Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
produces this undesirable effect on scrolling titles. There are rendering systems that can drastically
improve this problem; even Final Cut Pro has improved this problem over the six versions released.
Adobe’s After Effects, as seen in Figure 8.6, can create great scrolling titles.
Titles can be imported from Illustrator and animated into scrolling titles. The rendering system produces
great looking title crawls. Because only the vectors are moved, rather than moving already
rendered pixels, there is no “stair step” effect. The software does much more than this, but After
Effects is a great complement to the Adobe system when the project calls for moving the titles.
This problem with moving titles can even be seen in 3D titles created in 3D, animation software such
as Lightwave or Maya. In this case the problem does not come from moving pixels, but moving crisp
edges common in titles. The problem can be dramatically improved by rendering at double resolution
and then resizing in Final Cut Pro. Some 3D software has a setting for 200 percent rendering, or the
size can be set to double, for example 1,440 × 960. This requires four times the rendering time in
the 3D rendering, but for something like hard-edged titles, it can look a lot better. These titles will
be scaled to the proper size in Final Cut Pro.
Final Cut Pro comes bundled with LiveType. LiveType is not a resolution-independent system, but
it produces great looking titles. Once a title is rendered, it becomes digital video in whatever format
was set in the LiveType settings. It is a special effect titler used for highly stylized titles. While
simple and elegant is not in its vocabulary, it does a remarkable job making wild titles. In terms of
workfl ow, it’s a straightforward system, just be sure to render the titles in the fi nish online format,
not the working off-line format. Never scale or transcode DV titles into the fi nish format at online.
Considerations when Designing Titles
There are several things you can do in designing titles that will improve their look in any format.
Generally titles are sharp-edged and very high in contrast. Most are white letters over black. This is
an image that challenges even the best digital video formats. Digital video formats cover jagged pixel
edges by blurring the edges. This is not very noticeable on moving video images, but on sharp-edged,
high-contrast titles, this blurring can look horrible. Other digital compression artifacts also become
very obvious on titles.
There are three things that can be done to help with this problem:
• Avoid sharp-edged titles.
• Reduce contrast.
• Use the best video format possible.
Avoiding sharp edges is an esthetic concern as well as a technical consideration. The look may simply
call for sharp edges. But know there is a price to pay: these will show problems on highly compressed
video such as DVD. Some fonts have softer edges or even softer curves that can help hide these
problems. When choosing a font, do some test renders at DV settings and see what problems become
obvious.
Reducing contrast is best accomplished by bringing the letters down from white. Even a light gray
can still come off as white while looking much better. This can be done while creating the titles.
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