Lower Third Title Graphics - Transparency, Animation, and More! - Video Switcher Tips

[@rawdelicious]

Fantastic titorial now that I took the time to watch til the end!

[@hilarymuhanguzi1058]

This has been really helpful, A huge Thank you from Uganda

[@alexberg6806]

Great Content, One thing that I use that is different is HTML Graphics. Rather than PPT, you can make a transparent website and use CSS containers for the animations. This allows you to have a backend control panel. It also allows the use of JS to get RTD from items like scoreboards. A great open source program for this is CasparCG.

[@BenFranske]

Especially once Doug got into the animated ones with multiple layers I also was thinking how much easier this would be in CasparCG! Especially with a dual channel output Blackmagic card so you have a dedicated alpha channel.

@@BenFranske it's easier if you know HTML, and people doing video (especially older ones) are more likely to know image editing than web design

[@TrustedTackleTips]

Simply the best video on how to perform lower thirds on a blackmagic device. Thank you, great job.

[@eternalfocus1848]

This is awesome! Thanks Doug great video

[@dannepedersen]

Hi, yes i am an quite new to your channel. and I really like your way too teaching. Keep coming with more stuff. :)

[@gccoftulsa]

Excellent video. FYI... if using Power Point you can make those edits in realtime (while the slideshow output is live) and save having to start and stop. Of course you would need to do a side-by-side of the program and the presenter view but you would be able to bump that text/graphic around fantastically. Thanks for the excellent tutorial

[@ErwinStoelinga]

Hi Doug You were talking about not being able to preview the downstream transparency but if you click TIE on your downstream key and select the same source as your PRG output in your PRV you will see the result and be able to tweak it without showing it live. ..... at least, that's the result i'm getting on an ATEM Mini Pro ISO

[@djp_video]

When I tried that in preparation for the video, the DSK still showed on the program output.

[@stagecrew4163]

Great content!

[@lansleyONE]

Hi Doug great video! I have been pre-recording my animation overlays (like titles) in Resolve in the Edit page using tracks 2 (graphics) and 3 (title text) with track 1 left clear, then delivering the output file as ProRes 4444 with alpha. I then FTP this across to the HyperDeck Studio Mini. On my Atem Mini Extreme I have the HyperDeck's 'Fill' connected to input 7 and 'Key' connected to input 8. I then set Upstream Key 1 to Luma and set fill to input 7 and key to input 8. That way I always get perfectly keyed animations without resorting to macros. Of course, I have to work fast to generate a new ProRes 4444 file if someone doesn't turn up and I need to change the names on these overlays, so I like the 'live PC' option using PowerPoint.

[@forestismael3863]

instablaster...

[@QuicksilverSG]

In addition to selecting which sources are routed to internal Program and Preview buses, is it practical to individually control which upstream and/or downstream keys appear on the Program and Preview buses? Reason being, on the ATEM Television Studio HD, the Preview bus can be output on AUX while the Program bus is output on PGM. It would be great if a separate downstream key could be assigned to each bus/output.

[@jasonhaislet2732]

Great video. Have you worked with ProPresenter?

[@djp_video]

No. I have my own proprietary graphics solution that I use. Isn't it also Mac-only? I pretty much only run Windows PCs.

[@BenFranske]

@@djp_video They have a Windows version now. PP also supports Alpha Channels on a second output. It's definitely the "easy to use" solution but is nowhere near as powerful as CasparCG which is absolutely awesome and clearly broadcast level designed with support for dynamic data sources (vote tallies, weather stations, scoreboards, etc.) tons of layers, etc.

[@crooker2]

@@BenFranske I know of Caspar CG, But I find KZbin is sparse on decent tutorials (at least that I've found). I want to try using Caspar CG. If you do know of any good training material, please let me know.

[@Heatlifer305]

Thank YOU for your Knowledge and Teaching.!!🙏

[@ahwaziclips]

Nice video about titles thanks, could you please let me know where can get the mic you use it in this video?

[@djp_video]

It's an AKG C111LP ( djp.li/c111lp ). It works with AKG wireless microphone systems.

[@ahwaziclips]

@@djp_video thanks

[@Pham-Bao-Hoa]

Hi Doug, are you familiar with the old Grass Valley Maestro control panel? We have one, it used to work fine but after we moved it to another location, it now has some problems, one of which is, the graphics layers produced by it is now in purplish, pinkish color. I tried looking all over the web but couldn't find any info related to this problem.

[@MaraisRossouw]

Hey Doug-nice video! Care to make a video on how you are doing this program feed with the PC/Multi view, down camera and your slither camera on the right. Is that all done through the ATEM?

[@djp_video]

This is all with my ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K switcher, utilizing the Super Source feature, with the animations being done with my custom JustMacros scripts that I demonstrate and make available here on this KZbin channel.

[@DannyHarvie]

Thanks Doug. I'm running gfx right now via hdmi from a laptop using a chroma key into an atem and it works fine for the most part until i go to run an animated lower third or do a fade to a full screen graphic, I'm seeing a bit of green show through only as the animation or transition is taking place. Once it is up and completed, it's clean as can be. i doubt there is a work around for this but thought i would ask.

[@djp_video]

Make sure your laptop is outputting at the same frame rate as your switcher. So if your switcher is running at 30 fps, set your computer to output 30 fps. Any frame rate conversion is going to result in the blending of two frames, which won't key well.

