Simple video editing software to add text?
December 13, 2011 1:10 PM Subscribe
Can you recommend super simple, super cheap movie editing software that I can use to perform this single (seemingly elementary) task?
I have half a dozen .mov files that have a caption that i'd like to replace with a different caption. Going back to earlier versions to do this is not an option, so I really want to just make a black box with white writing that can go over the old text. I can't seem to make iMovie do this, and I have a sort of clunky work-around I can use in MediaEdit 3 (thanks, AskMe Archives!) but it seems like such a simple thing to want to do that there must be some software I can use to do it really easily. Can you recommend a free or very cheap (or somewhat cheap but with a free trial I can use to confirm that this will work) Leopard-compatible program for me to use?
To summarize again, I want to make a text box with a black background and white writing appear in a specific place for the whole duration of the movie. Ideally, I'd like to have enough font flexibility to use a "mu" symbol in there.
I have half a dozen .mov files that have a caption that i'd like to replace with a different caption. Going back to earlier versions to do this is not an option, so I really want to just make a black box with white writing that can go over the old text. I can't seem to make iMovie do this, and I have a sort of clunky work-around I can use in MediaEdit 3 (thanks, AskMe Archives!) but it seems like such a simple thing to want to do that there must be some software I can use to do it really easily. Can you recommend a free or very cheap (or somewhat cheap but with a free trial I can use to confirm that this will work) Leopard-compatible program for me to use?
To summarize again, I want to make a text box with a black background and white writing appear in a specific place for the whole duration of the movie. Ideally, I'd like to have enough font flexibility to use a "mu" symbol in there.
You can get a 30 day trial of Premiere Pro which should do it, although they do restrict a few of the film types you can work with so you might come up against that. But the trial is totally free so worth trying- go to Adobe.com to download.
posted by KateViolet at 1:41 PM on December 13, 2011
posted by KateViolet at 1:41 PM on December 13, 2011
Oh although I must admit I wouldn't call it super simple :(
posted by KateViolet at 1:42 PM on December 13, 2011
posted by KateViolet at 1:42 PM on December 13, 2011
Best answer: I think you're trying to add a watermark to an iMovie project. You can create a black text box and add white text to it using word processing software like MS Word or Apple Pages (iWork). Then capture a PNG of it by taking a screenshot. Here's how to enter special characters using Mac OS X 10.5.
posted by plokent at 3:47 PM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by plokent at 3:47 PM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
If the .mov's are standard format you could also add a "letterbox" effect with the captures in the lower letterbox area.
posted by samsara at 7:34 AM on December 14, 2011
posted by samsara at 7:34 AM on December 14, 2011
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posted by juliapangolin at 1:12 PM on December 13, 2011