Text

This media type makes it easy to add headings and other texts to your WATCHOUT show without having to use an external program, such as Adobe Photoshop. To add a text to your presentation, choose “Add Text” on the Media menu, enter your text in the checkerboard area and click OK.

To display the resulting text, drag it onto a timeline and position it on stage. The text is shown on a transparent back­ground and is used like a still image. As the text is rendered on the production computer, you don’t need to have the fonts installed on your display computers. To change the text, double-click it in the Media window or Alt-double-click the cue.

Width
Specifies the width of the resulting text image, in pixels. The height will be determined automatically by the amount and format of the text.

Font menu
Choose any font installed on your production computer and apply it to the selected text. Note that you must select some text before you can apply a new font. The same goes for most other settings, as they apply on a per-character basis.

Text Color
The color swatch next to the Font menu specifies the color of the text. Again, first select some text then click the button to choose a color.

Font Size and Scale Factor
This menu, in conjunction with the scale factor, determines the size of the text as displayed in your presentation. For small to medium-sized text, keep the scale factor set to 1 and adjust the font size. For very large text, use the scale factor to scale the rendered text while keeping the edited text at a manageable size. The scale factor also governs other dimen­sions, such as the size of any drop shadow, but does not apply to the Width setting.

Bold and Italics
These checkboxes apply the corresponding styles to the selected text.

Text Alignment
The alignment radio buttons align paragraphs to the left, center, right or justified on both sides. Although adjusted text isn’t shown as such in the dialog box, the rendered text will be adjusted.

Text Indentation
The Indent and Hanging Indent settings indent the selected text by the specified amount. Note that these settings apply to entire paragraphs.

Leading and Paragraph Spacing
These fields control the spacing of lines and paragraphs in the selected text. Use negative numbers to tighten the spacing.

Bullets and Numbering
These checkboxes display a bullet or a paragraph count in front of each selected paragraph. Use the Hanging Indent setting to control the distance between this embellishment and the text itself.

Margin
Adds additional spacing on both sides of the text, as a percentage of the font size. This may be required to account for certain italicized fonts.

Style
Chooses a common text style, as defined under the Style tab (see “Style”).

Reset Text
Resets the text, removing any local overrides, so it matches the style selected on the Style menu.

Set Style
Updates the style selected on the Style menu to match the currently selected text. Doing so affects all texts using this style.

Update and Auto Update
Click “Update” to see the result of your changes in the Stage window (assuming the text being edited is currently displayed). If you select the “Auto Update” checkbox, the stage will automatically update whenever you make changes. This may be time-consuming when rendering large texts – especially when also applying effects.

Optimize For…
This setting serves the same purpose as for still images, and has the same restrictions (see “Optimize For”).

Style

You may define text settings that can subsequently be applied across several Text media items, thus maintaining a consistent style throughout your presentation. To define a style, click the Styles tab in any Text media item.

A non-editable preview text is displayed in the checkerboard area of the window. If you have typed anything into the Text media item, that text will be used for the preview. Otherwise, a default text sample is shown.

Change any of the settings (Font, Size, Color, etc) using the controls along the top of the window. The preview area shows the result. Style settings apply to the entire text, so you don’t need to select anything before changing settings.

Add/Delete Style
Click Add to create a new, named style based on the current settings, then enter a style name. To delete a style, first select it in the list, then click Delete.

Text Effects
Use the controls along the bottom of the window to add a drop shadow and emboss effect to the rendered text. Your settings here are reflected in the preview area of the Styles tab, but do not appear in the main editing area of the Text tab.

NOTE: Applying a drop shadow effect renders the image slightly wider than the specified Width setting. This is in order to accommodate the shadow without causing the text to re-flow.

Light Angle
Controls the perceived angle of light expressed by the emboss and drop shadow effects. Setting the light angle to be from the top left causes the drop shadow to appear below and to the right of the text. Select “Use global angle” to use a common angle across all styles with this option selected, or uncheck this checkbox to set the angle independently for the current style.

Applying a Style
Once a style has been defined in this way, you can apply it using the Style menu on the Text tab. Note that local over­rides applied to the text take precedence over style settings. Click the “Reset Text” button to remove all local overrides, setting all the text according to its style.

Transferring Styles Between Shows
Use the Copy button to copy selected styles to the clipboard. You can then paste those styles into another show.