[@DannyHarvie]

@@djp_video Thanks for the reply. Both my switcher and the laptop are at 1080i59.94, it is an atem tvs pro hd, non 4k so no scalers built it.

[@djp_video]

@@DannyHarvie It’s probably the fact that you’re running interlace video then. Computers don’t natively generate anything in interlace formats, so it is going through a conversion from progressive to interlace, which will result in similar artifacts. If you can, try running everything at 1080p29.97 to see if that clears it up.

[@DannyHarvie]

@@djp_video Thank you sir! Will do :)

[@crooker2]

I'm running 'bargain basement' graphics for a low budget church broadcast over Google Slides with a green background and keyed out in OBS. It's not bad for static graphics and simple animations. I don't use it for my professional productions. Instead I work with VMix and GT Title designer which can do some very nice simple layered animations. I do want to explore CasparCG though.

[@berkeyfamily9828]

Seems like using two keyers and macros is superfluous when all the transitions and titles can be automated in Keynote or OBS or, what is that Microsoft app called? oh yah, Powerpoint. Can't the upstream or downstream key sources be set to an external display that is dedicated for presentation output of an application that is easier to create and show titles or any other flying content?

[@djp_video]

Yes, you can certainly use computer sources for the graphic. But the alpha keying is what makes this more complicated. It requires two dedicated, synchronized source feeds to make it work properly with suitable transparency. Keynote and PowerPoint certainly can't do that. And setting OBS to do it is tricky at best, impossible with most hardware.

[@berkeyfamily9828]

@@djp_videoInteresting. I really appreciate your experience. Sounds like its a job for upstream keying, correct?

[@djp_video]

@berkeyfamily9828 Upstream or Downstream. They both support Luna keys (alpha channels)

[@michakozakiewicz3675]

Nice video, but why don’t use software like casparcg and key and fill ?

[@djp_video]

In this video I was concentrating more on technique, not specific tools.

[@michakozakiewicz3675]

@@djp_video ok nice job :)

[@LifePointNV]

Great video. At our church, we use a Blackmagic Television Studio Pro 4K switcher and feeds from 5 different cameras. We want to put a lower third graphic as a background for song lyrics. Song lyrics are done with Luma key with a signal generated by ProPresenter. We want the lower third graphic to appear on all camera feeds and have the song lyrics overlaid on the lower third graphic.. The song lyrics DO appear on al camera feeds, currently. Is there a way to keep the lower third graphics appearing on all camera feeds until we switch it off (for the teaching part of the service)? I wasn't sure from your video if this could be done or how to do it..

[@djp_video]

The TVS Pro 4K only has a single Mix/Effects engine so it only has one output which can overlay one video source on top of another (the Program output, or anything else derived from it). So if you want to show a lower third on an Aux output but not Program you'll need to upgrade to a 2 M/E switcher, or use a second switcher.

[@FAMEAcademyNY]

Dear Doug, What is your fee for a Vulcan Mind Meld? I NEED everything in your brain to be in MY brain!!!

[@djp_video]

Haha!

[@ajspice]

Why is EVERYTHING with this software a workaround?? Every other switcher on the planet uses the DSK for lower thirds. I fucking hate this piece of shit equipment. I'm sorry, but this ATEM is the Virtual Boy of video gear.

[@djp_video]

I’m not sure what you mean. The ATEMs function basically the same as any higher-end professional switcher in this regard. We usually use the USKs so that the lower thirds come on and off screen when changing shots or performing a transition. The DSK works well for that too (unless you need a chroma key, but that’s another discussion for another day), but often they are used for other things, and we also don’t want to risk having the wrong lower third on screen if we have to cut to a different shot. That’s no different with an ATEM vs another brand.

[@ajspice]

@@djp_video I've used other switchers. The ATEM is weak as hell. You can switch 28 cameras, but can only hold 2 DSK's, making live lower thirds a nightmare. Oh, you want those lower thirds to be animated? Tough shit. And don't get me started on how poorly it injests media. Why the scientific hell can I NOT load a pre recorded video directly from the software? Why do I have to have a second computer hooked in and use bullshit like VLC? I know that's how other gear works. But, hear me out: it's fucking computer software. It can literally do anything it's programmed to. There is zero reason to follow the convoluted way ancient systems worked. Why can't I just have a section specifically dedicated to displaying lower thirds? Surely in 2022 that could easily be automated. BMD shows this thing being used in concerts and live broadcasts. I call bullshit.

[@ajspice]

@@djp_video And for the love of Christ, build in a Goddamn power switch! I sure would love the option to reboot a single piece of gear as opposed to my whole goddamn board when I'm troubleshooting. My point is, it's far more difficult than is neccessary. You should be able to easily switch a show with images, audio, lower thirds, animations, text, and DVE all from ONE piece of equipment. I've used other switchers. This is the only one that infuriates me to no end. I'll take a Newtek Tricaster any day. That one took me an hour to figure out.

[@djp_video]

@@ajspice What in the world are you talking about? No professional video equipment has power switches... it's meant to be left on all of the time. If you were to walk into a television station you wouldn't find a power switch on anything in their equipment racks.

[@djp_video]

@@ajspice It sounds like you haven't used any professional video switchers. Tricasters don't count -- they're computers with "switching" software. The way the pro model ATEMs work is the same as you'll find on Sony, Grass Valley, Ross, etc. It's your Tricaster that is weird.