How to add picture over video to create a lower third look

[scisport]

Here's one I've not been able to deduce. After creating a small JPEG label, I want to place it on the lower portion of the video as a title, but one that has been custom made. In this case the logo needs to cover the lower right of the screen. Therefore, I need to bring this photo over into IPhoto, import it into the video, and be able to manipulate it to sit exactly where I want it to go. Picture in Picture doesn't work because that deals with two video elements. Crop doesn't work partially for the same reason but also because the crop box won't go that small or that wide.
This lower third logo needs to be able to stay over the entire length of the video (as in this case) or be able to fade in and fade out at certain times.
Not sure if IMovie has this capability, and would sure appreciate the tips. Thanks.

 

[Slucko]

iMovie doesn't have the capability your seeking. I know final cut pro does and I can not remember if final cut express has the feature. Though there is probably a free program that has this capability, I will take a look

 

[xStep]

Have you tried making your graphic the size of your video with the non-lower third title set to transparent?

 

[tjh1124]

here's a link to a very similar discussion with a solution in iMovie '09 discussed in the comments:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notm/3348195566/

...
So using transparent PNGs I can have my own custom lower thirds? I did not know that!!!
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )


ShaneRobinson says:
Colin: Yep. Just drag them from the Finder into the Project window and drop them ON the clip in the place you want the graphic to start playing.

From the little popup window that shows up, select "Cutaway" and the image will be overlayed on the video.

I create my graphics in Fireworks, 960x540 pixels (because that's the size of the video I'm working with in iMovie), export as 32 bit PNGs. And just make sure the background color (if using Fireworks) is set to Transparent.

I've been experimenting with transparent video overlays as well and it works but in a different way. I'm planning to do a small series of screencasts to show how to do all this using Fireworks, Photoshop, or Pixlr.com.

 

[tjh1124]

It works!

I'm not much of an iMovie expert as I use Final Cut Pro, but I decided to see if I could accomplish what you were trying to do using the flickr reference I gave you earlier. It worked for me. Here's a youtube link to a very short movie I made in iMovie 09 using a .png (with a transparent background) I created in Photoshop CS3 as a lower third in the bottom right hand corner as you desired:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur5_wZwej84

 

[scisport]

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a try. But it does seem as if FCP remains the best way to go for something like this. I find it odd that Apple creates this software yet it falls down in so many ways to even a Windows program such as Pinnacle, that does SO much more but is, of course, Windows based, which makes it very unstable.

 

[xStep]

scisport, you need to remember that the iMovie audience Apple is aiming at isn't people who want the bells and whistles, but just want to get a nice little video created. Customized lower thirds is a bell & whistle easily answered by the higher end products Apple has available.

 

[MattSepeta]

I find it odd that Apple creates this software yet it falls down in so many ways to even a Windows program such as Pinnacle

Really? I find it par for the course...

That being said, iMovie can actually do a good deal of stuff. FCE can do even more. Almost EVERYTHING FCP can do.

 

[C. Alan]

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a try. But it does seem as if FCP remains the best way to go for something like this. I find it odd that Apple creates this software yet it falls down in so many ways to even a Windows program such as Pinnacle, that does SO much more but is, of course, Windows based, which makes it very unstable.

You might want to look into Final Cut Express (FCE). I outgrew Imovie a few years ago, and FCE was a good fit for me. You get most of the features of FCP, but at about 1/4 the price. It comes with LiveType, which makes creating custom bottom 3rd very easy. I use GIMP to edit my JPG, and save them as PNG files with transparent layers. You can then create your text transitions in LiveType, and export the results out to a Quicktime file, and use it as an overlay in FCE.

 

[Dave Braine]

Picture in Picture doesn't work because that deals with two video elements.

It does in iMovie9. Just drag the jpeg over the clip in the project window and select PiP from the popup menu. You can position it in the preview viewer, and resize if needed. If mouse over the picture in the Project viewer, you click on the gear wheel and adjust the time and give it an effect as it shows.