Free S4T Premiere Pro L3rd Title Template

Here's the last template for 2013...  A bit of dimension and rounded edge all created in Premiere Pro's Titler so you can adjust palette and type to suit your needs.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

And save some drive space for 2014 as we have a lot more coming...

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Never Enough Vampires

Titles that are the signature or logo for the project are more common in television series than features.

I have a teenage daughter and must admit I've noticed a certain general story line genre that may be, in automobile terms, a bit "high mileage"...

For the two or three of you who haven't done a teenage vampires-themed project yet...

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Inspiration from Art of the Title: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The Art of the Title has the perfect article for our last weekend during the holidays.  The animated title sequence for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation declares war on Santa Claus, and perhaps worse...reveals an embarrassing problem with his pants when he bends over.

Take a look at the sequence and read the article and note the countless dangers that Mr. Kringle is subjected to...including frostbite.

Inspiration: The Borrowers Title Sequence from Watch the Titles

The film entitled The Borrowers had a title sequence that utilized stop motion miniatures and had a holiday theme that fits into the season.

Watch the Titles has the sequence (created by Clemens Wirth) and the story behind it.

View the sequence and read the story here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: More Retail

At the end of the calendar year, our commercial clients are all trying to clear their shelves of what is left over after the shopping season and make room for new stuff as well as wind up the year with a minimum of inventory.  Markdowns, discounts, sales, clearance...it's a crazy race to get rid of stock.

Here is a collection of graphics that you can use to set up those TV spots faster and more efficiently.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Graphic: Mysterious Fog

Here's a title template that will only be a mystery to those who wonder how you did it.  There are two text objects and by working with the various transparency values and using the shadow property as a glow, you get soft, almost vapor-like effects with this title template.  In the example image, we used the "lighten" blend mode in Premiere Pro to alter the appearance of the title in front of our demonstration image (not included with the prtl file), and we'd urge you to explore all the additional possibilities that using the blend modes in Premiere Pro open up when your goal is something beyond every day text in front of a background.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here and make sure to make creepy monster sounds to yourself while working with it so your clients can't hear them...

1964's Rudolph Titles from Watch the Titles

In a timely feature, Watch the Titles breaks down the title sequence from the 1964 Rankin & Bass stop-motion classic "Rudolph".

They even pick out the erroneous copyright date (apparently it wasn't created in 1164...I suppose it would have had more of a tell-tale "crusades" sort of theme if it had been).

Thanks to Watch the Titles.

Free S4T Premiere Pro L3rd Title Template: Typed Type

A lower third that says you're asking the tough questions and getting down to business...and emulating a 40 year old mechanical device that hammers ink into paper.

The white "paper" background has a gradient that fades top-to-bottom, but of course, you can change that once you have it imported into your project and are editing it inside of Premiere Pro's Title Designer.

Nothing says "authentic" like the appearance of ancient technology, so make sure you only use THIS template when you really mean it.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Graphic: List of Stuff

Sometimes you just need to have text on the screen that lists a couple points...  This would be a template to start from.

Simply select any of the text or graphic objects in the prtl document to customize to your needs.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Inspiration: Title Design Project

Another great site for the film and television title design enthusiast (...see how I totally avoided using the words 'geek' or 'nerd' there?) is the Title Design Project.

They earn a spot in our links list and in addition to galleries, clips, interviews and articles, they have a blog.

Inspiration: Saul Bass at the Design Museum

Saul Bass  (1920-1996)

If film typography is of interest to you at all... then you know Saul Bass.  The commercial artist who designed the visual identities of AT&T, United Airlines and Minolta designed a movie poster for Otto Preminger that resulted in the director asking him to design the actual title sequence and the age of the opening credits of the movie being more than bland, dry information that audiences simply endured were over.

Check out the entire write up at the Design Museum.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Infographic Gadgets & Gizmos

Sometimes you just need something a little different.  A quick thumbnail flowchart would be handy...or putting a check mark in front of some important point might add a bit of movement and change at a slow moment...  We've assembled a few items for you for that purpose in this document.

Since this is an entire collection, you'll likely be copy/pasting objects from it into other documents.  Each item was created in the Title Designer inside of Premiere Pro and therefore each object is also able to be easily manipulated by you.  Each object has a style that is set up for a particular purpose, but each style can be saved as a typestyle and re-used (even though several probably wouldn't be particularly useful for type).  Panel lights with on/off states for use as a two-title document "animation," flow chart shapes and four directional arrows...an alert sign for those safety videos where you need to stress important info...lots here for you to use, change, and re-use in your projects.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Wake Up!

click to enlarge

Yeah...we've all turned on those morning shows when we haven't yet made the coffee and are as of yet not sure we're awake much less ready to face the day...and here are these people who make it seem as if people are happy at this time of the morning.  It's madness.

Here's a bit of sunshine you can use as a template for any project with happy joy-peddlers at sunrise or any other time of day...enjoy.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here. (Background image is for illustration only.)

