vertical text scrolling

Rob_Bob_Dave

I am building "sing along videos" from original music, adding a static background image, and vertical scrolling lyrics (text) at the bottom of the screen. I have limited the "visible" text to four lines at the bottom of the screen using crop. Visually this is working, however, because of the nature of the text image, the last line of text has to scroll off the top of the screen to end the sequence. This causes an unwanted length of time after the audio file has finished where (visibly) nothing is happening.

Is there a way to specify the size of a window for the text to scroll in without resizing the text in it? Crop only limits the "viewable" area. Scale messes with the text size. I am looking for something similar to "picture in picture".

Please don't suggest horizontal scrolling text. Timing it with the audio file is an absolute nightmare.

borate

If feasible upload an example and link it here. Let's take a look.

[deleted]

Here is one way you could get scrolling text within a specific window height and position. Worth trying...

Switch on dual preview screens in Options/Display as this makes it easier to see what you are doing.
Place your background image on Video Track 1
Make the duration the same as all your song
In the Text editor, enter just the first four lines of text.Set it central and at the bottom the of the display. Make the font large enough to see (depends on line length but try size 11) and make it of a contrasting colour to the background image. The text image will now be on the overlay track; Video track 2 above the background image. Set Bottom to Top Scrolling
Now...the fiddly bit.....(You only need to do this once)
Move the cursor line along the track until 4 lines of text are visible at the bottom of the preview.
Now add the background image once more to Video track 3 Initially this will cover everything.
Now add a Crop effect to this image. Pull up the bottom of the frame until the four lines of text become visible
What you have now is an area at the bottom the static image (made of two images) in which your text of four lines can be seen and in which it will scroll up.

Now when you play the sequence your text will scroll up through the area at the bottom of the screen, displaying four lines at a time. You can add more text to what you have , or create a fresh text etc. The text will scroll only on the lower area of the whole image to a maximum of four lines. You could create and add a single line of text each time and move it along Track 2 so it synchronizes with the song. If you find that the text scrolling invisibly to the top of the frame behind the top image causes delays you could move Track 3 up to Track 4 and use the empty Track 3 track for another text that overlaps text 1 etc. You will have to explore the possibilities of this idea.

The timeline may look a little like this....

Note you may have to monitor the font size if you want more lines

Nat

Rob_Bob_Dave

Borate: working on it...

Nat: Actually, I was layering as you indicated but found that cropping the text is simpler. The problem lies in the fact that either way only hides the area that the text is excluded from. I have found that cropping the text does exactly what layering (as you indicated) does. The problem is the "window" remains the size of the screen and cropping or layering only hides the scrolling text. With the text cropped to a window at the bottom of the screen, the text still has to scroll (invisibly) off the top of the screen to end the sequence. So to have the last line of text display at the end of the musical selection, the scrolling text sequence has to extend beyond the musical selection for the amount of time it takes for the last line to scroll from the visible area, off the top of the screen. This also depends on the scroll speed which can cause it be 30 seconds or more, even a minute beyond the end of the music. I need to create a defined window that is the size of the text area (width = screen, height = four lines (Crop y1=75 ) for the text to scroll in.

[deleted]

HI Rob

"... The problem is the "window" remains the size of the screen and cropping or layering only hides the scrolling text. With the text cropped to a window at the bottom of the screen, the text still has to scroll (invisibly) off the top of the screen to end the sequence. So to have the last line of text display at the end of the musical selection, the scrolling text sequence has to extend beyond the musical selection for the amount of time it takes for the last line to scroll from the visible area, off the top of the screen. ..."

You are correct but note that I mentioned that you could, if that delay is a problem simply apply another text clip of the next (last?) line placed on a higher track (but under the cropped top part of the background static image.).

Even though text 1 is scrolling (invisibly) up to top of the screen behind the top half of the static image, your Text2 line can be positioned so IT scrolls into view as the previous text disappears (or at the correct moment to match the audio.Also the text in my example is not cropped; it is exactly as typed into the text editor. Each line could be full screen width if needed.

