Text on video: caption, font and spintax
The "Text" page is in the OVERLAYS section. It puts a caption over the frame. The caption position is picked anew for every copy. Size, color and font are randomized only when their own settings are on, and in a new project they are off. The ranges work the same way as everywhere else: see how uniquification works.
Five text settings
| Label | What it does | Range and units | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Add text" | The main switch of the page. Opens the text field, the placement areas and the four settings below | switch | off |
| "Change text size" | Character size | pixels, from 1px to 100px | off, from 15 to 35 |
| "Change text color" | A list of colors. One random color is taken for each copy | list of colors | off, list empty |
| "Add text background" | Fills a backing under the text with one of the selected colors | list of colors | off, list empty |
| "Change text font" | A list of fonts. One random font is taken for each copy | list of fonts | off, list empty |
What else is on the page
These elements are not randomized, but without them the text will not appear.
| Element | What it is for |
|---|---|
| "Your text:" | A multi-line field. The caption itself goes here |
| "Placement areas added: 0" | A counter of painted areas. Next to it is the "Add placement areas" button |
| "Placement method" | A list with two options: "Several areas" and "One area" |
| "Adapt to videos of different resolutions" | A switch for projects with imported videos of different formats |
What depends on what
- "Add text" opens the whole page. With the switch off, its body is hidden entirely.
- All five settings below work only when "Add text" is on.
- "Change text size" does not apply in "One area" mode. There the size is set right in the placement window.
- The color, background and font lists are empty in a new project. While a list is empty, its switch cannot be turned on.
Spintax: different text on every copy
The "Your text:" field supports spintax. Variants are written in curly braces, separated by a vertical bar.
The formula {Link|Details} in {bio|profile} gives four different captions. One copy gets "Link in bio", another "Details in bio", a third "Link in profile", a fourth "Details in profile".
What the field does not support:
- emoji.
A straight apostrophe is replaced with a typographic one: "Tom's" comes out on the video as "Tom’s".
Line breaks are kept. The text is shown on several lines exactly as you typed it.
Placement areas
Each pixel you painted with the brush counts as a separate placement area. For each copy, one random area out of the added ones is picked. The text is placed there by its center.
- "Several areas" - paint an area with the brush. The point for each copy is picked from it at random.
- "One area" - put the text at one point over the frame and set its size right there.
Defaults worth knowing
If the lists are empty and size is off, the app uses fixed values.
| What | Value without a list |
|---|---|
| Text color | black |
| Background | no background |
| Font | Segoe UI |
| Size | 36 pixels |
Black text is not visible on a dark video. Set a lighter color or turn on the background.
Cost in time
Text redraws only the part of the frame where it sits. None of the five settings noticeably slows video creation.
What you see at the ends of the range
| Setting | What you see at the end |
|---|---|
| "Change text size" | 1px: the caption cannot be made out. 100px: a few characters take up the width of a vertical frame |
| "Change text color" | One color in the list - the caption is the same on all copies. Many colors - the spread is noticeable to the viewer |
| "Add text background" | The padding of the backing around the text is fixed and cannot be changed |
| "Change text font" | Different fonts in the list give noticeably different captions on the copies |
What the pre-start check says
If something is missing on the page, video creation will not start. Below are the exact messages and the reason for each.
| Message | Reason |
|---|---|
| "Enter the text to add to the video" | "Add text" is on, the text field is empty |
| "Add placement areas for the text" | "Add text" is on, no placement areas are set |
| "Add colors for the text" | "Change text color" is on, the color list is empty |
| "Add background colors for the text" | "Add text background" is on, the color list is empty |
| "Add fonts for the text" | "Change text font" is on, the font list is empty |
FAQ
Why is the caption not visible on the finished video?
Most likely the text is black and the frame is dark. Without a color list, the app uses black. Turn on "Change text color" and add light colors to the list.
The video shows rectangles instead of letters. What is wrong?
The selected font does not support Cyrillic. The app uses the fonts installed in Windows, and some of them are like that. In the selection window, a font with Cyrillic shows the sample "Дджя". Pick fonts that show this sample.
Why does the apostrophe look different on the video?
A straight apostrophe is replaced with a typographic one: instead of "Tom's", the video shows "Tom’s". The field does not support emoji.
I change the text size, but it stays the same. Why?
In "One area" mode the "Change text size" setting does not apply. The size there is set in the placement window. The range works only in "Several areas" mode.
How many placement areas does it make sense to add?
Each pixel under the brush is a separate area. Even a small area gives thousands of options. A spread across the frame is more noticeable to platform algorithms than a single point. For more on how noticeable changes are, see result quality.