Inspiration: Watch The Titles

A new site joins the permanent link list... watchthetitles.com 

The site has clips and interviews surrounding titling for film, television, and events and is well worth a place in your search route in those moments when you're seeking type-based inspiration.

Free S4T Premiere Pro L3rd Title Template

This lower third template includes a rounded graphic edge and a transparent, unintrusive "tinted glass" background for your ID needs...  The name is in a lighter color and the second line is black with a 'halo' to create a sense of emphasis on the name text.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here and put it to work immediately.  (Background image is for illustration only.)

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Behind the Blast Doors

So...we have a few unique features in this S4T Template.

First, you may notice that there are only two characters (editable by you of course). Second, there are also two files.

The left door and the right door are in separate files so you can animate them separately.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here and close (or open) the door as you see fit.

Inspiration: The Art of Film & TV Title Design | Off Book | PBS Digital Studios

PBS Digital Studios interviews Karin Fong and Peter Frankfurt of Imaginary Forces, Zombieland creative lead Ben Conrad, and Blue Valentine Editor Jim Helton about the process of creating effective feature and television titles.

Inspiration: James Bond; 50 Years of Main Title Design at Art of the Title

Saturday is a good day for some low-pressure inspiration while you sip your weekend coffee, and from the extensive Art of the Title archives, their extensive retrospective on 007's title sequences.

As hard as it may be to believe, Dr. No was made in 1962 and James Bond became a rather significant British export for what has become a rather significant period of time. 

Check out how the title sequences were conceived and created in Ben Radatz's  fascinating article.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template -A Serious Film Title

Here's a template that has a LOT of text manipulation for you to re-purpose into your own titling tasks...

You'll notice the words "Serious Film" are actually one text object...when you select just the end letters, you'll notice that both the 'S' and the 'M' have aspect adjustments as well as obviously different point sizes and baseline adjustments.  The word 'Title' is spread out using a tracking adjustment.  Keep, change, or just delete the gradient field in the background (particulary if you have a beautiful sunset shot to place the text over).

Everything was laid out using Times New Roman, so if your system substitutes a different font, keep in mind, you may have to make minor adjustments...

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here and give your project the title it deserves!

New Advanced Book for Premiere Pro users...

Adobe Premiere Pro Studio Techniques has been updated for CC and released.  It's the combined effort of 4 authors and covers a lot of ground.

The book covers complex topic areas like project set up, audio mixing, and color correction, and workflow.

In Chapter 5, "Advanced Compositing and Effects" written by Tim Kolb (of Style4Type) there are specific techniques pertaining to Premiere Pro's Title Designer.

Official release date was December 11th.

 ISBN-13: 978-0-321-83997-8

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template -Final Markdowns!

Retailers these days are typically having a sale...and at the end of the year, they're typically having incredible sales...very big...lots of ad copy dedicated to expounding how they've lost their senses and gone and discounted prices to the bone...

You'll be ready for your next advertising client who wants to spread the word about crazy pricing with this free Premiere Pro Titler template...which is really two graphics in one.  The "sash" element in the upper left corner will sit above all the incredible images of desirable merchandise, or the price tag will announce that these markdowns are...final!  Just import the title document into your project and through saving a copies and deleting the extra elements, you can use both graphics in your next commercial announcing discounts that cannot be missed.  Note that the punch-hole in the price tag is on the exact center of frame for easy spinning in...  Even if you ultimately want it in a different place in the frame, as long as you re-position it using the Motion controls in the Effects Control panel and keep it positioned where it is in the document, you'll spin it around that same point.

The best discount of all is 'free' of course...and nothing is what you'll pay if you act now.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Cheers

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template- Info Graphic

Sometimes you just need to get some text on the screen to convey some information for training or sales messages...or maybe a bit of information about an item in the right half of the screen.  When you're faced with these situations, how do you make it different?  How do you make it memorable?  How do you at least make it look a bit different than the video you did for the meeting last week...or the employee conference last month?

Well, you could start by firing up Premiere Pro and loading this template.  Text objects are in place and ready for you to replace with your own characters, the graphic elements are all fully editable inside the Premiere Pro Title Designer interface...  Just add video composition that shows critically important stuff on the right side and type what's important into the title on the right. 

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Cheers.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title -Wedding Template

The Title Designer tool in Premiere Pro is not just for broadcast or corporate work...it can also help Wedding Videographers add elegant type and titling for their customers as well.

See just how versatile the built-in Titler in Premiere Pro is with a graphic freehand shape, created in the Titler, with type attributes applied to give it that "silver tray" sort of aesthetic, with engraved lettering, and an ampersand that almost appears to be a reflection.  Every text object and shape object in the title is fully editable by you...change the font, the layout, even the shape of the tray if you want.

(Keep in mind that with this template, like any other Titler document you import into your project, the fonts you see here may not be the fonts that display when you load the template if your system doesn't have the exact font.  You can chose any font on your system for each text object.)

