Free S4T Title Template SET: Wedding Title Slide and L3rd

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It's been a busy week and we haven't had the time we normally would to get title templates posted for you, so our Friday post features a matching set of Premiere Pro Title Templates...a Wedding Title Slide and matching L3rd.

A gold tone background and a crimson ribbon are featured in the set with a design based on medium length names for the default text.

As always, every element in the title was created in the Adobe Title Designer inside Adobe Premiere Pro, so every element can be customized there as well...you never have to leave your edit software.

With our more complex templates, there are layers that need to be ordered properly to maintain the appearance of the title, and you'll notice that the part of the ribbon that "wraps around" is a separate element from the foreground ribbon, and needs to be the "back" layer to appear behind the gold element.

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The text inside the ribbon is on a path to follow the curve, and is "pushed" to the right using spaces inserted to the left, so you can type in longer strings of text with minimal adjustment to the curve.

Download these title templates by clicking here for the title slide, and here for the lower 3rd.

S4T Tip: Using your Titles in other software

One thing that frustrates many Adobe users is that the text generators in Photoshop and After Effects, while useful, aren't as feature-rich as Adobe Premiere Pro's Title Designer.

The challenge with using the Title Designer as a text source for other software is that the proprietary text file is kept inside the Premiere Pro project, and when exported as a Title, the resulting .prtl file isn't readable by any other software program (Adobe or otherwise) outside of Premiere Pro.

However, the text (if not the Title file) can be used in other programs by utilizing a fairly simple export procedure.

Disclaimer: There are a wide variety of versions of Premiere Pro in use.  This process is verified in CS6 and CC.  In many earlier versions of Premiere Pro, a still image needs to be exported through the exporter dialog and settings chosen in the export dialog will affect the file settings.

Fig. A  Premiere Pro Title Export  (click to enlarge)

1.  When you make a title with alpha channel transparency that you want to preserve, you must first place it into an edit sequence.


(Keep in mind that the frame dimensions of the sequence will be the frame dimensions of the file you export.  Creating the Title at the largest dimensions possible and placing it on a sequence of the same dimensions will preserve the most options for you later.)

Fig. B  Premiere Pro's Export Frame dialog  (click to enlarge)

2.  After positioning the playhead in the sequence over the Title (as shown in Fig. A), you can use the "Export Frame" icon/button to bring up the Export Frame dialog (as shown in Fig. B).

*If you don't see the Export Frame icon or the transport controls, you can use the Settings icon (the wrench symbol), to access the menu where you can choose to "Show Transport Controls".


3. The Export Frame dialog has several options for export formats, some that can carry an alpha channel, and some (like JPEG) that do not.

Fig C.  Exported Premiere Pro Title in After Effects  (click to enlarge)

The two alpha-capable file types that will maintain the widest compatibility with the widest variety of outside applications would be PNG and TIF.  (However every individual's workflow is different and it's possible your optimal choice may be different.)

4.  Loading the file into Photoshop will immediately show you the alpha transparency in the PNG and the TIF alpha channel will come in as a layer, though it won't immediately open showing classic Photoshop transparency.

Loading either file into After Effects (as shown in Fig. C) enables you to use the title as a composited element using the alpha channel transparency.

Obviously in this scenario, the text in the exported title document is not editable as the text generated in Photoshop or After Effects, so keeping the Premiere Pro project in case you need to return to the Title document and make a change will make your life easier as client revisions start to come in, and exporting the revised title to the same location and file name as the previous version will act as an "auto-replace" for an AE project that is pointed to the previous file's location.

Inspiration: Art of the Title talks to David Fincher

David Fincher from Art of the Title

Art of the Title has an excellent article that looks at title sequences from the perspective of a director.

Actually, this article is from a very specific director's perspective...David Fincher.

The director of Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac and the Panic Room talks about what he prefers in his movies and what he's seen transpire in the realm of film title sequences in general in this conversation.

Check out the full article at Art of the Title.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Hard Edge Corporate

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For those of us who are working with corporate projects, we always have a need to find new ways to pile text on a screen.

Here is a chrome and black design that will ensure that your viewers will never be bored.

...well, of course you need to replace the example text with something interesting.  THEN your viewers will not be bored...

