Text editing/Motion Crawl effect

[cnwilks]

I'm stumped...

I've been trying to edit a block of text or a graphic where I pinch
the top and widen the bottom...I'm trying to create an effect with
text like a Star Wars opening, but the only changes I can make are
resizing the graphic and rotating it.

Anyone know how to do this effect?

TIA

[Adam Albright]

On 25 Sep 2004 11:46:06 -0700, [email]cnwilks@gmail.com[/email] (cnwilks) wrote:

>I'm stumped...
>
>I've been trying to edit a block of text or a graphic where I pinch
>the top and widen the bottom...I'm trying to create an effect with
>text like a Star Wars opening, but the only changes I can make are
>resizing the graphic and rotating it.
>
>Anyone know how to do this effect?
>
>TIA

If you want a true Star Wars effect when the text moves up screen
seeming to getting smaller and further away as it rolls up that would
get rather involved in Flash. Oh it can be done, but a pain in the
butt for a whole block of text. In a video editor application like
Vegas that effect is a a snap. Since Flash doesn't support 3D directly
you still won't get the shift of the lettering as it goes up unless
you do a lot of trial and error, probably more time then the effect is
worth, its so 80's.

Just off the top of my head, didn't check if it works, I'd try by
converting the text block to a symbols (one for each line of text)
then break apart. Set up a tween with the text in the last frame
shrunk down and higher up and skewed if you want. Repeat for each line
of text.

[cnwilks]

Adam Albright <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message news:<0embl0dnlhjor4od70oum67h3ild0qsv6o@4ax.com>. ..

> On 25 Sep 2004 11:46:06 -0700, [email]cnwilks@gmail.com[/email] (cnwilks) wrote:
>

> >I'm stumped...
> >
> >I've been trying to edit a block of text or a graphic where I pinch
> >the top and widen the bottom...I'm trying to create an effect with
> >text like a Star Wars opening, but the only changes I can make are
> >resizing the graphic and rotating it.
> >
> >Anyone know how to do this effect?
> >
> >TIA

>
> If you want a true Star Wars effect when the text moves up screen
> seeming to getting smaller and further away as it rolls up that would
> get rather involved in Flash. Oh it can be done, but a pain in the
> butt for a whole block of text. In a video editor application like
> Vegas that effect is a a snap. Since Flash doesn't support 3D directly
> you still won't get the shift of the lettering as it goes up unless
> you do a lot of trial and error, probably more time then the effect is
> worth, its so 80's.
>
> Just off the top of my head, didn't check if it works, I'd try by
> converting the text block to a symbols (one for each line of text)
> then break apart. Set up a tween with the text in the last frame
> shrunk down and higher up and skewed if you want. Repeat for each line
> of text.

Actually, maybe I made it sound a bit more complicated than what I was
trying to do. I'm not actually trying to make an animation, I'm just
creating text in Fireworks and trying to make the text-box trapezoid
shaped...nothing 3-D or anything like that. I've tried it in Flash,
Fireworks, and Freehand, and came up short on all three counts. It
seems like a simple effect, but I haven't found a menu choice for it
anywhere.

I just did something different, but I'd like to know for future
reference.

Thanks for your help!

[Artful]

Easy in SWiSHmax.

And if you do it right, it can be fairly efficient

Use a single-frame 3D spin effect and set the camera angle to get the
trapezium shaped star-wars-credit-like text (big and tall at bottom, small
and short at top etc)

Convert that to a sprite (clip)

Then move the whole sprite (clip) up and reduce the scale at the same at the
same time. This will give it the scrolling effect. Either do this via an
effect (motion tween) or via script.