Text generators overview

Text generators use text characters to create text-and-number-based animations, such as timecode, time-and-date, or countdown animations. The Inspector for each Text generator contains four panes: Format, Appearance, Layout, and Text Generator.

The first three panes (Format, Appearance, and Layout) control the font, size, color, outline, glow, drop shadow, and other standard text attributes. These panes are nearly identical to those in the Text Inspector for standard text layers, with two exceptions: The Text Generator Inspector has no Text editor (a field in which custom text can be typed) and no Editable in FCP checkbox. Additionally, the Text and Transform Glyph tools cannot be used to modify text in Text generators. For information on the Format, Appearance, and Layout panes, see Text Inspector overview.

There are four Text generators:

• File displays the contents of a text file, line by line.

• Numbers displays random numbers based on settings in the Inspector.

• Time Date displays the date and time based on settings in the Inspector.

• Timecode displays timecode based on the current project or the settings in the Inspector.