I saw a video title like this on Sky News, and thought it was a cool idea to have the thin cross-hairs sliding across the screen… so I decided to reproduce it in Shotcut.
This could be a challenge for any forum member who has 10 minutes to spare and who would like to have a go at reproducing it, or similar. You could post your version here.
Regulars on this forum, of course, will find it quite straightforward - although note that the “Mount Everest, Nepal” text and the co-ordinates text appear with a true typewriter effect, not just a sliding mask. How did I do it? Also, how about a variation of it perhaps - maybe more intricate?
Anyway, whatever, it may give someone a creative idea for a video title. PS It’s very short…
Hi folks - I extended the video slightly. Also I overlaid a black colour clip with opacity set to 45% - to make it darker, so the white text was more readable.
Quick and dirty with a black background, which highlights some visual issues with the moving white lines. Versions 2 and 3 use the same method.
I wonder if there is a better way that doesn’t result in flickering when the lines are moving? That might involve a graphic (which was too easy so I didn’t go that route for this “challenge”) or glax.
I will look at the typewriter effect tomorrow.
For now, all I will say is version 1 is much quicker to implement, and much quicker to render, but I think version 2 looks better (full screen required).
Hi @dimadjdocent - OK I will come clean - the typewriter effect needs input from a third-party source, but I wouldn’t say it’s third-party “software”…
I will reveal soon… clue - it’s one of my “obsessions”…
PS I made another version of the demo, with background wind noise using your fantastic “Wind FX” filter-set:
Thank you, I will wait impatiently Very stylish animation, I like it. How to make a cross I understand approximately, but I still can not figure out a way to make a full-fledged effect of a typewriter, but I am an optimist and believe that the talented developers of Shotcut will one day add such an effect to text filters
Thinking about it, I DID use external software, but it was open-source. It’s actually really easy when you know how - but yes, typewriter effect within SC would be nice one day …
Will reveal soon…
I’ve managed to make a fancy animation of the cross so far. All it took was one color layer and three filters (to keep the suspense, I’ll tell you what those three filters were later, but experienced Shotcut users know about them).
I went with a transparent layer and 3 filters for version 1 but I’m guessing you set the color to black so we might have used the same method! Two of my filters have the initials TR.
Unless the lines are made thicker, on a dark background I don’t think there is any way to really avoid that. I don’t see it on my phone but the laptop is a different story.
@dimadjdocent used a different method I think and it looks less flickery. But the movement of the cross is much faster and he has a resulting soft background blur on the lines that might hide this.
@dimadjdocent , is it possible for you to remove the soft blur from the lines and slow down your animation? I’d be curious to see that result, since if you have no flicker in that scenario then I’d say you were the winner!
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À moins que les lignes ne soient plus épaisses, sur un fond sombre, je ne pense pas qu’il y ait un moyen d’éviter cela. Je ne le vois pas sur mon téléphone mais sur l’ordinateur portable c’est une autre histoire.
@dimadjdocent a utilisé une méthode différente je crois et ça a l’air moins vacillant. Mais le mouvement de la croix est beaucoup plus rapide et il en résulte un flou d’arrière-plan doux sur les lignes qui pourrait cacher cela.
@dimadjdocent , est-il possible pour vous de supprimer le flou des lignes et de ralentir votre animation ? Je serais curieux de voir le résultat, car si vous n’avez pas de scintillement dans ce scénario, je dirais que vous êtes le gagnant !
Here’s my attempt.
It’s different from your demos @jonray. I didn’t apply a typewriter effect. It wouldn’t have suited the blocks of text I used.
As @dimadjdocent, I also used a faster animation. I didn’t like the flickering of the lines.
About the flickering: There is a lot less of it on a 60fps project compared with the 30fps I used for the video above.
Great stuff! So there is a really tiny amount as the lines slows down near the end of the video, but I think it still has less than the others. It could just be my poor eyesight, so don’t trust my opinion.
@jonray are we almost ready to reveal out techniques? I want to know if dimadjdocent did something different to our methods!
I got excited and decided to experiment with filters
P.S. My thoughts on flickering: There are two ways to combat this unpleasant effect. Either increase the frame rate of your project to 60 frames per second, or use the Motion Blur effect, which is still missing in Shotcut, but I am still an optimist and believe that this effect will be in this application sometime in the future, it is sorely lacking for many modern animations.
If the animation is strictly vertical or horizontal, you can simulate motion blur using the “Blur: Box” filter.
Looking again and recalibrating the animation speed, I think my version using 2 M’s is about the same. However, using SPR’s or TR’s to do the lines flickers like crazy.
Very stylish animation, I like it. How to make a cross I understand approximately, but I still can not figure out a way to make a full-fledged effect of a typewriter, but I am an optimist and believe that the talented developers of Shotcut will one day add such an effect to text filters 
