Create custom graphics

If you have StretchCast Premium, you can customize any detail of a graphic, including text, images, colors, and animations. This article describes how to create custom graphics in StretchCast's Title Designer.

Note: The Title Designer is only available in StretchCast Premium.

1. Open a project or create a new project for a sporting event.
2. Click Settings if Settings isn't already open. (Settings automatically opens when you create a new project.)
3. In Graphics, either add, create, or import a custom style tab. For details, complete one of the following steps.
   • To create a new custom style tab, click Add  and enter a new name for the tab. For details, see Create style tabs for custom graphics.
   • Select a custom style tab where you want to add a custom graphic. (A custom style tab appears only if you previously created a custom graphic.)
   • To import a custom style tab and custom graphics that you previously exported from StretchCast, click the Import button. For details, see Import custom graphics.

   

4. In the custom style tab, click Add New, then complete the following steps to add a new graphic.
   1. In the Create New Graphic dialog, enter a Graphic Name.
   2. Select a Template Style from the drop-down list.
   3. Select a Graphic Template from the drop-down list to preview a template. The graphic template that are available depend on template style you selected.
   4. Click Create.
      
      

      

      The new graphic opens in the Title Designer.

5. In the Title Designer, complete the following steps to customize the design.
   1. (Optional) To set the project's rendering quality, choose Edit > Preferences > Final render quality and select an option.
      
      

      Note: Graphics with higher quality settings take longer to render.

   2. To learn about the Title Designer's workspace, including how to position and align objects, see Title Designer workspace overview.
   3. Add or modify objects, media, and variables in the design, as described in the following articles.
      • Add and modify text in custom graphics
      • Add and modify shapes in custom graphics
      • Import images and videos into custom graphics
      • Add audio to custom graphics
   4. Customize attributes of text, objects, and scenes, as described in the following articles.
      • Preview and use attributes from the library
      • Add styles to text and objects
      • Add global attributes to objects
      • Customize lighting and camera settings
      • Align objects and layers in a design
      • Group objects in a design
      • Duplicate elements in a design
   5. Animate objects with transitions and effects, as described in the following articles.
      • Add transitions to objects
      • Add effects to objects
      • Animate objects with keyframes
      • Crawl objects in a design
      • Loop videos and animations in a design
      • Play animations during pause points in a design
   6. To adjust the graphic's playback duration, click the Titler  field, which is near the bottom of the workspace (above the Timeline in the default layout), and enter a duration in MM:SS;FF format (where MM = two digits for minutes, SS = two digits for seconds, and FF = two digits for frames).
      
      

      Tip: Enter the shortest amount of time that is required to play the entire graphic, including all animations. If you customize effects, animations, or other attributes in the design, you may need to adjust the duration again to ensure your graphic appears as you intend.

   7. Expand each layer in the timeline and, if necessary, adjust the duration of each object and animation in the design to ensure they are as long as you need and that animations do not overlap the end of the Middle region.
      
      

      

      About our elastic timeline: When a graphic plays during a broadcast, the graphic pauses when the playback marker reaches the end of the Middle region. StretchCast displays the frame where the graphic pauses until the operator stops the graphic, at which point the graphic plays for the remaining duration. This feature, which we call an elastic timeline, allows any graphic to play indefinitely regardless of the duration entered in the Titler field.

      To ensure the graphic appears as you intended, ensure all animations don't overlap the end of the Middle region. However, you can choose to play animations during pause points in a design

   8. Click Play  to preview the graphic and ensure it appears as you intend.
   9. When you finish viewing or customizing the design in the Title Designer's workspace, click the Keep changes  button to save the design to the current StretchCast session and close the Title Designer.
      
6. To add the custom graphic to the playlist, select the graphic in the Settings > Graphics > Custom style tab. For more details, see Add graphics to a playlist.
   
   

   Tip: You can't edit or delete a custom graphic while it is in the playlist. First, remove the graphic from the playlist, then reopen the Settings > Graphics > Custom style tab and edit or delete the custom graphic.

7. Click Done to close Settings.
8. Click File > Save to save custom graphic to the project.