EPS Logos, Clip Art and Alpha Channels
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files are useful files in designing motion
graphics, because they appear smooth and crisp at any size or zoom
level, unlike bitmap formats like PICT files. However, to animate using
EPS files has historically required using Adobe applications such as
After Effects.
While EditDV can’t import EPS files, font editing applications such as
MacroMedia Fontographer can, in many cases. You can use
Fontographer to create fonts consisting of simple black-and-white EPS
logos and clip-art-style graphics.
Inside EditDV, you can animate the EPS’s using the Title filter, by
typing the character you imported the EPS file into. This “letter” can be
resized at will, and will always look smooth and crisp.
Other Graphics
You can also use many third-party fonts, like ITC Fontek’s Energetics,
Adobe’s Organic 1, Image Club’s Mini Pics, etc. that consist of EPS
graphics, by simply enabling the PostScript fonts using the Type 1
enabler. If they are TrueType fonts, you can use them directly.
Titles and Alpha Channels
The EditDV Titling filter gives you more control over the alpha channel
of a layer than any other EditDV filter. In the More page in the Titling
filter’s Controls window, you can set the filter’s compositing mode to
“Alpha”, which renders the title into the alpha channel, instead of the
video image itself. Put another way, you can use any title as an
animatable matte.
This is how you show video through in the shape of a text character.
However, by importing EPS graphics into fonts, and applying them with
the Titling filter in Alpha compositing mode, you can create animatable
alpha channels in a wide variety of shapes.
Furthermore, you can “stack” multiple Titling filters with, for example,
different Master Opacity settings, creating the illusion of complex EPS
files and animated alpha channels.
Note that, if you are not animating the characteristics of a layer, it is
easier to import the file as a PICT, so that you can create the alpha
channel in a more direct way. You can still animate the master opacity
and softness and other characteristics using a PIP filter, if you desire.
However, if you are zooming a simple graphic like a logo, you can
achieve a very professional look by importing it as a character in a font.
Technical Details
When you generate the font file, generate it as a TrueType font, and
generate a bitmap at 48 points.
When you generate a font, install it in the Fonts folder in the System
Folder. You must quit and restart EditDV to see your font in the Titling
filter’s font popup.
The alpha channel created using a text character is limited to an
antialiased 1-bit layer. However, by using other controls in the titler
(notably Master Opacity, Softness, and the gradient tools), you can
further “massage” the alpha channel that is created.
Fontographer can only import certain EPS files (Illustrator 88 files
usually work – see the Fontographer documentation for details), and the
Type 1 format only supports black and white, not grayscale. So some
EPS files may need to be simplified before they can be imported in this
way.
Customized Transitions
In Application Note EditDV Application Note #8, "Building New Filter
Plug-Ins", we discussed using filters to create customized, keyframable
transitions. The Titling filter deserves some special attention in this
regard.
Using the Titling filter with text characters in alpha mode can let you
create a wide variety of new transitions. For example, start with a text
block containing only the « character from the Wingdings font
(option-e). Set its Composite mode to Alpha and animate the scale of
the text element (on the Text page). Start it at the smallest size setting,
and then animate its scale to about 60, or whatever it takes to fill the
screen. This will effectively create a star-shaped transition from the V
track above it in the Sequencer to the effected track.
You can add borders, but you cannot currently add shadows to text in
alpha mode. To add a drop shadow, you can stack a PZR filter onto the
next FX layer. By setting the drop shadow in the More page, you
effectively add a srop shadow to the titling filter.
For extra fun, animate the Rotate parameter of this title filter
You can also experiment with the Backgrounds in a Titling filter.. The
backgrounds give you resizeable, animateable rectangles and ovals.
When in alpha mode, you can use them to create interesting searchlight
or animated-crop-type effects. You can also animate a gradient opacity
in this layer (unlike the PIP filter) for further interesting effects.
Author: Mike Jennings
Applies to Version(s): All
Last Updated: 11/21/98
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