Adding text to your online videos falls into four different video editing categories. They are the Call to Action, the watermark, and two other areas, the title and the lower third. Let us consider adding the title and the lower third to create a clear, coherent message in your videos.
Firstly, creating titles. The title will be the first thing your viewers see. It needs to be clear and concise so the viewer immediately knows what he can expect from the video. Use a plain background; often white text on a black background or black text on a white background looks best and is the most easily read. The font should be simple as well, as this creates an elegant and professional feel to the video.
In professional video editing, the tile should be kept on screen for about five seconds; anything less than that and the viewer will have trouble reading it, and any longer than that will make the viewer wonder if he is going to see anything other than the title!
The title should reflect the content of the video, it should give the viewer a clear idea of what he is to expect. It needs to be catchy, so that it creates interest in the viewer, and hooks him. You don’t want him to switch off before the video has even started.
You need to show them that this video is going to be of some value to them and it will be actually worth their while to stick around and invest their time into it. If your software allows it, a good editing tool to use with the title is to slowly zoom in on it… this allows the viewer to focus his attention on actually reading and taking in what is ‘coming towards’ them. From the title, you then transition into the opening footage.
Another place you use text in a video in video editing is creating the lower third. This is usually a text and logo-based graphic that sits in the lower portion of the video screen, though it doesn’t take up the entire lower third as the name suggests. Lower thirds are used frequently in news and current affairs programs, as well as in corporate documentaries.
Using a lower third is the best way to introduce someone without them having to say who they are. iMovie allows you to easily create these lower thirds. You would write the person’s name and then their title. It’s a good idea to have this information on the left because often YouTube can have their logo on the right hand side, so you need to avoid this area in order for your lower third not to get lost.
It’s good to err here on the side of simplicity in terms of video editing. You can bold it or italicize or use different colours, but simple is always best. With most of your videos, the simplest of the iMovies or Screenflow templates will product e a good, clean and professional look to the end product; for corporate videos some extra branding may be required in the loser third.
You should now be in a better position to start adding test to your videos if you have the right software. If you have any further questions about this aspect of video making, feel free to contact us at Melbourne Video Production or check out Lights, Camera, Profits! workshop by Melbourne SEO Services by clicking here. We are here to help with all aspects of the process.
Adding a lower third to your video is big news!
