I've been hyping up my project for some time now but it can only work out if I have proper subtitles on my video. Unfortunately, iMovie doesn't supply that option so I've been using the titles, but oftentimes they dont appear against the background because the colour of the photo/clip washes them out, and I can't put the subtitles in a box or something so they can be seen more clear. Is there maybe a font out there that's super clear I can use? Or maybe an online editing software where I can put subtitles onto my iMovie video? It's very frustrating
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iMovie's titles suck for making subtitles, no matter which title i use and desperately need alternatives!
- Thread starter Pureecharm
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That's one of the limitations of free software... it's decent, but can be significantly crippled for some things... I've been using Final Cut Pro x for several years... light years more options and ability... but it's also $300...
Don't know what to tell you... if you can't put titles in boxes, try doing things like outlines and drop shadows behind the titles (it that's even an option - it's been a long time since I've used iMovie).
You're right, as a student I can't be paying for a whole software for some little thing I'm doing. Sigh. There's hardly any options for titles besides aligning them and bolding them and whatnot. It's a real downer
Final Cut is amazing, yeah.
But yeah if its possible, what I find usually works really well no matter the picture behind, is yellowish text, black stroke around the lettering and a drop shadow. Visible no matter what. I did a 40 minute documentary with that sort of subtitle style and it looked great in every shot.
Alternatives if you're uploading to YouTube you can do the subtitles directly there. I don't know what distribution you're looking at.
If you make an SRT file you can add it to an MP4 with most tools out there, like Handbrake, ffmpeg, videoProc, etc.
Get Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro for Mac - Free Trial
Final Cut Pro revolutionizes post-production with 360° video, HDR, and advanced tools for color correction. Try it now with a free 90-day trial.
www.apple.com
Free for 90 days only so you won’t want to put all your long term projects in it. BUT for this one that needs the control of a Final Cut Pro, this should help.
[automerge]1592075406[/automerge]
BTW, as a student, this is what you should save up for:
Buy Pro Apps Bundle for Education
The Pro Apps Bundle is a collection of five industry-leading apps from Apple, including Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and more. Buy now at apple.com.
www.apple.com
Apple also offers an educational discount on their "pro" apps for students... $200 for the lot - Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, and MainStage 3.
Buy Pro Apps Bundle for Education
The Pro Apps Bundle is a collection of five industry-leading apps from Apple, including Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and more. Buy now at apple.com.
www.apple.com
This is a good deal, but our OP should only be considering this if they very regularly would work in these apps. If it's just a one-off; Use the trial or a different solution, like what I mentioned earlier, making an SRT file and attaching it with something like Handbrew
Wow thank you everyone's been so helpful. I'll try making the text yellow and if it doesn't work out I'll resort to other software. Thanks again for all the help. This website is awesome!
There is also a free version of DaVinci Resolve that is available through the BlackMagic Design website, but I suspect that it is a beast of another color...
Ha; That was funny.
I don't know if it's different, but last I tried Resolve, I at least couldn't find any built-in subtitling options. You needed a plug-in for it; Same with FCP X at the time. - But of course you had more flexibility over titles to make your own solution than iMovie.
Just use Keynote to create titles that iMovie's "Titles" function can't handle. Keynote can create both static and animated text. See
Creating a Green Screen Text Overlay:
Also check out: Video Masks:
Creating a Green Screen Text Overlay:
The greenscreen idea is pretty cool and looks quite good, but what a hassle it would be to do it for every few lines. Although it might be my only option on iMovie.
Remember you don't have to create a new green-screen video file for every subtitle you want to add. You can just create all subtitles as one Keynote presentation using as few slides as possible. Check my short test video - I had first two subtitles on first slide and then another subtitle on second slide. It may became messy if you start adding too many subtitles into one slide but you can easily avoid that situation by creating more slides. You just need to get timing correctly and you can have all subtiltes as one green-screen video
Here's the video
https://streamable.com/nb3llc
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