Any solution to uneven titles scrolling at the end of the movie?

I am using final cut pro 6.0.5. to do my movie and my titles are slightly uneven at times or they are not paginated properly. I entered the character name, a "*" symbol and then the actor name. Isn't that what you are supposed to do? I have the titles scrolling upward, but it looks like there is some bug with the system. If occasionally, instead of "John Smith EVIL MAN #1" it looks like this:

John Smit hEVIL MAN #1

...or like this:

John Smith EVIL MAN #1
Bob Jones EVIL MAN #2

How can I correct that annoying misalignment and space before the credit? What does everyone else do for their titles? Is it always Motion or Borris now?

Thank you.

Your titles are centered. You need to do one column right-justified (actor names), and one column left-justified (character names). Better to do it in Photoshop.


www.derekmok.com

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derekmok
Better to do it in Photoshop.

Or in Motion. In Motion you would create two text fields, one for the character's name, and the other for the actors. Then align them horizontally, and place into a single group where you can apply a behavior to scroll them, or use identical text scroll behaviors on the two text objects.

If you want to stay in FCP, you can try the same technique. create two scrolling text objects that are the exact same length. Put actors names (justified left) in one, and character names (justified right) in the other. As long as the clips are the same length, they should scroll in sync with each other.

Andy

Titles.

The bane of the editor's existence...why?

Titles deserve more that a cheesy FCP roll. Don't do that to them - they don't deserve it. Titles are just as big a part of a project as the performances (just ask an Actor who's name was misspelled or god forbid omitted from the titles). There are smart boutiques springing up all over putting their kids through college doing title sequences alone. That's why I stay for all the credits on every movie I see. Gives me motivation staring at a virtually untapped area of filmmaking. 9 out of 10 flicks I see have plain dead titles...then...Kung Fu Panda. Masterpiece.

...but I digress * sigh *

Back to the question...sorry. If you must do a plain old roll, I would type up the entire sequence in one long Illustrator layer (do not rasterize) and animate it in After Effects. This way, you can always update the file in Illustrator, save it, and it automatically updates in After Effects - just render again.

You can probably do this in Motion...I just know how easy it is to do and how it will look in After Effects.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Just wanted to chime in about the importance of good end title design. I just got back from a film festival and was really annoyed at the majority of end credits that I saw, especially after short films. Some of the fonts were just tiny, nearly impossible to read even projected on a big screen. Add in the low resolution of a DVD screener and a soft projector and you get mush. The majority of them also had shimmering/stuttering issues, which a good AE artist will help you avoid if they configure them properly. Spend the time to get them right and make them legible, otherwise you might as well not include them at all...

JK

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I think I've mentioned this a couple times now, but I do what Joey suggests, with a little expression that lets me dial in the crawl speed in scan lines per second. It's extremely handy to be able to generate smooth crawls without having to reinvent the wheel every damn time.

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grafixjoe
Titles are just as big a part of a project as the performances

The titles (especially end titles) only matter to the people who worked on the project (and their lawyers). The audience couldn't care less.

That said, if you want them to stay in their seats to read your name, you should make them enjoyable.

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grafixjoe
I would type up the entire sequence in one long Illustrator layer (do not rasterize) and animate it in After Effects.

There's no doubt that Illustrator and After Effects can make beautiful, solid title rolls. However, not everyone can afford FCS AND Adobe CS which is why I mentioned how it can be done in Motion with the text tool.

However, if you do have CS or know someone with it, you CAN take Illustrator files into Motion and animate them without rasterization just as with AE. You can even make changes to the file and save to update them automatically in the Motion project.

Then at least, you can keep your film in FCS (if you're rolling credits over video) instead of having to export to another suite.

Andy

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The audience couldn't care less.

Tell that to all the delighted kids (and me!) who sat all the way through the Wall-E end titles.

They don't care about the names. Take away the names, and I bet they would have enjoyed the end sequence just as much.

Andy

ah, but for short films screening at a film festival your audience is CAPTIVE.
they have to sit thru the titles, to see the next film.

might as well not make them a laborious experience.
legible is good,
short is good,
entertaining is good, but not if you overdo it.

i love it when the music has a definite end to it, not just a lame fade-out.
makes it feel as if you cared about making the film right up till the very last frame.

i use Photoshop when i'm doing them.
there could be a better way,
but that's what i know.

no matter what you use, it's ALWAYS tedious and time-consuming!


nick

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The titles (especially end titles) only matter to the people who worked on the project (and their lawyers). The audience couldn't care less.

