Tips to Make Your Text Look GREAT!

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Larry

This week’s article was spurred by a Ted Talk on Typefaces delivered

by Matthew Carter, a legendary typeface designer that I had the pleasure
of working with in the mid-1980’s when we both worked at Bitstream in
Boston.
NOTE: Here’s the link to Matthew’s Ted Talk.
It was from Matthew all those years ago that I developed my love of using
the right font for the task, which has carried over into my video work. By
the way, Norbert Florendo has a great definition of the difference
between “font” and “typeface:” A “font is what you use, and typeface is what you see.”
Think of a font as a song, with the typeface being the MP3 version of that song. (Though, truthfully,
since the Mac calls just about everything a font. I’ll be using the two terms interchangea bly during this
article.)

WRITING ABOUT FONTS IN YEARS PAST – A QUICK HISTORY

I’ve written a lot about fonts and typefaces over the years. Back in 2004, I wrote an article called
“Guidelines for Great Text in Final Cut Pro HD.”
Then, in 2006, I enlarged that first article into: “Improve the Look of Your Images and Text.” I updated
that document for the next five years; it became one of my most popular articles.
FONTS ARE COOL
Fonts have a personality, an energy, an emotion that can enhance, contrast with, or conflict with your
project. The more you know about fonts, the better you can use them to express what your project is
about.

Need proof? Here are three classic examples:

THE PRESENT
Standard high-quality print (for example, magazines) still provides higher resolution than a Retina
Display monitor. That doesn’t mean that your computer monitor is bad, just that print is better. Also,
unlike print, video images move. Either the text is moving or the background behind the text is moving.
In either case, a moving image is harder to read than a still image.

Text always looks better on your computer screen than it does on a TV set or after compression for the
web. So, if you can’t easily read your text inside your editing system, your viewers won’t be able to
read it either.

Compounding the problem is that, in today’s attention-deficit-disordered world, many producers are
afraid to hold text on the screen longer than a nanosecond. This means that you need to pick fonts
which are INSTANTLY readable. Keep in mind that, while you may have stared at that text countless
times, the audience is seeing it for the first time and with barely enough time to read it.

For all these reasons, I’ve updated my suggestions on how to use text in film and video.

LARRY’S TEN RULES FOR USING TEXT IN VIDEO

1. Readability is everything. If the audience can’t read the text, you’ve picked the wrong font.
2. Always add a drop shadow to text you want to read.
3. Hold text on screen long enough for you to read it twice. (If you are using really fanciful fonts, hold
them on screen for extra time.)
4. Given the same amount of screen time, horizontal text is more readable than text at an angle or
vertical.
5. Don’t make your text too small. In general, for HD fonts, avoid point sizes smaller than 18 points.
For SD video, avoid point sizes smaller than 24 points. Slightly larger is better.
6. Avoid fonts with very thin bars or serifs, unless they are sized very large.
7. Avoid highly curved fonts, unless they are sized very large.
8. W hen creating projects for broadcast or cable, avoid fonts containing highly saturated colors or
white levels greater than 100%.
9. W hen creating projects for broadcast or cable, keep all text inside Title Safe. W hen creating
projects for the web, keep text inside Action Safe. Even today, not all displays show the entire
image.
10. W hen creating text you want the audience to read, be sure the text contrasts in shape, texture,
color and gray scale from the background.
Bonus 11. Don’t use text rolls for closing credits in video, especially with interlaced footage. Rolls
ALW AYS look bad. Use full-screen titles that don’t move.

SOME EXAMPLES
Having rules is helpful, but let’s see some examples putting them into practice. (These examples were
made using Final Cut Pro X, but they would look exactly the same in Premiere, FCP 7, or any ot her non-
linear editor.)

Rule 1: Readability
Compare how quickly you can read the Gill Sans at the top, compared to Giddyup at the bottom.
Now imagine that the text was only up for five seconds. W hich would the audience read more
quickly?

In general, use fonts where all lines in the font are evenly thick and avoid serifs (the little “feet” at the
edges of a character). From left to right: Century Gothic, Hobo, and Optima.
Rule 2: Add a Drop Shadow

Notice how your eye immediately jumps to the bottom version of Herculaneum because the drop
shadow makes it easier to read.

