Things to Remember

This chapter certainly covered a lot, from custom objects to custom text, to templates and rolling titles. With text and objects, the fundamental things to remember are that objects and text have the exact same fill, stroke, and shadow properties, the only differences being the text parameters for text elements and the differing geometric shapes for the object elements. If you happen to create a unique text style that you want to add to an object, you can create an object and apply that same style to the object. The object will not convert to text; it will just assume the fill, stroke, and shadow properties of the applied style. The same rules apply when applying an object style to text, except for the fact that object styles will use the default text parameters.

Filling and coloring the elements is by far the most important attribute of the titling process (aside from your choice of fonts for the text). Although the example used strokes of single solid colors, you can fill a stroke with a four-color gradient just as you can an object or text. If at any point while you experiment, you want to save the current style, simply create a new style with the element selected in the Title window.

As for templates, all the clues to making an attractive title reside in the physical properties of the title templates that you like best. If you find a particular template that you really like, simply click on the individual elements that make up the title and scour over all of the settings in the Title Properties panel, especially the Properties twirl down. With an object selected you can see the technique used for filling, adding strokes, and creating more depth to the elements in the title. You can find an object with a sheen, for example, and click the sheen off to see the difference. The more you investigate, the more you'll understand why your favorite templates look the way they do.

Remember, too, that you can change specific text properties of individual text elements in a large group of text. If you want every line to have different leading, fonts, and tracking, for example, select each line and make the adjustments on a line-by-line basis.

Fiddle with the Titler whenever you have spare time; in 2.0, you'll find a ton of new templates for both HD and DV. You'll find that you very easily can create customized templates that will save you time on many later projects. On the other hand, if you create a unique title for a project, consider saving the title as a template. You never know when it will come in handy.