How to keep text over video readable and legible in Final Cut Pro

Hey friends!
In this quick video im showing you some tips for adding text to your videos and keeping text readable. It can be tricky to keep text legible when overlaying text on video so hopefully these tips will ensure text is always readable and looking good. text overlays in video are very popular but when done badly can be really hard to read and make the video feel really ammeter. Hopefully these tips will help you add text to your videos, keep text readable, and make videos with text overlays that are really really good looking and professional. These professional techniques for adding text to videos are quick and easy so you can dive in and be making great looking videos with in no time.
Enjoy! and i'll see you next time.
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[@WillChidlow]

Hey Friends, hope you found that useful? what other tutorials would you like to see from me? hit me up in the comments! 👍🙏😎

[@DansplainingVideo]

I never would have thought of the overlay or gradient … very helpful, thanks.

[@WillChidlow]

Very commonly used in print and web design which is my background hence it seemed like a natural approach for me to use. Glad you got some value 👍🙏

[@snijders083]

that gradient thingie with the composite mode was brilliant

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you found it helpful. I use that technique a ton 🙏👍😎

[@thomassimmons7723]

That overlay tip is genuinely one of the most valuable tips I've seen on KZbin. Thank You!

[@WillChidlow]

Ah that’s great to hear! 👍🙏😎

[@rickybobbyracing9106]

Great video, these tips work great!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you like them! 👍🙏😎

[@anyaimfitness3339]

Great & useful video, thanks for sharing 👍

[@WillChidlow]

Thank you too! 👍🙏😎

[@JamesKerLindsay]

This was a fantastic video. And just what I needed. I have been struggling with this on my lower thirds for a while. Thank you.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help James! Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@JamesKerLindsay]

@@WillChidlow And I just realised I can use the same techniques on my thumbnails! 🙂🙏🏻 (Great point about white text. I had always thought that too.)

[@WillChidlow]

@@JamesKerLindsay absolutely! I often use these techniques for print and web design in my day job too 👍

[@mustang774]

Perfect timing with this video Will. I was just editing and ran into this exact issue. Your video has solved my problem. Thanks so much......Take care, Bluefin.

[@WillChidlow]

Ah great to hear! Thanks for watching my friend 👍🙏😎

[@TonySutherland]

Will... I've watched several of your videos and they have immediately helped me with my editing. Your videos are simple to follow and help so well. Thanks for making these videos. Please keep making them. This particular edit has been something I've wanted to do for some time. I just tried it and BOOM it works great!

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome to hear Tony, so glad you got some value 👍🙏😎

[@deborahgold]

So so helpful, please never stop making videos!!!

[@WillChidlow]

Thank you! 🙏👍😎

[@SimplyCyber]

Will your content is useful, clearly understood, and entertaining. Thx for the assist.

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks so much! 👍🙏😎

[@antMight]

Thank for this information

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you found it helpful! 👍🙏😎

[@DolbyAtmosMixing]

Just what I needed! Best line, "that looks like trash." 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@elg3eco]

Thx this was really helpful

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it helped

[@treywillis]

Exactly what I needed. Thanks man

[@blaspayri]

very very helpful as it shows techniques but also a rationale and an analysis on common practices that give inelegant results. I wish I had seen this video this morning as I ran into this issue which I solved by using the background bars of FCP text parameters ... it can be effective and still elegant, although the text doesn't blend but rather appears like a different layer to the viewer.

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks for watching, glad you found it helpful 👍🙏😎

[@baguapalm]

Very nice and simple! Thank you

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@artyom_ovich]

thank you so much!

[@WillChidlow]

You are very welcome! 🙏 👍😎

[@jettravelvlogs4666]

Great tutorial, very helpful, I will definitely try this, thank you

[@WillChidlow]

You’re welcome 😊

[@SoNowWhat]

Good tips. When I need to “burn in” subtitles on a video, I use a modified form of your overlay technique. I put a solid color under the text, and lower the opacity, but then I transform the overlay so that it just fits under the text. The rest of the image is therefore unaltered. Yes, it is a little obvious, but since the viewer is likely just focusing on the text, I think the result is acceptable.

[@WillChidlow]

Great tip! thanks for sharing 👍🙏😎

[@jaredsmith418]

Insanely useful demonstration, man. Been looking for a video exactly on this for ages! I'm using DaVinci. I could do this and add a solid black layer and just turn the opacity down, but would it have the same effect to just color grade the footage a bit darker?

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Jared! Yeah you could totally just Darken the image with grading instead. I just love the simplicity of using a solid or gradient and the ease of then animating the opacity in/out with the text. Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@proteinpackage1614]

Great video! What are your thoughts on using shapes to create a fade in sidebar for when you a really busy background?

[@WillChidlow]

I like it! there are also loads of title packs out there which feature a similar effect and it can save a lot of time in the edit. thanks for watching 🙏👍😎

[@dronevideographyproduction]

Great tutorial! Love the gradient technique... I will definetely use this awesome tip. Since you are asking, I would like to see a tutorial on how to remove or erase object or people from a video clip in motion. Like a drone shot... Thank you! 🙏

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks for watching! Im not sure Motion has any tools that would achieve that. If i was solving that issue Id tend to use Adobe AfterEffects as it has an awesome content aware fill which is just absolutely magic for removing unwanted elements. hope that helps 👍🙏😎

[@dronevideographyproduction]

@@WillChidlow Thank you for your response... I did'nt mean in Motion (software), I meant in movement... LOL I wish Final CUt Pro had a content aware fill to remove objects or people. I guess I could always try to overlay a part right next to what I want to remove with a mask and keyframe it... Seems like a lot of work... 😅

[@StuffInMyStudio]

Fantastic idea with the gradient! Must admit, on my VB channel I tend to wang on an outline and call it done - which isn’t a classy solution, but you know, I’m lazy 😁 Deffo going to try the gradient idea though, cheers fella!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you found it helpful Dean! I use the gradient method a lot in my day job as a web designer so it seems like a natural thing to in final cut too. Hope all is good with you bud? 👍🙏😎

[@yogithesymbian]

i have video thats contain text like that, how i can show only the text , the text color is white , i would like to replace other area with other video

[@WillChidlow]

I would simply recreate the text using a title element, it would be far easier than trying to mask and keep the text whilst changing the background

[@ArtByEmilyHare]

The amount of movies (mainstream I mean) that have text that's completely illegible (worst culprit is red text on a colour background!)

[@WillChidlow]

I know right! Seems like such an obvious thing that need to be right but 🤷‍♂️