Here are the drop shadow settings I recommend. (I use similar numbers in Premiere and FCP 7, as well.)

Rule 4: Horizontal vs. Vertical Text

Notice how your eye went first to the horizontal text and totally ignored the vertical text? Even though
the horizontal text is smaller and harder to read than the vertical text (The vertical text is Helvetica with
a drop shadow, while the horizontal text is Lucida Handwriting, with no drop shadow and sized ten
points smaller than the vertical text.)
Rule 5: Don’t Make Type Too Small

W e use text to explain stuff to the audience. Don’t make your text so small that people can’t read it.
Stylish is good. Readability is better. Here are four different sizes of Verdana.
Rule 6: Avoid Thin Serifs and Bars

All three of these “W ’s” are 75 points and in all cases, the thin lines, excessive ornamentation or serifs
are tearing out. You also see excessive stair-stepping in the bars. From left to
right: Onyx, Jazz, Bordeaux.
Rule 7: Avoid Fonts with Highly Curved Elements

Notice how all the fine lines are tearing out. Again, each letter is 75 points. From left to right: Mona Lisa
Solid, Snell Roundhand, and Cloister Black.
The more complex the font, the more likely you are to have problems displaying it in smaller point sizes.
If you MUST use a complex font, make it as big as possible.

Rule 8: Avoid over-saturated or too-white colors

Don’t over-saturate font colors. Keep color saturation inside all bounding boxes and keep white levels
equal to, or less than, 100%.

Rule 9: Keep Text Inside Safe Zones

W hen compositing text for broadcast or cable, keep all text inside Title Safe, indicated by the inside
yellow rectangle. W hen compositing text for the web or computer playback, keep all text inside
Action Safe, indicated by the outer yellow rectangle. Text placed all the way to an edge feels very
uncomfortable.

In this example, the red “W ” is inside Title Safe, while the green “W ” is inside Action Safe but NOT inside
Title Safe.

Rule 10: Make Sure Text Contrasts with the Background

W here does your eye go first? The top word. W hy? Because it contrasts so clearly with the background.
This is Formata (a favorite of mine) at 125 points. The top image has a Difference blend mode applied.
The middle image uses the same color as the background. The bottom image is a copy of the middle
image, with a drop shadow applied.
See how the drop shadow helps, even when the font color matches the background?

SUMMARY
Just like people, fonts have different personalities that you can use to reinforce the story you are telling.
Personality is great – but your audience still needs to read and understand your words. These
suggested guidelines will help you make your text look great.

Improving the Look of Graphics and Text

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Larry

[ This article was first published in the May, 2006, issue of Larry’s Monthly Final Cut Studio Newsletter
and SIGNIFICANTLY updated July & November, 2009 and a minor update Feb. 2013. ]
[ All references to Final Cut Pro are to version 7 or earlier. These image sizes are still correct for Final Cut
Pro X (and Premiere Pro, for that matter), but the screens and operational instructions are for FCP 7. ]
Video is really, really good at showing motion and emotion. It’s not so good at displaying text.

One of the discouraging facts of life is that we create all these great graphics on our computers only
to see them destroyed when they get transfered to video. (W ell, OK, maybe not destroyed, but really,
really different.)

Is there anything we can do to change this situation? W ell, um, no. But, there are things you can do to
improve the look of your graphics and text when they are displayed on video. And that’s what this
technique is about.

First, I’ll explain how video and computers are different, then wrap up with a series of specific
suggestions you can use to improve the look of your text.

In the beginning
Video was invented about forty years before computers; which means that computers were able to
improve on the lessons we learned during the development of video. Because of this, there are six
major differences between graphics on video and graphics on the computer. Keeping these in mind
will help you improve the look of your text.

These seven differences are:

 Video is fixed resolution, computer resolution varies

 Video displays interlaced images, computers display progressive images
 Video gamma is different from computer gamma
 Video white is grayer than computer white
 Video uses YCrCb colors, which are more restrictive than the computer’s RGB colors
 Video colors are not as precise as computer colors
 Video pixels are rectangular, the computer’s are square
Let’s take a look at each of these and see what problems they cause.

Fixed Resolution
Regardless of the size of our video monitor, all SD video is 720 x 480 pixels (720 x 486 for you broadcast
types and 720 x 576 for PAL). If you do the math, this works out to about 0.3 megapixels — a far cry
from even a cheap digital still camera’s 4, 6 or 8 megapixels.
This limited number of pixels means that your image quality varies by screen size. The bigger the screen,
the grainier the image. Also, because there are so few pixels, lines that are nearly horizontal or vertical
will show serious “stair-stepping,” in a way that the same line on the computer will not.

This means that, graphically, we need to avoid using very fine detail or lots of thin or swirly lines. Video
just doesn’t have enough pixels to draw the image accurately.

Interlacing
NTSC, PAL, and some HD formats are interlaced. This means that while we see many complete images
each second, each image, or field, is not complete in and of itself. Instead, the video monitor displays
the image in two parts — first all the odd lines of the image, then all the even lines.

This means that in the US, we are not seeing 30 images per second, but, instead, are seeing 60 half-
images per second. These “half-images” are called “fields.” (PAL displays 25 images per second,
composed of 50 half-images, or fields.) Essentially, interlacing means that the vertical resolution of our
image is instantly cut in half, because we are only seeing 1/2 the image at any given instant.

The result of using fields is that we have even less image data to work with. Thin lines flicker wildly
because they are in one field, and not the other. Curved lines look even more stair-stepped. A moving
object has weird horizontal lines radiating out from each edge that you can see on the computer, but
not on the video monitor.

FCP suppresses displaying interlace lines UNLESS you show your image at 100% size in either the Canvas
or Viewer. This picture illustrates what interlacing looks like; the red arrow points to the horizontal
interlace lines.

Video gamma is different from computer gamma

This was illustrated in a message from Joe Sphinx:
Hey Larry, this sounds like a stupid problem, but I’m having an FCP 5 problem. I captured hdcam
material via decklink card in FCP 5 at dv resolution for offline. then wanted t o export stills from the
timeline as uncompressed tiffs with quicktime conversion. when having done this, pics come out darker
than what is represented on timeline and external monitor. Any ideas around this?

Larry replies: Yup. The computer does not display the same color levels as video. Each use a different
gamma (or mid-tone gray) setting. The standard gamma for the Mac is 1.8. The standard gamma for
video is 2.2, which is darker than 1.8. You can compensate by load your stills into PhotoShop and
setting the mid-tone gray setting in Levels to 1.2. However, don’t change the gamma setting on stills
you want to reimport into your FCP project, or they won’t match your existing footage.
TV White is Actually Gray
Video was invented in an analog world — computers are digital. Consequently, they don’t use the
same black and white points.

Digital black is displayed at 0% on FCP’s W aveform monitor. Digital white is displayed at 109%. ( Here’s a
good article on how to read scopes.)
However, digital black to white is too great a range for analog video, which include broadcast and
DVD duplication. When you are creating graphics or text for video, set your black level to zero on the
W aveform monitor, but keep your white level to 92% (235 in PhotoShop’s color picker).

This is called keeping your white levels “broadcast safe.” You can clamp your white levels to the
correct value by applying the Broadcast Safe filter (Effects > Video Filters > Color Correction >
Broadcast Safe).

You can tell if your white levels are too hot by selecting either the Canvas or the Viewer and
choosing View > Range Check > Excess Luma. If you see a yellow warning triangle, your white levels
are too hot. A green check-mark means they are OK.
You can see this, as well, by looking at your video on the W aveform monitor. If any white pixels are
above the 100% W hite line, your white levels are too hot.

Excess white levels will cause white text to shimmer, tear, or break-up. It can also cause a buzz in the
audio. It also means that your video will be rejected for broadcast, as well as by most cable outlets
and duplication facilities. You’ll need to reduce your white levels and re-output.

Shooting, editing, and outputting on DV — since that is all digital — does not require clamping, or
restricting, your white levels to 100%. However, if you then compress your file for DVD, you’ll find that
the process of compression converts your images into a broadcast safe format, which may, or may
not, give you the results you expected.

