Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 872)

872 Part IX Effects and Color Correction
Text Generators Available in Final Cut Express
The table below describes each text generator and includes tips about settings for
each generator.
Text generator Result Tips for making settings
Crawl Generates a single line of text
that moves horizontally across
the screen. You type the text you
want to animate in a text entry
field. Carriage returns are ignored
and all text appears on a single
line, like a ticker tape display. Â You can adjust the overall
spacing of the text with the
Spacing slider, and the
location of the text as it crawls
across the screen with the
Location slider. The Direction
pop-up menu allows you to
set the direction in which the
text moves.
 By keyframing the Spacing
and Location parameters, you
can animate the width of your
text as well as its horizontal
position over time. If no
location keyframes are set, the
In and Out points of the
generator clip determine the
duration of the movement
from one edge of the screen to
the other. The longer the clip,
the slower the movement of
the crawl.
Lower 3rd Generates text in the lower third
of the screen. This generator is
often used to identify a person
or location. Â This generator provides two
independent text lines placed
in the lower third of the
screen. It does not allow
carriage returns.
 The Tracking, Size, and Opacity
parameters can be keyframed
to create interesting effects.
 Select the Auto Kerning
checkbox to kern your text
automatically so that the
spacing between the
individual letters of your text
is correct.