User`s guide

Adding Effects to Text

445

Adding Color Backdrops to Text

Adding a color backdrop to text dramatically changes the look. To add a backdrop, you’ll be

using the Backdrop track, a Spline Primitive media track that appears below the text’s Face

track in the timeline. You can add a border and set the fill using Border and Fill tabs. The

backdrop resizes if you change the size or amount of the text.

Tip: You can map media to the text backdrop by using the Apply To menu in the Texture tab.

For more information, see “Mapping Media to Text” on page 443.

You can apply a backdrop from the Library Browser to text in your timeline. For example,

you can use this feature to apply complex backdrops from the Library Browser to the text in

your timeline. For more information, see “Loading and Saving Effects using the Library

Browser” on page 186.

To add backdrops to text:

1. Select the Backdrop tab (Controls window).

2. Do one of the following to create a Backdrop track:

• At the bottom of the Controls window, click the Backdrop button. This button only

appears if you select the Face track.

• From the Backdrop tab, select the Make Backdrop Track option.

3. Select the Backdrop track to adjust the parameters including its shape—see “Working

with the Spline Primitive Media Type” on page 546.

4. Adjust Scale X and Scale Y to resize the backdrop along the horizontal and vertical

axes.

These values represent a percentage of the size of the text. Scale X and Scale Y values

of 100 produce a backdrop that is exactly the size of the text. Since they are a

percentage, once you set these values, they are maintained even if you change the size or

content of the text.

In the following example, Scale X and Scale Y were set to 120.

5. Adjust Shift X and Shift Y to displace the center of the backdrop along the horizontal

and vertical axis, respectively.

• Increase positive Shift X values to move the backdrop to the right.

• Decrease negative values to move the backdrop to the left.