Video can’t display as many colors as your computer

Computers use an RGB color space, digital video uses YCrCb (analog video uses YUV). Both video
color spaces are more restrictive than the computer. In other words, you can easily create colors on
the computer that can’t be displayed in video. Saturated yellows and blues come instantly to mind.

You can tell if your chroma levels are too hot by selecting either the Canvas or the Viewer and
choosing View > Range Check > Excess Chroma. If you see a yellow warning triangle, your white levels
are too hot. A green check-mark means they are OK. (These symbols look remarkably similar to the
white level symbols I just discussed — that’s because they are.)
You can see this, as well, by looking at your video on the Vectorscope. If you connect the tops of the
six targets, representing the six primary and secondary colors, if any white pixels exceed the
boundaries of that rectangle, your chroma levels are too hot.

Excess chroma levels, like excess white levels, will cause colors to shimmer, tear, or break-up. It can also
cause a buzz in the audio. It also means that your video will be rejected for broadcast, as well as by
most cable outlets and duplication facilities. You’ll need to reduce your white levels and re -output.

Video colors are not as precise as computer colors

Through a process called “color-sampling,” the colors of adjacent video pixels are averaged to
reduce file size. The problem with color sampling is that the quality of your image is often degraded.
W orse, it gets harder to pull a clean chroma-key, or to do good color correction.

Here are two articles on my website that describe this problem in more detail:

 DV, Color Space and Chroma-keying, by Larry Jordan

 W hat is Color Sampling, by Graeme Nattress
The key issue with color sampling is that we don’t have the same precision with color i n video that we
do with the computer. This is, generally, not an issue when we are shooting pictures, but becomes a
significant concern when doing effects compositing, color correction, chroma -key, or adding text.

UPDATE – July, 2009

Recently, in working on my upcoming book for Focal Press, I discovered a significant mistake in one of
my video tutorials – #12 – W orking with Stills. (I immediately updated the webinar so the current version
online is correct.)

This came about because, as part of writing this book, I took a detailed look at how to prepare still
images in Photoshop that look great in Final Cut Pro. This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer
and, while I got a part of it right, I also got a part of it wrong.

I’ve written about this before, but now I can explain this better.

As has been discussed many times, computers use square pixels to describe their images, while video
uses rectangles. So, for instance, while the video frame might have a 4:3 shape, if each pixel inside it is
tall and thin, you’ll have more pixels horizontally inside it than if each pixel were short and fat. Or, said
another way, if every pixel were big, you’d need fewer of them than if every pixel was tiny.

The overall shape of the frame doesn’t change. However, the number of pixels needed to fill that
frame changes depending upon the size and shape of the pixel.

TWO TYPES OF STILL IMAGES

I’m indebted to Tom Wolsky for some additional insight on this issue. There are two types of still images
that we can create for use in video: images without transparency and images with transparency.
Images without transparency are, generally, digital photos or scans of photographs. In these images,
the entire frame is filled with pixels and there are no transparent areas. They are always a single layer,
and most often saved as a TIFF or PNG. (Tom prefers PNGs, I prefer TIFFs. Both are high quality,
uncompressed images.)

Images with transparency include single layer logos, where areas around the logo are transparent, as
well as multi-layer graphical cornucopias of imaging wizardry. These are almost always saved as PSD
files.

The reason for this distinction is that Final Cut treats these two groups of images differently. W hich
means we need to size these images differently, in order for them to look correct. If we don’t, when we
import an image, it gets squished, with circles becoming eggs and squares becoming rectangles —
not something you want to see happen with a sponsor’s logo, for instance.

This is the classic illustration of what happens when you don’t compensate for the differences in pixel
shape (also called “aspect ratio”). The black circle was drawn in Photoshop and imported into Final
Cut. The red circle was created in Final Cut. They should match, but they don’t. It’s caused by those
darn pixels acting up.