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They don't care about the names. Take away the names, and I bet they would have enjoyed the end sequence just as much.

That is your opinion...which you are entitled to. I happen to totally disagree with you. Who's "they"? Are you speaking for all movie goers?? That's a pretty broad generalization and you would be incorrect in that assumption (at least in my neck of the woods). The truth of the matter is that with all the digitally animated & VFX movies out there, there are HUNDREDS - even THOUSANDS of people who worked on these films today which makes the chances that someone knows one of those people increase dramatically. The last 5 features I saw in the theaters at least HALF the audience stayed for the credits. HALF. That's why I personally treat the credits as an extension of the piece...sort of a "cool down" from the emotions of the main story...leaving an impression that the people that worked on the project are SPECIAL...not a bunch of white 14 point type on a black background.

I particularly LOVE the filmmakers that stick it to the people that walk out on the credits by putting a few scenes in AFTER the titles are done...for those of us that stayed LOVE YOU GUYS!!

I love the credits - my whole family sits through them happily. Sorry to buck your trend, andy, but I am definitely not one of your "audience couldn't care less" crowd.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Of course my comment was a broad generalization. What other kind of generalizations are there? Despite that I haven't done any in-depth census-taking on the subject, I still hold that most people aren't watching a standard (read: boring) end credit sequence because they want to know who the 2nd unit assistant director was.

Speaking as someone who occasionally will see his name in the end credit sequence, I know that the only one who's looking for it are my wife and my mom. That's not to say that I think it shouldn't be there. In fact, I believe just as you do; as you mentioned in your first post. They should make the end title sequence as engaging as opening sequences tend to be. So I hope you understand that I'm not impugning those hundreds who work on a film. I'm just saying that when you view the Mona Lisa, you're not looking for the signature.

In the last feature I watched half the audience stayed as well. However, there are a lot of reasons for that 50% to stay. Of that sample, my guess is that most are in their seats in case there is a scene after the credits. That technique has been around long enough that the average movie-goer is fully aware when they leave during the credits, that they risk missing something. Like you, I'm a fan of that technique. First time I remember seeing it was probably Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Been a fan ever since.

Then there are the people who don't want to get caught in the rush of leaving the theater. Plenty of those around. Myself, I tend to enjoy listening to the last music cuts and relaxing or chatting with my friends about the movie before heading out. I suspect that places you and I on similar ground. But don't ask me about the credits because I'd be lucky to name the director, main producers and a few of the actors, and the truth is, I probably knew that going in. I certainly wasn't paying attention to who was on that list.

Andy

PS: Two credit sequences (aside from Wall-E) that stick into my head as enjoyable are Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban (very animated and cool), and Se7en which for some reason I just had to watch because it ran backwards.

C'mon guys!
Three words: BORIS TITLE CRAWL

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C'mon guys!
Three words: BORIS TITLE CRAWL

Boris Title Crawl can make quite decent title Rolls - the downside is there is no way to add logos or pictures to the Roll/Crawl unlike using after effects or motion. you will have to track the picture in manually afterwards - not difficult though.

I did the my last four BBC programs and a short film with Boris - nice solid and free.

You can use this tutorial to show you how to get right and left justified text around a central column as per usual for roll credits.

[www.borisfx.com]



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

I confirm Boris Tittle Crawl is perfect you don't anything else,
external solutions make it more tedious to adjust in time, (like if it would never happen... )

Anti Flickering option is mandatory, (or you can add a one pixel vertical Blur)

and ... mode FAQ " on " , Watch it on a real Tv monitor lalalala

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A Day late & a Dollar-short Productions

Don't forget in Boris you can do all the text in Text Edit, Pages or Word and import the file direct.

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Dean

"When I see you floating down the gutter I'll give you a bottle of wine."
Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica.

This is a bug in the built-in generator because you used the '#' character. The scripting language within Final Cut has a problem with many non-alphabetic characters.

I've provided a free replacement that can use can use any character:

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