Cinematic Title Reveal Effect Tutorial on Shotcut Free Video Editor

In this tutorial, I wanted to replicate the cinematic title reveal effect Jordy did on

Premiere Basics using Adobe Premiere, but this time on the free video editor Shotcut,

so stay tuned.

I'm just a normal person with no video editing background, who wanted to start making YouTube

videos and maybe cool transitions and effects.

I don't really plan on being a professional video editor, so I was looking for a free,

easy to learn video editing software.

Luckily, I stumbled on Shotcut, a free open source video editing program that can do many

of the tricks you can do on more enterprise video editors like Adobe Premiere or DaVinci

Resolve, but with a much simpler and leaner interface, thus dramatically shortening the

learning curve.

It just takes using your imagination.

So let's learn together.

Before we get started, this tutorial is done on Shotcut version 21.05.18.

Now in order for me to show you how this tutorial works, I'm going to load three tracks.

So, all you have to do is go to this little three lines here at the very left.

We're going to load three video tracks, one, another one, two, and three.

And I'm going to show you why this matters later.

So the first thing we're going to need to do is work on the main title or the

upright version of the title.

And all you have to do is go to open other, choose text,

and then type in the title that you want to use.

In this instance, we're going to say cinematic title.

And click OK.

Once it's on your screen, you just drag it into the topmost track.

Here.

And so right now this is what we have.

Pretty simple so far.

So while it's selected, we're now going to go into Text: Simple, the filter.

And we're going to make some changes.

I'm going to change the font to Gotham, which is a little bit more cinematic.

I just unclicked use font size.

I'm going to use, let's say, 70.

There.

Reclicked it.

I don't know why I unclicked it, but I just re-clicked it.

And I think that's it.

Just so I have some guides to go by, I'm going to click this grid icon here

to give us a basic guide to work with.

And what I'm going to do is I'm actually going to drag this

all the way up here so that the bottom of the text just touches

that center guide right there.

This horizontal line right here is what I'm going to use as the reference of where

the title is going to be popping from.

So that's why I put that guide there.

So whenever I do videos, I always use this.

It's very helpful.

And so especially when you're trying to line things up and you have all these

different choices.

So right now I'm using a two by two grid, but you can also use a three by three.

You can use a four by four or any of the other versions that they have here.

Just so you have something, you have a way to align images and videos and text.

So that's what I'm doing is I'm using this horizontal line as a guideline

so that I can align my text.

So now that we have that there, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go from the very beginning

of the track here and I'm going to add keyframes.

But since I already have the text perfectly aligned the way it is right now,

this is actually where I want the text to end.

And so what I want to do is I'm going to go to the very end of this of this track here of this

video or whatever this thing is and mark that and lock it in using the keyframe icon

as the endpoint.

I'm going to tell it that's where I want you to end.

Now I'm going to go to the very beginning and I want to tell it where I want it to

start.

And so because what we're trying to do is we're trying to make this cinematic title up here,

I'm actually going to drag it below the horizon

so that it's going to start there.

And then when you play it, it then emerges from the horizon again represented by this horizontal line.

Play it again.

And actually, I think it is rising a little too slow, so I actually want to shorten

the time that it takes for it to rise from the horizon.

And because I've shortened this part right here, what I'm going to need to do is I'm

going to need to go back to the keyframe and add another keyframe and telling it again

to begin under the horizon and an end above the horizon.

So let me just line this up as close as I can.

Let's see one more tick.

Okay, now let's see how fast this thing goes.

Okay, it's a little better.

I'm actually going to move it just by a couple of pixels right there.

Again, let's play it.

There you go, just right.

So let's go back to the timeline.

Let's turn the guides off.

Let's turn this off.

And so this is the first part of the emerging cinematic title.

Okay, now we need to make a carbon copy, a mirror image of this that does the total

opposite of what this thing is doing.

And so let's bring back the guideline.

So if we want this to appear from below this horizon to above the horizon,

what we want its mirror image to do is to start above the horizon

and then move below the horizon.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to make a copy of this

and then go into the track below it.

And I'm going to paste it and make sure that they're perfectly aligned.

Right now, you're not going to see anything because it's just a carbon copy of the one

on top.

Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to make the one on top invisible

by clicking this little eye icon right here that represents hide.

Okay, so now you're seeing the exact same thing, but actually you're looking at the one

on this track, on this one here, not this top one right there.

Okay, so we're working on this track here, the second track.

You know what, let me make it a little bigger so it's easier to see here right there.

So we're working on the second one right here.

And again, I haven't done anything.

I just made a carbon copy of the top one.

And because I copied this file and pasted it here,

not only did it copy the text, the settings and everything,

it also copied all the filters.

So thankfully, we only have one filter and this is called Text: Simple.

But in order to create a mirror image, what we're going to need to do

is we're going to add another filter.

And that filter is called flip.

And all of a sudden, if you notice, it flipped whatever we had upside down.

And now not only did it flip it upside down, it also flipped the filter.

So instead of it going down below the horizon to above the horizon,

it now started from above the horizon going to below the horizon,

which is exactly what we wanted it to do.

So we didn't even really need to do anything to the keyframes.

It just did it itself.

It just did a mirror image, a flip image of what we were trying to copy.

I just wanted to make sure that I pointed out that there is a mirror filter.

It's called mirror.

But that's not what we want to do in this instance.

We actually want to use this one called flip.

And that's exactly what we're using on this particular track right here.

So we're using the flip filter, not the mirror filter.

So again, this is what that looks like.

Now, if I make the top track visible now,

you'll now see an overlap.

And this is what it's going to look like.

So all we need to do now, let me find an overlap point where both of them overlap.

So all we need to do now is find a way to cover up where they overlap.

So they look like they're emerging from each other.

Right now, it just it doesn't look right.

And the way we're going to do that is use masks.

So first to make our lives easier, I'm going to now going to make this track,

which is V2 invisible.

So that all we're seeing is the very top track, which is V3.

And that's what we're seeing.

To make our lives even easier.

And I told you guys, there's a reason why I added a third track.

Right now, what this really represents is text on top of a transparent background.

And so the black is just representing a transparent background.

And if we don't put a background behind it,

we're not really going to see certain effects, especially with regards to masks.

And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to go to open other.

And I'm just going to add some random color that is not black.

Let's say this color here, very bright red.

And I'm going to drag that all the way to the bottom here.

And size it just right.

Okay, so now instead of you seeing text with a black background,

you're actually seeing a red background because what's happening is

the background is transparent and you're seeing all the way through to this bottom track right

here. So one thing that bugs me on the filters is whenever you activate the simple Text: Simple

filter, it gives you an automatic thickness of three.

Let's actually remove the thickness.

Bring it to zero so that we don't see the outline same as here on this one here.

Let's just remove the thickness here so that it's just zero and zero.

Okay, then let's make that invisible.

So once again, this is what we have.

And don't worry about the red background, we're going to remove that later.

We're keeping the guidelines there to help me

indicate where the horizon is, where we want the text to rise to emerge from.

So what I'm going to need to do is anything below this middle line

needs to be invisible.

I should not be able to see any part of the text.

Like right now, if the text is below this horizon, it needs to be invisible

only as it emerges above the horizon.

So here in this instance here, only this part here above the horizon

is going to be visible.

Anything else is invisible.

And so to do that, once we have that track selected, that item selected,

we go to filters, and I'm going to select mask.

And because the shape is going to be really simple,

we're going to choose Mask: Simple Shape right there.

So to help us see what we're doing, I'm going to leave

the current default setting under operation to overwrite so that we can see

where the mask is located represented by this black box.

I'm also going to remove the feathering around it by setting the softness to zero

so that we have a very solid rectangle.

Now I'm going to need to increase the width

of the rectangle so that it fully covers the title.

I'll actually even extend it a little farther from the edge

so that we have some play there.

Okay, so now that we have that, I now need to move this box below this horizon

because anything below this horizon, remember, is represented by

something invisible or something that should not be visible.

And so to do that, we're going to go over to vertical here and move this around.

See this and actually move it below the horizon.

And when you get closer, it's a little harder to make it more a little exact.

So once it gets close like that, I now go into the numbers here

and I use the scroller on my mouse to then pinpoint the exact pixel

where I want that box to be located, which is right around there.

So right now it's not going to make sense because

you're seeing the opposite of what I want you to see.

All I want to do is I want to be able to cover this part here that's represented by black

and tell it that I want you to put a mask there so that anything that is

represented by this black area is now invisible.

And the way to do that, once we've figured everything out, is now to change the operation setting

from instead of overwrite to subtract.

Look, now it disappeared.

So anything that was in this box here make invisible.

Anything that emerges from that black box, again, let's go back to overwrite.

Anything that emerges out of this black box now becomes visible.

So let's make that section invisible by clicking again, subtract, and then I'm going to press play.

Let's remove the guidelines here so it's a little easier.

So this is exactly the effect that we wanted right there.

Right, so we got the first part.

Now we want to worry about the mirror image that emerges from the bottom of this that does the

diametric opposite of what this thing does.

And so why don't we get this main title out of the way by making it invisible for now

by selecting again that hide icon.

Let's go back in here, select this icon and make that visible.

And again, we're going to need to add a mask to this one.

So while that's selected, again, let's click the plus icon.

Let's type mask and again, we're going to choose Mask: Simple Shape.

Let's bring back the grids so we know where the horizon is just right there.

I don't want the feathering.

So again, we're going to move softness all the way to zero.

And then I want the width to extend beyond the text.

And then I want to move the box using the vertical setting.

Try to get it as close as possible.

Actually, the invisible part needs to be above the horizon this time.

Again, everything we do is totally the opposite of what we did in that previous one.

And so that's pretty close.

And then I'm going to go into these settings right here.

While that's selected, I'm going to scroll my mouse scroller

and try to get as close to that area as possible.

Again, while the black box is invisible, this is what that's doing.

Right.

And once we get the desired effect, I'm now going to go back to the operation settings.

And I'm going to choose subtract, making this part invisible.

So now this is what it's going to happen.

Okay, so let's remove the guidelines.

Let's bring back this v3 track so that both of them are there.

Let me X this thing out here.

Let's start from the very beginning.

And let's see what it does.

Boom.

And it's moving it right about the exact speed that I wanted it to move.

Now let's add a little bit of realism to this by changing.

Let me select it here.

Let's go to the very end.

I want to make sure that this upside down version of the title looks like it's a

reflection of this title from above.

So what I'm actually going to do is I'm going to click the plus icon again.

And I'm going to choose opacity.

And I'm just going to drop the opacity of this bottom text just by a little bit,

so that it's not as bright as the top one.

Okay, so now that we have the desired effect,

we don't have to worry about the transparency anymore.

So actually I can select this bottom track and I can delete it.

And now, last but not least, all we need to do is add the background image.

So in this particular one, I'm going to be choosing, let me find it here,

this image right there.

And so I'm going to drag that right into that bottom track

right there.

And I'm going to size it exactly the same size as the other two tracks.

And so this is what we have.

Cool, right?

So let me render this so you get the full effect.

Again, you can play around with the opacity filter on the second track.

Here, let me bring it up and down so you see what it looks like.

So you can actually make it a little bit more transparent, kind of like that.

I mean, that looks cool.

Let's see what that looks like.

Make it a little bit more realistic.

And there you have it, the cinematic title reveal tutorial.

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Thank you for watching and I'll catch you again later.

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