NOTE: Chris Meyer has written an excellent blog that goes into lots of detail on how we got ourselves
into this mess in the first place. If you are curious, as I was, you’ll enjoy reading this:

http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/cmg_keyframes/story/par_for_the_course/
NON-TRANSPARENT IMAGES
To design images that behave properly upon import, we need to create them using specific
dimensions that adjust for these differences. W hile the math can take another page or two to explain,
if you are creating non-transparent images for import into Final Cut, this table gives you the sizes you
need to know.

V ideo Format Aspect Ratio 100% Size 2.5x Moves

DV NTSC 4:3 720 x 540 1800 x 1350

16:9 853 x 480 2133 x 1200

SD NTSC 4:3 720 x 547 1800 x 1368

16:9 853 x 486 2133 x 1215

PAL 4:3 768 x 576 1920 x 1140

16:9 1024 x 576 2560 x 1140

HD 720 16:9 1280 x 720 3200 x 1800

HD 1080 16:9 1920 x 1080 4800 x 2700

If you don’t want to create moves around the image, size your image in Photoshop using the pixel
dimensions in the “100% Image” column. Because images always look better when they are scaled at
100% or smaller, if you want to move around (the “Ken Burns” effect) inside an image, create it at the
size of the “2.5x Moves” column.

Images are always created at 72 dpi, because DPI is relevant when printing. For video, the key number
is the total number of pixels in each dimension. Also, Final Cut Pro 6 or earlier does not like images
greater than 4,000 pixels on a size; it tends to cause the application to crash.

Recent versions of Photoshop have included the ability to change the pixel aspect ratio (or shape) to
match the video format of your sequence. The problem is that Adobe and Apple calculate these
ratios differently. W hich means that the Adobe sizes don’t work perfectly for Final Cut, though they do
work perfectly for Premiere Pro. (sigh…)

So, for non-transparent images, if you are in a hurry, the Photoshop presets will get you close. If you
want to be perfectly accurate, use the numbers above in the table.

IMAGES WITH TRANSPARENCY

W hen we create images with transparency, however, things become more confused. W e still have al l
the issues of pixel aspect ratio to worry about, but Final Cut treats these images differently. Non -
transparent images are imported as graphic files. Transparent images (that is, PSD files) are imported as
sequences.

So, graphics files get adjusted for differences in pixel aspect ratio. Sequences do not. And here’s
where I made my mistake. I decided that the best place to correct for this was in Final Cut. W hile this
works, it is cumbersome and VERY confusing. A better place to adjust for this is in Photoshop. And that
is what I want to explain now.

Here’s the executive summary: like a non-transparent graphic, you need to create your image in
Photoshop at specific sizes, depending upon video format. Then, when design is complete, you need
to alter its size in Photoshop to match the video format you are using. Finally, before importing into Final
Cut, you need to be sure your Easy Setup matches the video format of your sequence, because FCP
adjusts the size of imported sequences to match the current settings of Easy Setup.

Complicating matters – as if it weren’t already bad enough – the size you alter your image to varies by
video format, because different video formats use differently shaped pixels. (Remember, all images
destined for video get created at 72 dpi.)

Here’s the table with the numbers you need.

Aspect Master Squished

V ideo Format
Ratio Image Image
DV NTSC 4:3 720 x 540 720 x 480

16:9 853 x 480 720 x 480

SD NTSC 4:3 720 x 547 720 x 486

16:9 853 x 486 720 x 486

PAL 4:3 768 x 576 720 x 576

16:9 1024 x 576 720 x 576

HDV 720 16:9 1280 x 720 1280 x 720

HDV 1080 16:9 1920 x 1080 1440 x 1080

DV CPRO HD (P2)
16:9 1280 x 720 960 x 720
720
DV CPRO HD (P2)
16:9 1920 x 1080 1280 x 720
1080

AV C 720 16:9 1280 x 720 1280 x 720

AV C 1080 16:9 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080

RED 1080 16:9 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080

XDCAM HD 720 16:9 1280 x 720 1280 x 720

XDCAM HD 1080 16:9 1920 x 1080 1440 x 1080

 XDCAM EX 720 16:9 1280 x 720 1280 x 720
XDCAM EX 1080 16:9 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080

Video Format. The video format of your Final Cut sequence.

Aspect Ratio. The aspect ratio of your Final Cut sequence.

