Fading in text backdrop

[janstan]

Corel Video Studio X4 Pro

I want to use a title with a text backdrop. How can I fade in the backdrop and fade it out? There does not seem any way to do this. What am I missing?

[Ron P.]

Text Backdrop meaning? If you just want to use a Text title, add it by first entering the Text mode, clicking on the T along the right edge of the preview screen. Then double-click in the preview screen, type your text. In VS X4 you can have text on any track, except the audio tracks. The stacking order in VS is backwards. The Main video track is the lowest level, and each overlay track is above, even though the timeline shows it differently. So for your backdrop you need it to be on the Main Video track, or the lower numbered overlay tracks.

Fade-in/Out is done the same for all text. Select the Attribute tab, and Apply animation, then one of the Fades, probably Cross-Fade. Press the double-TT, to set the duration.

[janstan]

I will try to clarify. On the main video track i have a video clip. I wish to use a preset title (it is the 7th one displayed in the Title previews) which has a purple strip backdrop. I wish to use that but have the backdrop fade in and out. I am not referring to the text.

[Black Lab]

I don't know that you can fade the text backdrops. But what you can do is make your own. Drag a color clip to an overlay track, resize it to the shape of the text backdrop, then use the fade in/out buttons that you would use for a video clip.

[janstan]

Many thanks. Now it seems I can fade text in or I can fade text out but the "animations" do not allow both fade in or fade out it would seem

[Black Lab]

You most certainly can fade in and out. Under the attributes you want to choose "crossfade".

[janstan]

Many, many thanks. It is a pity that there is no documentation pertaining to this nor is it very intuitive. Thank goodness for helpful people like yourself and others on this very good forum.

[teknisyan]

Hello janstan,

If you are looking for a user guide, then you can download a copy of the VS X4 userguide from http://corel.force.com/index/articles/e ... ser-Guides, just click on the user guide of the corel program that you are using.

[J D]

Thanks to Ron P., Black Lab, and Abiel.

I do have to agree with JanStan, though, in that the documentation on this feature is poor and non-intuitive. Part of the problem is that "CrossFade," when used in the context of a transition, implies only that one end of a clip will be affected. This led me to believe the same thing about "CrossFade" when used with titles, and that was only after I found something on the web that explained how to make a title fade in or out, let alone fade in AND out...

To be honest, the entire procedure for adding a simple fade to a title is way more complicated than it needs to be (especially when the documentation is lacking). I normally use Final Cut Pro, and while Final Cut is much more complex in many ways than VideoStudio Pro, adding a fade to a title is a heck of a lot easier and more intuitive than it is here. This is a shame because a lot of new videographers start with software like VideoStudio Pro, and the unnecessary complexity to do what should be a very simple task may turn people off from editing for good.

Thanks,
Joe