Moving Text in AE at DVinfo.net

Brad Simmons · March 5th, 2003, 03:52 PM

Hi everyone.

I'm doing a project in AE that requires black fonts to move across a white screen. The problem is when its viewed on a television, the fonts

become almost aliased and they "pulse with suttle light" when in motion. (the motion is slow, left to right).

Someone told me I need to make them antialiased? Or I need to blur the fonts with an effect in AE? How do I make the fonts nice, dark and smooth

without these unwanted effects on a TV?

Thanks for any advice.

Ken Tanaka · March 5th, 2003, 04:42 PM

Hi Brad,
How are you exporting the animation and viewing the results?

Brad Simmons · March 6th, 2003, 12:50 AM

Hi,
I'm exporting it without fields ( I tried with fields and it's even worse). It's an uncompressed Quicktime file that I then import into Premiere and I view it on a NTSC monitor. I've tried it on a number of monitors, and its all the same.

Ken Tanaka · March 6th, 2003, 01:06 AM

Try exporting it with fields again. Be sure to turn-on the anti-aliasing option for the text's layer. (That's the "\" checkbox in the layer's option bar.) Turning on the motion blur option for the layer would also be worth a try. (The "M" checkbox on that bar.) Drop it into your render queue and use the "Animation" codec and match the frame size and rate to that of your Premiere footage to create your Quicktime file. It should look as smooth as a baby's behind.

Please report back when you've taken another swing at this, Brad.

Brad Simmons · March 6th, 2003, 01:42 AM

cool! It looks great now! I put on the motion blur, added a small fast blur, and exported it with lower fields first.

Looks great on my tv now. Quick question, what is the animation codec? What I did was export my file as uncompressed because the file is going onto a mac later on and I am on a PC so I didn't want any codec compatibility issues. (Unfortunatley, this makes the file 1.7gb!). Though I won't be able to test it on the mac myself, I need to know beforehand.

Will the animation codec work on most systems? If you don't know - no problem.

Thanks again Ken for the help!

Ken Tanaka · March 6th, 2003, 01:56 AM

That's excellent news, Brad.

The Animation codec is especially good for content such as this and has been part of the AE codec set for several versions. If the receiving Mac is reasonably up-to-date its Premiere should have no trouble importing Animation-compressed content.

Bravo, Brad! Have fun.

March 5th, 2003, 03:52 PM	#1
Brad Simmons Major Player Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Washington DC Posts: 304	Moving Text in AE Hi everyone. I'm doing a project in AE that requires black fonts to move across a white screen. The problem is when its viewed on a television, the fonts become almost aliased and they "pulse with suttle light" when in motion. (the motion is slow, left to right). Someone told me I need to make them antialiased? Or I need to blur the fonts with an effect in AE? How do I make the fonts nice, dark and smooth without these unwanted effects on a TV? Thanks for any advice.

March 5th, 2003, 04:42 PM	#2
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Hi Brad, How are you exporting the animation and viewing the results? __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

March 6th, 2003, 01:06 AM	#4
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Try exporting it with fields again. Be sure to turn-on the anti-aliasing option for the text's layer. (That's the "\" checkbox in the layer's option bar.) Turning on the motion blur option for the layer would also be worth a try. (The "M" checkbox on that bar.) Drop it into your render queue and use the "Animation" codec and match the frame size and rate to that of your Premiere footage to create your Quicktime file. It should look as smooth as a baby's behind. Please report back when you've taken another swing at this, Brad. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

March 6th, 2003, 01:56 AM	#6
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	That's excellent news, Brad. The Animation codec is especially good for content such as this and has been part of the AE codec set for several versions. If the receiving Mac is reasonably up-to-date its Premiere should have no trouble importing Animation-compressed content. Bravo, Brad! Have fun. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

March 6th, 2003, 12:50 AM	#3
Brad Simmons Major Player Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Washington DC Posts: 304	Hi, I'm exporting it without fields ( I tried with fields and it's even worse). It's an uncompressed Quicktime file that I then import into Premiere and I view it on a NTSC monitor. I've tried it on a number of monitors, and its all the same.

March 6th, 2003, 01:42 AM	#5
Brad Simmons Major Player Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Washington DC Posts: 304	cool! It looks great now! I put on the motion blur, added a small fast blur, and exported it with lower fields first. Looks great on my tv now. Quick question, what is the animation codec? What I did was export my file as uncompressed because the file is going onto a mac later on and I am on a PC so I didn't want any codec compatibility issues. (Unfortunatley, this makes the file 1.7gb!). Though I won't be able to test it on the mac myself, I need to know beforehand. Will the animation codec work on most systems? If you don't know - no problem. Thanks again Ken for the help!