Master image. The size, in pixels, of your original design. All design work and alterations are done at this
size. This becomes the master file from which all size adjustments are made. The resolution of this image
is always 72 dpi.

Squished image. The size, in pixels, of your complete design prepared for import into Final Cut. The
resolution of this image is also 72 dpi.
THE PROCESS
Create a new image according to the Master size column in the table above. Do all your design work
in this file. Make it perfect. Get it approved. W hen your image is complete, you will need to resize it
according to the Squish column.

To do this, go to Image > Image size.

Turn off constrain proportions – this allows you to set the size of the width and height independently.

According to what I’ve read on the National Association of Photoshop Professionals website, when
changing the size of an image, you will most often get the best results by changing the bottom pop -up
to Bicubic Sharper. This improves image fidelity when reducing the size of an image.
Finally, change the size of either the width or the height to match the settings in the Squished column
above and click Save.

You now have two versions of the file: the master version, which you’ll use if you need to make
changes, and the file prepared for import into Final Cut.

Next, in Final Cut be SURE the Easy Setups match the video format you are editing. This is a critical step,
because Final Cut configures your imported sequence to match these settings.
Finally, import your graphic. Because this is a PSD file, Final Cut imports it as a sequence. Double -click
the sequence to open it into the Timeline, at which point, you can copy and paste elements from one
sequence to the next. In this screen shot, the circle and the two smaller squares came in perfectly.

It took a long time to get here, but we finally have a reliable way to prepare images for Final Cut that
gives us accurate imports whether the image contains transparency or not. Having to worry about two
versions of the same file — master and squished — is not ideal. But, the alternative of constantly
fighting to get your images to look right is far worse.

W hew!

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR TEXT

So, given all these constraints, it’s a wonder we can create anything on our computers that displays
properly on video. But, we can. And here are some tips that can help.

1. Avoid lines thinner than 4 pixels, they will flicker

2. Avoid lines that are almost horizontal or almost vertical, they will stair-step
3. Avoid fancy, curvy fonts like Harrington, Chancery, or Savoye
4. Avoid fonts with very thin bars or serifs, such as Engravers, Baskerville, or Modern
5. Avoid point sizes smaller than 24 points
6. Avoid saturated colors, use the Vectorscope if you are unsure
7. Avoid whites brighter than 92% (235 in PhotoShop)
8. Always use drop shadows on any text you want your viewers to read
9. Always keep any text you want viewers to read inside Title Safe
10. Keep text on screen long enough for you to read it three times.
Remember that text always looks better on your computer screen than it does on a TV set. So, if you
can’t read it inside Final Cut, your viewers won’t be able to rea d it either.

UPDATE – AUGUST, 2009

Of all the subjects I’ve wrestled with, nothing is harder to pin down than an efficient system for working
with still images. I’ve been wrestling with this subject for years.
In my recent article, and video tutorial, on working with stills I divided still images into two categories:
those without transparency, such as JPEGs, PNGs, and TIFFs; and those with transparency, such as PSDs.
This provided a simple and consistent way to create stills in Photoshop and import them into Final Cut
with all their geometry and image quality intact. The system w orks, reliably, and consistently. So I
published it.

At which point, Mark Spencer – who is the most knowledgeable person on Apple Motion that I’ve ever
met – sent me the following:
I’m sure you’ll get a lot of email on this one.

“Transparent images (that is, PSD files)”

What about TIFFs and PNGs (and PICTs) that have an alpha channel? How should those be treated?

Larry replies: Sigh… I didn’t even know PNGs and PICTs had alpha channels.
My honest answer is “I don’t know.” If FCP opens a TIFF with transparency as a sequence then it needs
to be sized as you would a PSD.

On the other hand, most people (I’m guessing) use PSDs for transparency, while PNGs and TIFFs are
used for non-transparent images, in which case my article works.

If you have a better way to classify these images, I am COMPLETELY happy to hear it. For now, though,
I think these classifications work, in general, for most people. I hope.

Mark then wrote back:

I don’t think transparency has any impact on how FCP interprets the file – I think all that matters is
whether it comes in as a single file or a sequence – if it comes in as a sequence, you need to resize
(“squish”) first.