If you want to go to extremes then each image of a text line could be placed on tracks 2, 3 , 4 and 5 with the covering cropped background image on track 6. In this way each scrolling text line could be positioned so it starts with the audio.

Worth playing with and (on paper) relatively simple.

(I'll try it and see..)

Nat

[deleted]

OK I tried the idea of scrolling 1 line at a time into a 4 line gap. This idea actually works very well as each text can be positioned on its own track to synch with the audio

However , for an even and suitable scrolling speed and regular appearence, each line of text (irrespective of its length) would need to be around 10 seconds duration with each one starting 1 second after the previous one.(i.e. Around 1 second apart.)

Using these values it would require the use of 10 Tracks for the text lines.(Track 2 to Track 11) After this Track2 would be free to use again for text 11 etc. Any further text lines could then be continued at infinitum. Any number of lines of text could be used, scrolling up to a limit of 4 in screen height.

It's a bit clumsy but it works.

However, I am still not clear why you need a "Text Box". In my original scenario, Not the one above) Cropping the upper of two still images to leave a 4 line space is all that is required All the lines of text (any number of lines up to screen length) can easily be scrolled without any cropping and will only need threeTracks. (Track 1..The background image uncropped. Track2 the text image...Track 3 the cropped background image.

Nat

Rob_Bob_Dave

I have a link for a portable project for you:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xVmaN2Qx3oDP3ThgtJY-R1Ab5I6YJC1k

What I have done is used a current project. The original cropping, scaling, etc is the left half of the screen. On the right I have not cropped the text but put a transparency scaled and cropped of the background to show the differences and similarities of both options to create the similar end result.

As you can see, the text scrolling has to exit at the top of the screen in order for the video to finish. This causes, in this video, approximately 25 seconds beyond the end of the musical selection.

Anyhow, I have found that if I add informative (credits) at the end where this occurs, I can hide the delay somewhat. But it would be nicer if there was some way to define a window that is user sizeable.

Rob_Bob_Dave

Nat: I have had to use the multi lines of text as you indicated in order to time the text with the audio file. Some tunes the chorus and the verse are of different cadence and do require being separate to scroll at different speeds..

However if you had a tune with 50 lines...

[deleted]

Hi Rob

Had a look at your project. There were some odd things about it..texts running over other texts etc.Scrolling a bit erratic

I have redone it along the lines I suggested originally. Renamed the files so I could better see what was happening and for this method had to copy the horse image. If you can open the link below and run the vpj file in 7.21 you should be able to work out what is happening..

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1B7hHclcfTwjfbkhe61Aw8I1fCbCOuC_v

In essence I have used the main horse image on Track 1 to follow the intro image via the Image Curl transition. The first half of the text is above this (track 2) the second half of the text above this starting further to the right (Track 3) and at the top (Track 4), the second horse clip cropped to show the text below it at the bottom. Only 4 tracks then. No odd cropping or scaling.

The lengths of the clips have been adjusted so scrolling keeps pace with the lyrics. Text 2 is positioned to start over text one at the point the latter disappears.

Here is an avi (Hopefully)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WhVtBGU7Pvrbss4Uo-eV-HAd04k-Amp0

Hope this is like what you were aiming for.

Nat

borate

Fine suggestions from Nat. Here's yet another

V1 - cover art with page curl transition to horse clip for the duration of the music
V2 - Full line-by-line text, offset from V1 to where scroll will begin...

Drag the end of V2 to the end of the sequence
Add a Y1 CROP effect to limit the number of lines shown
Right-click and CHANGE SPEED to best sync with vocals

Export

Import the clip and, in the bin, trim the text overrun mentioned in your initial post. You now have a composited clip that can be added to the final project, perhaps to another sequence, or dropped onto a sequence by itself and exported/archived for future use.

So_fine 2.mp4