Type

Use the Type node to add text, titles, rolls, and crawls to a clip or sequence.


Access	To access the Type menu, use: Batch, then select the node from the All Nodes bin. Timeline, then use Batch FX. See Creating Batch FX. Timeline, then add a Timeline FX from the Add Effect window. See Adding Timeline FX.
Input	Back - The clip to add text, titles, rolls, or crawls to. This input is optional. In Batch and Batch FX, if no clip is connected, the text, titles, rolls, or crawls are added on a black background.
Outputs	Result - The back clip or black background with text, titles, rolls, or crawls. OutMatte - The matte of the text, titles, rolls, or crawls layers.

The node inherits the resolution and colour space of the clip connected to the Back input, if any. If no clip is connected to the Back input, the project's resolution and colour space are used, and can be modified from the Node Prefs menu.

Note: Setups created using the Text tool cannot be loaded in the Type tool.

Modifying a Setup from the Timeline

Controls for the Type Timeline FX are accessible from the Timeline FX Ribbon. Layers cannot be added or deleted, but can be selected using the drop-down button located in the Layers submenu.

Viewing Text in a Viewport

A viewport showing one of the Type tool's output views, Result or OutMatte, can be set to Interactive or Live Preview mode using a switch at the bottom-left of a viewport. This is the equivalent to the 3D and Live Preview modes available in the Action tool.

In Interactive mode, no anti-aliasing or shadow blur is applied, and the layers outside of the background canvas are visible.
In Live Preview mode, you see the output of the node, including the anti-aliasing.

Tip: Use the "3" keyboard shortcut to toggle between the two modes.

Notes:

Avoid using Live Preview mode when the Batch Cache is enabled on a Type node, as using both will impact the interactivity.
When adding content to a Roll Layer while the viewport is set to Live Preview, the roll does not automatically scroll when you add lines or navigate through lines. It is recommended to use the Interactive mode to achieve this task.

Node Preferences

Parameters in the Node Prefs menu can be used to adjust the node's format, rendering, and display.

Resolution

Select an output resolution for the node. The node inherits the resolution of the background if a clip is connected.

Tagged Colour Space

Select a colour space for the node. The node inherits the colour space of the background if a clip is connected.

Scan Format

Use HWAA

Enable to apply the hardware anti-aliasing level set in the Rendering tab of the Project Preferences to this Type setup.

Hardware Anti-Aliasing indicator

Displays the hardware anti-aliasing level set in the Rendering tab of the Project Preferences.

Software Anti-Aliasing

Software Anti-Aliasing option

Select the software anti-aliasing sampling level. Higher values produce better results, but may have an impact on the performance.

Path Colours

Path Wireframe colour

Sets the colour of the text motion path.

Path Vertices colour

Sets the colour of the vertices on a text motion path.

Characters Position

Outlines colour

Sets the colour of the outlines that show the original position of a character if it has been moved using the parameters in the Characters Axis menu.

Output

Output option

Select whether the front (RGB), matte (A Only), or both (RGBA) is output.

Note: This option is only available in a Type Timeline FX.

Motion Blur

Active

Enable to apply a motion blur effect to all moving layers and characters of the setup.

Samples field

Sets the quality of motion blur produced by the number of samples taken at each frame.

The number of motion blur samples is multiplied by the number of anti-aliasing samples. To reduce the total number of passes made for each frame, reduce the level of anti-aliasing when Motion Blur is enabled.

Phase field

Sets the frame that motion blur is based on (before or after the current frame).

A value of -1.0 places the motion blur before while a value of 1.0 places the motion blur after. A value of 0.0 is centred, which evenly distributes the motion blur.

Shutter field

Sets the duration of motion blur at each frame (essentially the number of frames that the shutter is open). Increasing this value does not increase the processing time.

Tip: You can animate the status of the Motion Blur button, as well as the Phase, Shutter, and Samples channels. The associated channels can be found in the Animation editor under the motion_blur folder.

Reset Options

To reset selected layers, click Rst Layer at the bottom-right of the user interface. To reset specific parts of the selected layers, select one of these options in the drop-down attached to Rst Layer:

Select:	To:
Reset Attributes	Reset all parameters other than the Paragraph Justification in the Attributes menu.
Reset Axis	Reset all parameters in the Axis menu.
Reset Cascade	Reset all parameters in the Cascade menu.
Reset Roll / Crawl	Reset all parameters in the Roll / Crawl menu.

Note: The font and font style are not affected by the Reset operations.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Contrary to the legacy Text tool from previous versions, the Type tool is integrated into Batch. Therefore, some keyboard shortcuts for functions that were previously available in the Text tool have been modified to avoid conflicts with other Batch features. Please consult the Keyboard Shortcut Editor while the Type tool is focused for the complete list of keyboard shortcuts.

Note: The keyboard shortcuts listing is different whether the selected layer is in Move or Edit mode.

Tangent Panels

The Type Timeline FX can be added from a Tangent panel, replacing the Text Timeline FX.

Python API

Attributes and functions for the Type tool are available in the Python API. For more details, see What's New in the Python API.

For more information on the Type tool, see: