The Scene tab allows you to adjust the camera and light in your Titler Live project. From here, you can manage lights by controlling the amount and type of lights as well as their parameters. Select from preset light effects from the Library or make your own. You can add up to three lights to your Titler Live scene, choose from Directional, Point or Spotlight settings. Increase the scenes' wide angle lens to distort your titles in the Camera Settings. Control Depth of Field to add a layer of mystery to your titles and give them more of a cinematic look.
Lighting Your Project
Select a lighting preset from the Library. Mouse over lighting presets and double-click to apply them to your paragraph or click and drag into the timeline area.
You can see the three lights in your Timeline area. Click the eye button in the timeline to toggle them on and off. You will only see and be able to edit the lights when in the Scene tab.
You can control every setting under the Scene tab.
Move the light from the Scene tab by entering values in the Direction field or use the on-screen controls in the Workspace area. Click and drag the light inside the globe to change the angle of the light. When the yellow line turns grey, this means that the light is now behind the title. The number next to the light indicates which light is being selected. You can add keyframes, change the light color and brightness of each light. Keyframes will show up in the Timeline area.
To learn more about keyframing, see Keyframing
Moving Lights
Move lights by selecting a light in the Timeline and clicking on the workspace area. This will activate the light globe. Click and drag inside the globe to move the direction of the light source. If the yellow line turns grey, it means that your light is behind your title. Click and scroll with the mouse wheel to move the point nearer or farther away if you are using a Spotlight. Click and drag the outline of the globe to make the diameter larger or smaller.
Video: Moving Spotlight
Video: Moving Point Light
Video: Moving Directional Light
Choosing Lights
You can choose from three different types of lights to add to your project. These are the three types of lights you can use in your projects:
Spotlight: Spotlight can be used to illuminate a specific section of your scene and is directional.
- Adjust the position that the Spotlight is pointing from using the controls in the preview window or adjusting the Position X, Y, and Z sliders.
- Adjust the direction that the Spotlight is pointing by using the controls in the preview window or adjusting the Direction X, Y, and Z sliders.
- Change the color of the light using the color palette or the eyedropper tool.
- Adjust the brightness of the light using the Brightness slider.
- Adjust the beam width to increase or lower the size of the area that the Spotlight handle illuminates.
- Use the Soften control to blend the edges of the Spotlight gradually into the scene. Turn this all the way down for a hard edge on the Spotlight.
Video: Spotlight
Directional: Directional light is a light from an infinite distance, like the sun. It casts a constant beam of light across the scene. Adjust the direction that the light is pointing by using the globe handle controls in the preview window or adjusting the Direction X, Y, and Z sliders. The light can be any color.
- Change the color of the light using the color palette or the eyedropper tool.
- Adjust the brightness of the light using the Brightness slider.
Video: Directional Light
Point: Point lights can be useful in creating different lighting effects. They are omnidirectional and cast light in all directions. This is versatile in that the emission point can be moved between letters and behind titles to create unique lighting effects. Adjust the position that the Point light is pointing from using the controls in the preview window or adjusting the Position X, Y, and Z sliders.
- Change the color of the light using the color palette or the eyedropper tool.
- Adjusting the Brightness slider changes the brightness of the Point light and also adjust the width of the light beam.
- Lowering brightness on a Point light will cause the light to become more localized.
- Use the scroll wheel on your mouse to set the distance of the Point light to bring it closer or farther away from your title.
Each of the lights can be keyframed individually. Select the "Turn on Keyframing" option for any light type you want to keyframe and adjust them individually.
Video: Point light
Adjusting the camera wide angle
At the top of the Scene tab, you will see the Camera Settings.
Move the slider to add some lens distortion to your title and give it a more extreme look. This is mostly noticeable when your title has had some extrusion applied to it and is oriented at an angle.
Video: Wide Angle
Creating Focus Limits with Depth of Field
Depth of Field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. By using these controls, you can control the depth and the focus area of the title. This allows you to emphasize a specific area while de-emphasizing the foreground or background.
Focus Distance determines the distance from the camera that is in focus. This setting will let you determine which area of the title is in or out of focus.
Aperture determines the size of the focus area. The larger the number, the tighter the focus area. The smaller the number, the larger the focus area.
Blur Level specifies the amount blur to apply to the out of focus area. Larger blur amounts will also tighten the focus area.