Text Help Please

collie581

Member Location: Aberdeen Scotland Joined: Oct 21, 2015 11:43 Messages: 92 Offline

Solved by

Oct 31, 2015 09:03

Hi All

I am working on a project about the Pictish Stones in Scotland. Some of the stones contain an ancient script called Ogham. This is made up of a series of lines cut into the stone. Some of these have been translated and it is known that they read vertically from the bottom to the top. I am trying to replicate this by showing the translation alongside the Ogham on the stone. So if for example the translation was POWERDIRECTOR I would like this to appear like this:-

First letter P

Then

0

P

Then

W

0

P

Repeated

Until the whole word appears reading bottom to top. I am new to PD (I only bought it last week) and I find it a really steep learning curve. But if anyone can give me a few hints I would be grateful. Thanks

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Oct 31, 2015 10:14

Your request is possible, but it does take some work.

Start by watching the Text & Titles on this page:

PDtoots Tutorials
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/41501.page

I would reccomend you watch these in any order.

PowerDirector - Manipulating Titles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEgG3hpGY3Y

PowerDirector - Typed Titles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjV13zx_qKk

PowerDirector Long Scrolling Text (Vertical) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HQiCChgxUY

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Oct 31. 2015 10:22

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

collie581

Member Location: Aberdeen Scotland Joined: Oct 21, 2015 11:43 Messages: 92 Offline

Oct 31, 2015 10:45

Thanks Carl I will study these and see if they help. It may not be worth spending the time on it if it is too complicated. I just hoped that there was an easy way that I had overlooked. Previously I had used MoviePlus 6 and it has the options to apply animations by Line, Word or Character so it makes this fairly easy to do.

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Oct 31, 2015 17:46

Hi collie581 -

Firstly, I take me hat off to you taking on such a challenging task when you've only just started using the software.

What you're suggesting is actually quite difficult to even fit vertically in the screen... far more than the mechanics of having the translation appear letter-by-letter... unless you were only dealing with very short inscriptions.

As an example, here's a cross slab from the Shetland Islands where the Pictish inscription runs up each side of the stone. I've turned the image 90° clockwise to illustrate.

That translation would fit comfortably on the screen horizontally - but vertically it would be a challenge! The text would need to be very small.

One possibility that would simplify the layout would be to have each word appear, rather than each letter... as shown here

If you open the attached project, you'll see (in Title Designer) how each part of the title has a staggered start. Also shown in attached image.

Cheers - Tony


Filename	Titles staggered starts.png	Download
Description
Filesize	27 Kbytes
Downloaded:	39 time(s)

Filename	Staggered Titles.pds	Download
Description
Filesize	525 Kbytes
Downloaded:	185 time(s)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Oct 31. 2015 17:49

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collie581

Member Location: Aberdeen Scotland Joined: Oct 21, 2015 11:43 Messages: 92 Offline

Nov 01, 2015 09:49

Ynotfish Thank you for giving me these files. Yes I think I have bitten off more than I can chew! Still I have learned a lot trying to do it. The sensible thing is probably to do it in MoviePlus and then import it to PowerDirector.

Your suggestion to use words will not work for me on two counts. On the Class 1 and Class 2 stones I am using the translation does not produce coherent words and I was also trying to show that Ogham should be read bottom to top.

The Bressay Class 111 stone that you used is very interesting in that it is a late Pictish stone that has a version Ogham that has a translation showing Norse and Gaelic names. Class 111 stones are difficult to categorise as the theory is that they should have no Pictish symbols. They therefore overlap with Celtic Crosses.

collie581

Member Location: Aberdeen Scotland Joined: Oct 21, 2015 11:43 Messages: 92 Offline

Nov 01, 2015 10:37

Carl312 , ynotfish Thank you both for your help.

Just an update in case you are interested. I managed to do what I wanted in MoviePlus in less than 10 minutes. Maybe PowerDirector could copy this in their next release. To do it:-
Type in the Text horizontaly.
Use the Transform tool to swivel the text vertically. Adjust size to fit the screen.
Choose In animation "Fade In by Character".
And that is it!

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Nov 01, 2015 14:27

collie581, Glad you found something that works.

It is OK to use whatever software that gets the job done. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.