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Inspiration: Semi Permanent

Danny Yount shows us how creativity trumps budget with his titles for the Portland stop of the 2013 Semi-Permanent creative festival. 

Of course, we probably should mention that Mr. Yount has some experience with projects that are not so low budget, like directing the main titles for Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, and Six Feet Under.

Check out what an exceptional creative mind can do with some rather ordinary gear at Art of the Title.

Inspiration: A Brief History of Video Game Title Design

There's a reason why the Art of the Title holds the top spot in our Useful Links list.  They are a great source of inspiration for motion text title and credit design.

They recently posted a video montage entitled A Brief History of Game Title Design, with a report from Gamercamp in Toronto.  It doesn't matter if you're involved in game design or not...it's interesting to see what has been done with game titling, even when the canvas was extremely limited.

...just right for a Saturday.

S4T Tip: Establish Lower 3rd Style Using the Longest Name/Title

We've all been there.  The corporate video needs some serious type chops and we design a beautiful lower 3rd for use on all our interviews.  We used the company president's name in the corporate font...it's perfect.

Then...it happens.  Maybe it's a modern woman (or man) who has decided to hyphenate rather than just use the husband's family name...  Sometimes it's the over-achiever who has 10 job titles, each necessary to their identity.  Somehow, you'll end up with pain unless you develop your lower 3rd template using the longest name, and/or identifier-title to determine your layout.

It seems like a silly, minor thing until you have that documentary with 42 interviewees and the one that blows up the lower 3rd design is number 38...

Cheers.

Text and Visual Design: The Iconic Roundrel of London's Underground

Slate's Design Blog, The Eye, has an article by Kristin Hohenadel on the design history behind one of London's most well-known visual symbols (that isn't a police call box).

A History of London's Iconic Transport Logo.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Lower 3rd Title Template

Lower 3rd identification and location text on a background resembling a news or broadcast graphic is a popular technique for corporate or product videos.  Here's a lower 3rd template to get you started.

The download is a .prtl document you can load into any Premiere Pro project and edit all the attributes in Premiere Pro's Titler and use it again and again.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Excerpts from Helvetica...The Movie

Fascination with type approaches the height of geekdom for many of us, but you don't have to be a type geek to appreciate Gary Hustwit's Documentary on Helvetica.  You just have to appreciate the thought process that designers embark on to communicating ideas and aesthetic.

Check out the Helvetica page at PBS.org's Independent Lens and watch the preview.

Veer.com also has some excerpts here: Helvetica Film Excerpts

Free S4T Premiere Pro Titler Template December 2013

Let's go for some straightforward commercialism with the holidays in full swing.  December's free S4T Premiere Pro Titler template has two graphic circles and text all in individual, editable objects for your use over and over again.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Cheers.

S4T Tip: Nothing like a 4K Title

Every so often you run into an occasion where you want a title to enter (or leave) frame by moving on the Z axis.  The best way to create this illusion in a 2D environment is to scale the title graphic up.  Of course, any time you scale any pixel-based graphic up, you'll see softness best-case...worst case it will start to look like the cubic environment of Minecraft.  Either way, it won't be good.

In Adobe Premiere Pro, your title document size is determined by the sequence that has the focus when you start to create a new title.

For this reason, I often have 4K sequences in projects where I'm editing HD 1080 or even 720p footage for HD output.  When I make a title I know I'll be zooming in on, I click into the 4K sequence before creating the new title.  The 4K title can easily be scaled down, but it also scales up and maintains its sharp edges.

*Fair warning: on a system with limited RAM or installed GPU, working with lots of 4K titles can start to bog things down, but when you need one to scale up, it's worth the hassle.

Inspiration: Text from the TARDIS

One of my favorite sites is the Art of the Title.  (Check out the permanent link to the right.)

If one of your obsessions in life is the BBC's Doctor Who, then you'll want to head over to the Art of the Title and take a look at their retrospective of the long-running show's Opening Titles.

Free S4T Titler Template November 2013

This is a .PRTL file that you simply import into your Premiere Pro CS6 or CC project and edit from there.  The text, the frame and the background are all easily modified and/or replaced in Premiere Pro's Titler as every component in this template was created there.
Enjoy.

Download the Style4Type 2013 Free Template Collection here.

Welcome to Style4Type.

As a visual artist long before I was a video director/editor, I've had a tendency to appreciate commercial art and particularly how text can be styled and combined with other visual elements to convey meaning far deeper than the meaning of the words themselves.

When Adobe integrated the current Title tool (then called the Title Designer) into Premiere Pro in 2003, I found it to be an incredibly versatile, yet easy-to-use tool.

S4T is intended to be a destination for those who would like to get some new ideas on how to use Premiere Pro's Titler...and we'll probably stray into general type geek topics as well.

Watch this space for ideas, tips and tricks, and templates you can download for your own use inside of Premiere Pro's Titler.

Our email contact is style4type@gmail.com if you have questions or ideas for us.

Looking forward to spending some time on type...