero at the very last keyframe.

For example: for the entire duration, Height parameter at 0.27% then at the second to last frame, add a keyframe (still at 0.27) and at the last frame, another keyframe at 0%

EDIT: I had the same problem before… And I kind off remembere I used the solution above, but I’m not 100% sure.
If it doesn’t work, I guess you’ll have to cut your pointed line clip just after the last keyframe.

1 Like
#10

No, it was set at zero throughout.

Interestingly, the last keyframe wasn’t at the end of the clip:

Shotcut white dot
Shotcut white dot1362×913 72.5 KB

Of course, when I trimmed the clip at the last keyframe, the dot disappeared. (However, that was not what I ideally wanted - I wanted some black video at the end. Yes, I could have just trimmed V2 and left V1 as it was).

Shotcut white dot disappeared
Shotcut white dot disappeared1382×934 75.6 KB

#11

@jonray, I’m not seeing the white dot in the video above - ??

#12

If the height was at zero throughout the clip, you wouldn’t see the line.
On your capture it’s set at 0.32%.
And your white dot looks more like a white vertical line to me :slight_smile:
3j0gRlIoV2
Looking at it, I’d say it mesures about 0.32% of the height of your screen :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like
#14

OMG, I have no idea why I wrote that!! Of course, the line is set at 0.32%!! Senior moment!
(Sorry, I’ve been offline for a few days. My dog had a bad accident and had to have a major operation on her leg…)

LOL!

It’s there for me, but very small Right in the centre:

small white dot
small white dot1174×672 16.5 KB

1 Like
#15

Oh no. I’m sorry to read that. I hope she recover quickly.

1 Like
#16

Thank you @MusicalBox . Unfortunately it’s quite serious - she’s had a metal plate and screws implanted, plus a bone graft. We call it her bionic leg … :worried: 3 months complete rest, no exercise… 6 months until it’s healed completely, provided nothing goes wrong. Not good. Also VERY expensive. She was chasing a squirrel and just slipped on the grass … :unamused:

#17

That’s sad. Especially when something like this happens to a pet. Or to a baby. In addition to the pain, they don’t understand what happens and that is scary for them.

I can imagine. My sister took her dog to the vet to remove a couple of bad teeth and get a few routine shots and I was shocked when she told they charged her more than 500$ for that.

#18

Think of the number nine and add three noughts … :open_mouth:

#19

Ouch… that’s more than 15 000 Canadian dollars. Incredible.

1 Like
#20

Je suis aussi désolé d’apprendre cela.
Bon courage et soignez le bien.

I am also sorry to hear that.
Good luck and take care of him

1 Like
#21

Sure is. Good job we have her insured, although it won’t cover the whole amount … :relaxed:

Merci beaucoup @Namna. Votre message est apprécié.

1 Like