Hey everyone, Javert here for HitFilm.
Today I'll be showing you a couple of useful techniques for creating lower thirds.
These are the things that you need to know if you want to make your own.
All but one of these techniques work in both HitFilm Pro and Express, so let's get started.
The first thing I'll show you has to do with animation.
Lower thirds sometimes have a solid bar behind the name or title, and they usually come in
from one side- left to right, or top to bottom.
We'll start with a regular plane with a Fill Color effect.
I recommend using Fill instead of coloring the actual plane, so that you can reuse the
Plane itself and keep your Media bin clean.
Now if you try to resize the layer, it'll scale from the center.
In this case that's not what we want, and you'll have the same problem if you try to
draw a mask and keyframe that.
So we're going to adjust the Anchor Point, which is currently in the center of the frame.
Come into the Controls panel and select the X value, and slide it until it's on the left
of the Plane.
If you want it to be pixel perfect, take the width of your layer and divide by 2.
You can see that the plane now rotates and scales differently.
Unlink the Scale property so that you're able to adjust the values separately, and shrink
the Y percent to your desired height.
If I adjust the X value, the Plane will shrink in a manner similar to a loading bar.
I can keyframe this to start at 0, and end at a length I choose.
I'll set the keyframes to Smooth for now, but I highly recommend that you learn and
get comfortable with the Value Graph.
The keyframes default to Linear and that shouldn't really ever be used if you're looking for
smooth motion.
Click the card onscreen to learn more about it.
If you wanted to change this so that it comes in from the top, all you have to do is reset
the Anchor Point and Position.
Move the Anchor to the top, in this case it should be at 540.
Keyframe the Y scale instead of the X and you're done.
To add some more character to your animations, you can create a bounce effect pretty easily.
Once you have the movement and timing applied, double click on the last keyframe to move
your playhead to it.
Scoot it over a couple of frames, maybe 2 or 3.
Copy and paste the keyframe, then extend the one you're currently sitting on to past wherever
it is.
This will create a bounce effect, and can be used on pretty much any attribute, like
Position or Rotation, to add a little more movement.
The next thing might want to do in your lower thirds is have the text cut out of a Plane
or image.
I'll use the example from earlier, just with a background picture so that you can see through
it.
Let's create a Text layer, select the Text tool, click inside the box and type the name.
All of the font and size controls can be found in the Text panel.
The color doesn't matter here, I'm changing it for visibility.
Once it's positioned, hide the layer from view.
Add the Set Matte effect onto the Plane layer.
Under Source Layer, select the Text, and choose Subtract for the Blend.
The white Plane layer is using the Alpha channel from the text to subtract a piece out of itself.
Now the Set Matte effect has numerous uses, this is just one of them.
Let's remove that from the Plane layer and turn back on the text.
Currently the text is visible even before the Plane is animated.
Add the Set Matte effect to the text.
Set the Source Layer to the Plane and the Blend to Subtract.
This time I have to checkmark Invert for it to work properly.
The text is using the Alpha channel from the Plane to decide when it will be shown onscreen.
One more use for this effect and then we'll move on.
Delete the Plane layer and the Set Matte from the text.
Hide the text and add Set Matte to the picture background.
Set the Source Layer to the Text and it should now show through.
The Set Matte effect is incredibly useful and well worth the effort to learn how it
works.
You might want to include an image inside of your lower third, the next thing I'll show
you is how to make it easily changeable in the future by using a composite shot.
If I wanted to add a picture of myself to this lower third here, I could drag in the
JPG from the Media panel and then animate the layer as needed.
But if at any point in the future I wanted to change this image, I would have to either
completely redo the animation or copy and paste each attribute and effect.
Instead, create a new composite shot that matches the dimensions of your image.
Then I'll drop my picture into that.
Back in the main comp I'll animate the composite shot instead, which holds the picture inside
of it.
It looks exactly the same, but once I'm done animating, I can easily swap out the image
for something else.
The picture will be replaced, and the animation will remain, since it was done on the actual
composite shot.
This technique of creating a placeholder is essential if you ever want to make a HitFilm
animation template that takes in a user's pictures or videos.
And the last thing I'll show you today is how to create moving lines.
We're going to be using the Neon Path effect, so this is Pro only, and it does have to be
version 5 or later.
Here is the lower third that we use for our videos, we have two lines circling the outside.
I'll delete them and start over.
Create a new Plane if you don't have one already, and grab one of the masking tools.
It doesn't have to be a perfect shape, it can be freehand or even left open and it will
still work.
In this case I want a rectangle.
Drop the Neon Path effect onto the layer, and in the Controls change the Blend to None.
Shut off the Inner Glow so that it's just a white line.
In the Path settings, change the Start Width to match the End Width.
Now lower the Extension to as short as you like.
To make it move I'll keyframe the Evolution and Extension.
Evolution determines the position of the line on the mask.
I'll have it make a full circle or two.
Once that's done I can copy and paste the whole layer, and scale it up.
Then I'll change both the Evolution and Extension properties to be different from the first.
This just adds more detail to the lower third.
That's it for today.
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