Larry adds: On this I agree. The bigger question, though, is what criteria Final Cut uses to determine
whether to open an image as a graphic or as a sequence. My suspicion is that transparency is the
determining factor.
UPDATE – Aug. 31, 2009
Ryan Mast writes:
A PNG with or without transparency will be treated as an image, not a sequence, in a Final Cut
timeline (at least as of Studio 2).

Unless I’m doing animations or effects with layers, I’ll usually export a Photoshop file into PNG if I’m
bringing it into Final Cut or Motion. I’m probably doing it wrong, but I can’t reliably get the TIFF’s alpha
channel to be recognized by Final Cut.

Lee Berger adds:

I use PNG as it supports transparency and imports into FCP as a graphic and not a sequence.
I often use Motion for titles instead of Title 3D because it’s better at soft shadows. The one thing I don’t
like is the long renders at the high quality setting. To avoid this I export the title from Motion as a PNG.
When imported and added as a key the PNG file requires no rendering. The downside is that you
cannot use the “Open in Editor” function if you need to update the title, but it’s worth it to avoid the
long Motion file render.

Larry replies: Thanks!

UPDATE – NOV, 2009 — SELECTING IMAGE QUALITY

John Martellucci writes:
I have watched your tutorial on Lynda.com covering moving stills… resizing to 1800 x 1350 x 72, B icubic
options, sRGB gamma setting, etc… fantastic info!

The project I am working on will incorporate both video and photos. I have 490 scanned photos (but in
jpeg format).

I’m planning to bring all the photos into Photoshop and make the adjustments you explained in your
tutorial… and per your recommendation, was also planning to save them as a Tiff… with the LZW
compression.

However… since the existing format of the photos I am bringing into Photoshop is jpeg, will the quality
be improved by changing it to Tiff… or are my efforts pointless and futile?

Larry replies: John, thanks for writing!

Converting a JPEG to TIFF won’t improve quality. It just changes the format. Think of pouring a cup of
water into a five gallon bucket. You’ve changed the size of the container, but not the content.

Since you are going to standard def video, as I assume from the image sizes you mentioned, JPEG will
“probably” be OK – do a test and see if it works for you. Things that may get damaged are thin lines,
fine detail, subtle textures – which SD video tends to not display anyway.

For HD video, it will probably be better to re-scan as TIFF — BUT!!!!! do some tests first. If you can’t see a
difference on a good monitor, there probably isn’t a difference. TIFF or PNG are better, but when
compared to a really high-quality JPEG, it may not be enough to notice.

If you are creating this project for digital cinema, rescan the images to TIFF. W hen projecting to large
screens, anything you can do to improve image quality is a good idea.

In general, I am not a fan of JPEG, compared to PNG or TIFF, due to the lower quality of JPEG.
However, if JPEG is all you have to work with, Final Cut can easily edit them.

Guidelines for Great Text in FCP HD

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Larry

[ This tip was first published in the October issue of

“Larry’s Final Cut Pro Newsletter.” Click here to subscribe. ]
This technique came from an email that Brian Dorr sent regarding how text looks in Final Cut. Brian
writes:
I believe I’m running into a problem with FCP regarding text. When I create a text for a sequence, It
looks really sharp and defined…until I render the sequence.

Afterwards I get a lot of stair stepping. Just doesn’t look as good as it did prior to rendering. Is this
normal? Does it look any better on a NTSC monitor than on my Powerbook?

I would like to see an article on how to properly add nice looking text to a project.

Larry replies: Brian, there are four things to know about text in video:
1. It is always 72 dpi
2. It is always bit-mapped
3. Curved edges will always generate stair-stepping
4. Fonts should always be checked on a video monitor, rather than a computer monitor
Having said that, though, there are several things you can do to improve the look of your text in video.
And the first starts with how you scale (change the size) of your text.

Here’s an image of the letter “R” at 500 points in Baskerville. This screen shot has not been scaled, so
you see it as it is displayed in the Canvas. The size of the font was set in the Controls tab of the Viewer.

Here’s the same letter “R” set to 100 points in the Controls tab and scaled to 500 in the Motion tab.
Does the word “ugly” spring to mind?
This brings up the first rule of using text in Final Cut: Never scale text using the Motion tab, it will always
be excessively bit-mapped. Always use the Scale setting in the Control tab.
That’s because when text is created and modified in the Control tab, it remains vector-based,
providing the smoothest edges and least amount of stair-stepping. Once you switch out of the Control
tab into any other tab, such as Motion, the text is converted by Final Cut into a video bit -map. Thus, all
images modified using the Scale setting in the Motion tab simply change the size of each pixel, making
the text or image looked even more bit-mapped.

W hen you scale text using the Motion tab, then render it, as in the image above, any existing stair -
stepping gets further exaggerated because rendering is, among other things, conforming the image
to the standard video bitmap.

So, when you are creating text in Final Cut, follow these ten rules for best results:

1. Always use TrueType fonts. Final Cut likes them better than PostScript Type 1.
2. Always scale and adjust your text using the Controls tab in the Viewer, not the settings in
the Motion tab
3. Avoid characters that have excessively thin edges, for example, “Didot”
4. Avoid characters that have lots of fancy curves, for example, “Edwardian Script”
5. Avoid characters that have thin little “feet,” for example, “Times”
6. Avoid using characters smaller than 24 point
7. Avoid coloring text with highly saturated colors
8. Use fonts that are sans serif and solid, like “Arial,” “Lucida Grande,” or “Optima.”
9. Increasing letter spacing often makes fonts easier to read
10. You can use fancy fonts, just be sure to use them in large point sizes
Finally, never judge a font until you see it on a video monitor.
And, always put a drop shadow under text to make it easier to read. My favorite settings are Offset:
1.5, Softness: 30, Opacity: 90.
Hope this helps.
5 Tips for Using Text in Your Marketing Videos
Oct 27, 2016 / By Moira West

The text in your photography video informs your audience, explains your product, and helps you
tell your story. But are you using that text in the most effective way? Take a look at our tips for
using text to make your marketing videos stand out.

1. Add text to video clips. Sometimes it’s easier to tell your story with video clips, and adding text
can help clarify or elevate your footage. That’s why we’ve rolled the ability to add text over video
clips into our new Marketing Video Builder. The text in portrait photographer Sue Bryce’s video
below turns her simple video into something poetic and full of meaning.

Marketing Video Style: Blank Slate

2. Space out. You don’t want your images competing with your text, so when you add text to your
videos, choose either photos with lots of blank space, or a Marketing Video Builder style
like Blank Slate that lets you add text next to vertical photos. Pet photographer Kristie Lee does
both in her video below, creating an advertisement that gives both her text and her images room to
shine.

Marketing Video Style: Blank Slate

Song: “Brumble Beat” by Mugsy

3. Go big. Most videos designed for social media are viewed on a mobile device. That means, if
you want your audience to see your text, it has to be big enough to be viewed on a phone. Portrait
photographer Jeremy Ellsworth keeps the text in his video big and bold so his audience gets his
message, no matter what device they’re using to view it. Whenever you make a new video, watch
it on your phone to see how it looks.

Marketing Video Style: Bold

4. Match your brand. Choose colors and font styles that echo those in your logo and other printed
materials to give your audience visual reminders that help them connect with and remember your
business. Vanessa Joy’s video uses the same soft tones found on her wedding photography
website and in her logo to help reinforce her brand in her video. Marketing Video Builder styles
and customizable Slideshow Video Builder styles allow you to personalize your colors.

Marketing Video Style: Blank Slate

Song: “Counting on You” (Instrumental) by Mikey Wax

5. Keep it short. The more time your audience reads, the less time they’re spending looking at
your photos, so use text to highlight key information rather than tell a complete story. Rachael
Dowling of Elegant Exposure Photography created her video with short, 2-3 word phrases, using
her text to inform her audience and her photos and video clips to convince them to book.

Marketing Video Style: Bold

Song: “Shake This Party Up” by Curious

Good text can elevate your marketing video and give it the polish and style that help sell your
business. Try our tips and see how much easier it is for your clients to find the information they
need and make the connection to your business that you want them to.