Opacity Gradient

[Dave McElderry]

...for lack of a better description. This is in conjunction with a project that I referred to in a previous post. I'm making a scrolling list title, like movie credits. What I would like to happen is for the text to gradually fade in until the text reaches the middle of the screen. As it continues towards the top it would fade out. I know this is one of those doh! moments because it can't be that difficult. I've tried several different ways and can't get it as seamless as I would like.

[Chuck Engels]

There must be a way to do this with some kind of gradient mask. Overlay a graphic at the top and another graphic at the bottom with varying opacity from top to bottom. This doesn't seem like something that should be too difficult but I am having trouble working through just how it might be done

[Chris B]

If your background is a single colour then a title overlayed on the text works fine. Create two rectangles with a linear gradient from your background colour to fully opaque.

If you want to use a "real" background then you can create a gradient elsewhere (paint program or the like) and use the image matte effect. If you use white to black then the "luma" category makes a nice gradient.

[Dave McElderry]

Let's see if I'm with you on this Chris. I'm just using the default black background with white text. I create a separate title with two rectangles. One rectangle covers approximately the upper third, and the other the lower third. It's the next part that has me stumped yet. I know how to create a color gradient in the rectangles, but you say to make the gradient "from the background color to fully opaque." That was the original question - how do I do that? I don't know how to create an opacity gradient.

[Steve Grisetti]

One other solution is to use the Track Matte and use it to track a stationary, soft-edged rectangle.

I can explain and even provide the graphic if you don't find another solution.

[RJ Johnston]

The Gradient Wipe transition would work. The transition would cover the entire length of the title. In the transition's properties you select your gradient wipe image, and move the slider to change the softness (127=softest).

For the gradient, I temporarily created a title with two rectangles, one covering the top half of the title and the other covering the bottom half. The top rectangle had a linear gradient going from black at the top to white at the bottom, and the other going white at the top to black at the bottom. The color properties of a title allow you to specify a linear gradiant and direction. Then I took a snapshot and saved as a bitmap. The bitmap is what I selected in the transition's custom properties.

[Bob]

If you have an image editor such as Photoshop Elements, you can easily make a gradient with transparency. Don't use a background layer and don't flatten. Save it as a PSD or PNG file to keep the transparency and import it into Premiere Elements (PE).

If you want to work entirely within PE, probably the easiest way to do this is with the track matte key as PE doesn't provide the tools to make the gradient with transparency directly.

You can make the gradient in the Titler by creating two rectangles, one covering the bottom half and the other covering the top half. When you create the rectangle, click on the color properties button in the titler and select linear gradient. Under the gradient will be two buttons. On the bottom rectangle click on the right button and set the color to black, on the top rectangle click on the left button and set it to black. By adjusting the spacing between the black and white buttons, you can control the width and positioning of the transition area. Heres a capture of what it looks like:

gradient.jpg

Note that the transition is different on the top than on the bottom because I used different positions for the buttons. You can get quite a bit of control this way.

When you are happy with the gradient, exit the titler and place the title over the other title with the text. Apply the track matte key effect to the text title and set the properties to use the gradient track as the matte and composite using matte luma.

[Dave McElderry]

You folks are the greatest! It's working. I even added a little color flare. Thank you.

[Chuck Engels]

Well this is great news Dave, glad you got this working

Excellent little tutorial there Bob

[Bob]

Thanks, Chuck!

Glad you got it working, Dave!