how do I add a black background behind static text titles

Report · Nov 13, 2021

I have a 3 minute instructional video with narration & static text titles matched to the narration. My text titles have no bacground or a transparent background. I have located the text titles all over the screen as the video plays. I have text titles appearing at top, bottom, middle & side, depending how the background affects readability of the titles. I want the text titles to all run at the bottom of the screen with white text on a black background or black text on a white background.

I assume my email is attached to this message, But if you see no email, use REMOVED

Thank you for any time you may spend on this.

~ Pat

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Report · Nov 13, 2021

It is not a good idea to post your email on a public forum!

You want a "color matte" background that is created in the Project Assets box. There is menu icon in the upper left corner. Add a new item, pick Color Matte and put it on the timeline. Your titles should go on a video track above the track you put the color matte on.

If you put the primary video on video 1, the color matte on video 2 and the title on video 3, you can size both the text box and the matte as needed. You can also adjust the Opacity Effect of the matte to create a "see through" to the primary video.

Report · Nov 14, 2021

Thank you Bill for your quick reply!

I am struggling with your method.
Do I need to put the title & matte tracks BELOW my video track?
I put a matte segment on my existing titles track & a new test title on the
track above it, following your recommendation that the title track should be
above the matte track.
The effect was that my entire video was black for the length of that title &
matte segment.
If I must put the title & matte tracks below my video track, it seems that I
must start the entire process over because I cannot find a way to add video
tracks BELOW my existing video track.
If I must start over, I need to drag my mp4 video file onto video track 3
(not video track 1).
Then I must add my titles to video track 2.
And then add matte to video track 1.
Then I re-record my narration.
This sounds like a lot of work. But I don't like the way I have done my
titles currently. So..

Ann Bens also responded to my post.
She suggested that "When adding text you can add a shape at the same time."
She offered no further instructions.
I tried this & had no success. But I did not spend a lot of time
experimenting with adding a shape.
Does adding a shape sound like a method I should pursue?

Best regards,

~ Pat

Report · Nov 14, 2021

When adding text you can add a shape at the same time.

For further use, only have to copy/paste the title and change the text.

Report · Nov 14, 2021

Ann,

You wrote "when adding text you can add a shape at the same time."

I am not able to make this work.

I am creating my titles starting with the Text menu on the top horizontal menu bar:

> Text > New Text >Default text

I then select the “Add Text” text in the Monitor panel & start making selections in the Adjustments panel.

It looks like I am selecting the rectangle shape: a gray border appears.

But when I select the Color Properties panel, most of the functions are not active. I cannot select a color; the Fill box is a rust color & cannot be changed; the Stroke selector has a gray border & black center & cannot be changed.

I can select black or white on the Color Properties panel while the rectangle shape is selected, but this action changes the color of the text on the Monitor panel to black or white.

The only thing I can think of is that I must create my titles using a Titles & Text template. In order to be able to add a black background behind my title using the method you suggest. If this is true, I assume that the Default Text title in the Classic Titles-General category is one that I should use.

I would like to minimize any more waste of time by getting any comments you might make.

Best regards,

~ Pat

Report · Nov 15, 2021

Take a look at the beginning (00:04) of one of my recent videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ7mnbueXVM

Here I had the photograph on video track #1 (with pan & zoom applied).

The white oval shape was on track #2.

The text was on track #3.

Is this the sort of thing you are trying to achieve?

Report · Nov 15, 2021

"18.7.2021: Flughafen Hamburg" at :06 is what I am trying to achieve. I want white type on a solid black backgroung (or the reverse) located at the bottom of the screen. My video is 3 minutes of demonstration/instruction with narration. I would like to have titles at the bottom of the screen that summarize the narration.

Report · Nov 15, 2021

Well, try following my method. Another example here at 0:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXWQTm1yaAs

I also used it several times in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6QKsx_N31k