"The Simpsons" style zooming title

neal ericksonneal erickson
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I am trying to recreate the opening of "The Simpsons" for a school video project (my 8th graders are going to recreate in live action, the beginning of The Simpsons). At the part where you hear the voices sing "The Simpsons" the words grow/zoom bigger focusing on the P of Simpsons. Through the loop of the P you can see the town.



I have FCE, iMovie, Photoshop & Illustrator. Any way that I can do this?



Any help would be appreciated.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    hyperb0lehyperb0le Posts: 142member
    My first instinct would be to use FCE. Put the "The Simpsons" text in one layer and put the video/image of the town on the layer below the text, and scale it so that it is small enough to be hidden by the "P". Keyframe the text so that it zooms how you want it, and keyframe the town shot so it zooms in sync with the "P." I'd give a visual example, but I don't have FCE/FCP on this computer.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    noleli2noleli2 Posts: 129member
    You'd need an alpha channel to make the middle of the P transparent. You'd probably do that in Photoshop before importing the logo graphic into FCP. Then do what hyperb0le said.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    In Photoshop, you should probably vectorize the text...if FCE can use vector graphics. Anybody?
  • Reply 4 of 13
    hyperb0lehyperb0le Posts: 142member
    I'm not sure if FCE can handle vector graphics or not. However, it might just be easier to find a font in the Simpsons style and create the text directly in FCE.



    *EDIT* This seems like it would be a good choice.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    neal ericksonneal erickson Posts: 10member
    The font is good... thanks, but I do know how to do the part with the video through the opening of the letter. I wasn't clear about my problem before. What I really need is the words to keep getting so big that they leave the screen... so the video through the 'P' ends up growing until it fills the whole screen. Any iMovie or FCE thing can only get so big before I can't make it any bigger or, using a photoshop image, it gets all blocky.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Neal Erickson

    Any iMovie or FCE thing can only get so big before I can't make it any bigger or, using a photoshop image, it gets all blocky.



    It's been a while since I've used Final Cut, and I don't have it currently installed ... but try these two options:



    1. Try increasing both the font SIZE as well as the bounding box ... should make it big enough to get off the screen.



    2. Your photoshop image is getting blocky because the resolution isn't high enough. Basically you need to make sure the opening inside the "P" is 780 pixels by 486 pixels - it's going to be a big image, but FCE should be able to handle it.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    neal ericksonneal erickson Posts: 10member
    Oh, now that makes sense. If the photoshop image is only 720x480 (or whatever dv resolution is) and photoshop is a bitmapped image it is not going to scale up nicely. What about illustrator? I don't know if you can do the layers like in photoshop.



    Well, that gives me something to try out this evening.



    Thanks
  • Reply 8 of 13
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Neal Erickson

    What about illustrator?



    I don't believe Final Cut can import Illustrator files ... Adobe After Effects can import Illustrator files and scale them any size.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    sledgehammersledgehammer Posts: 505member
    do we get to see the finished product when you've got it?
  • Reply 10 of 13
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    The text blockiness from PS is why I mentioned vectors.
  • Reply 11 of 13
    ibrowseibrowse Posts: 1,749member
    Just make the image the size it will end up as and have it start out scaled down. I want to see the finished product too!
  • Reply 12 of 13
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    You need After Effects.



    but anyways, make an image of the title, but make sure its like 5 times the DV size. Then, in FC, scale it down at the beginning and keyframe it to the full size when you want it to be huge. No quality loss and the enlarging effect.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    neal ericksonneal erickson Posts: 10member
    Well, I didn't get a chance to work on it very much last night. If I ever get it done I will post it. I haven't even filmed the "town through the P" part yet. This is a great project that I do for our 8th graders each year as they leave. It contains pictures and video starting from their kindergarten graduation through their 8th grade year. Probably about 6 years ago we started using PowerPoint and scanned pictures played along with a cd. Each year we get more and more complicated and better. That first year I got iMovie... wow, that was like going to the moon compared to PP. Last year was the first year we used DVD. Each year the video has a theme. Two years ago we recreated the opening sequence to the Drew Carey Show. Last year was 6 short parodies of the Mastercard Priceless ads. And, of course, this year, a live action version of the Simpsons opening sequence all shot around the school.



    After Effects. I have a cousin with After Effects. Maybe I will have to make a visit to his house.
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