To apply text effects to a scene

Create a text effect on the Text tray and apply it to a scene, such as a title scene.

Text effect appears for the duration of the trimmed portion of a scene. You can adjust the length of the text effect as desired.

1. Click the "Text" button.

   The Text tray for creating a text effect appears.

   Follow steps 2 through 3 while checking the outcome on the Text preview monitor.

2. Click the "Text Setting" button.

   The "Text setting" dialog box appears.

   You can set the font, style, effects, size, text color, edge color, and text position. Enter a text in the "Text input" box and click "OK."

3. Click a text effect.

   The text effect is displayed on the Text preview monitor. Check how it appears.

   Repeat steps 2 through 3 to create the desired text effect and then proceed to step 4.

   Note

   If the font size is too large or the text is too long to display within the Text preview monitor, change the font size to a smaller one or make the text shorter.

4. Drag the text effect you want to apply to a scene.

5. Drop it on the Edit tray monitor.

   The text effect you created is applied to a scene, and the Effect range marker and the Effect knobs appear. You can move the Effect knobs.

   The text effect appears for the duration of the trimmed portion of a scene.

   The frame of the text effect appears on the monitor.

   Hints

   • You can also double-click a text effect on the Text tray to apply it to a scene.

   • Furthermore, you can drag a text effect from the Text tray and drop it on an Effect palette which contains no effect.

6. Drag the Effect start point knob (the left side) to specify the starting point.

   The image displayed on the monitor also changes as the knob is dragged.

7. Drag the Effect end point knob (the right side) to specify the ending point.

   The image displayed on the monitor also changes as the knob is dragged.

8. Click the Play button.

   Check if the text effect is applied to the scene properly.

   If not, you can adjust the effect range by moving the Effect knobs again.

   If you want to change the text effect, remove it and repeat again from step 1.

   To apply more than one text effect, repeat steps 2 through 8.

Hints

• Applying multiple effects to a scene will have the effect of them overlapping one another, in ascending order as placed on the Effect palettes (from the bottom up).

• Note that the green icon effects appear beneath animation effects (blue icons) or text effects (pink icons) regardless of the order in which they are placed on the Effect palettes.

• You can change the starting and ending points of the effect simultaneously by dragging the Effect range marker. The duration of the effect cannot be changed with this operation.

• When the Effect knob is dragged over the Time slider, it snaps to align with the Time slider knob, allowing you to precisely trim scenes.

• Moving the Time slider knob to a desired point using the buttons (e.g., the Next frame button, the Previous frame button, or the Play button) before dragging the Effect knob allows you to easily specify the exact starting and ending points of an effect.

• The sample folder (in the factory setting; C:\Program Files\Sony\MovieShaker\Samples) contains a white background file (white.bmp) and a black background file (black.bmp). These files can be used effectively as backgrounds when creating title scenes for a final movie product.

To remove a text effect applied to a scene

To remove a text effect applied to a scene, drag the text effect from the Effect palette and drop it in the Trash in the MovieShaker window. You can also remove a text effect by clicking it and pressing the Delete key.

You can also remove more than one text effect at the same time. To do this, click on text effects to be removed while pressing the Ctrl key.

To change the size and position of a text effect

You can change the size and position of a text effect, applied to a scene (a movie file, or a still image file) on the Edit tray monitor.

1. Click a text effect on the Effect palette.

   The text effect frame appears on the Edit tray monitor.

   A small black square is displayed in each corner, top, bottom and sides of the frame.

2. Move the pointer over a small square using your mouse.

   The pointer changes .

3. Drag the pointer.

   The size of the text effect changes as the pointer is dragged.

4. Move the pointer inside the frame of the text effect.

   The pointer changes .

5. Drag the pointer.

   The position of the text effect changes as the pointer is dragged. The text effect can only be positioned within the monitor area.

Hint

By double-clicking the text effect, the "Text setting" dialog box appears. You can once again enter a text, change the font and colors, etc.

Note

The movie file captured from a MICROMV device recorded in widescreen mode (aspect ratio 16:9) is exported to a MICROMV device with an aspect ratio of 16:9. In this case, any applied text effect will appear compressed top and bottom (wider and squatter than those displayed on the MovieShaker monitor).

Note that you cannot use a MICROMV device with MovieShaker preinstalled on your computer. If you wish to use a MICROMV device, see To use a MICROMV device.

Related Topic

Getting familiar with the Text tray