...of course, then there is the matter of a music bed that doesn't put anyone to sleep...  Well, we can't solve all your challenges for you, but we can supply you with this snazzy (yes, "snazzy") Title Template that you can alter and customize in any way necessary without leaving Premiere Pro's Title Designer.  Download this Free Title Template to add to your collection here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Custodians of BADGE

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So...many of us are familiar with a certain television series...about a top-secret confederation of beings with amazing powers and incredible technology.

The organization happens to have a rather coincidental acronym of course...

We were inspired to work through a similar (but non-copyright violating) theme.

We had no "agents" per se in our organization, so our example text has an equally important, and sometime heroic job title.

Our organization also has an acronym, because "Bureau of Admirable, Daring Graphics Experts" is tedious to spell out every time.

This title template has a LOT of objects layered together.  Keep in mind that some objects may have to be dragged off to the side to get to text and graphic elements underneath.

Download the template here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: More Road Signs

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Continuing with the U.S. Road sign theme, we've added a highway exit sign and a typical "Do Not Enter" sign layout.

You can customize the highway sign with a destination name for your sales conference (perhaps "Successville" or "Sales Leader City" is on the company roadmap) or training video (off to "Safety Junction" or "Management Training Town").

Re-purpose the Do Not Enter sign to caution the viewer against a wide variety of no-nos including using company computers for web surfing or...workplace twerking.

Download this free template here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Speed Limit Signs

We've been a little obsessed with signs of late...and here are a few more.

The signs in this template are based on signs you may find in the USA, and a sign that would not look out of place in the United Kingdom.

Feel free to re-purpose the subject matter of these signs to suit your project as you won't have to leave Premiere Pro to do it.

Download this free title template and alter any aspect of them inside the Adobe Title Designer inside Premiere Pro.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Template: Danger Sign

Occasionally you might have a message in one of your video projects that you need to convey with some intensity.

There is nothing like a well-recognized sign format to get a cautionary message through to your audience.

The title template is completely created  in Adobe's Title Designer so you can import it into your project and create a stern warning concerning perils from taking a nap on the press brake to tedious corporate meetings, and edit all aspects of it in the Titler without going outside of Premiere Pro.

Download this template and be prepared to warn of impending doom...

*We recommend you put your S4T Free Title Templates in your system so you can access them through the Titler.  Check out our PDF instructions on where to install your templates to make them available through the Title Designer's template dialog.

Inspiration: 1940s and 50s B-Movie Titles from Art of the Title

B-Movie Titles at Art of the Title

A little weekend inspiration awaits in the form of an article from Art of the Title on the title sequences of the B-Movies of the 40s and 50s.

Those were the days.  When the movies had titles like "THEM!" and "Lady in the Death House", the imagery-spawned ideas were plentiful and the visual execution was certainly creative...at least within the context of the technology of the time, and the budgets of the genre.

So...head over to Art of the Title and check out the article...and watch out for crab monsters, teenage cave men, and "GOG"...whatever that is...

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Street Signs

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The context into which we place type can say as much or more than the words themselves.

Today's title template includes two takes on a street sign.  As always, everything in the title was created in the Title designer inside of Premiere Pro, so you can change anything you need to make them appropriate for your town or city...and nothing says you've arrived like having a street named after you...or your kids...or your uncle...or your goldfish...    Download this Free Title Template here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template Project

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OK...sometimes you need more than just a Title Designer document  to really make your text stand out.

For today's free template, we've created an entire Premiere Pro CS6 project with a number of effects and some sequence nesting to really push the boundaries on what you thought Premiere Pro's Titler can do.

When you download the CS6 project (CC users will be asked to save an updated version when they open it), you'll find all the components included in the project itself.  There are three title files, used with standard effects inside Premiere Pro CS6 (and CC) to create a sense of movement and the ever-popular traveling glint of light.

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You'll find the project easy to reverse-engineer and understand how to create the effect.

It's one effect that we plan a more detailed tutorial  for in the future, but until then, we've left you some pretty clear breadcrumbs in the form of a self-contained Premiere Pro CS6 project that you can download here.

Inspiration: How they made the 'Archer Vice' Title Card

For the 5th season of FX Network's Archer, the show has taken a new direction that may seem familiar to those of us who lived through the heady days when television audiences could accept that a Miami cop would possess an Italian supercar as his "daily driver."

For the new 'Archer Vice' Title on the FX Network, the show's producers wanted to really make sure that they sufficiently communicated the series' new direction in the title card.

Read the article to get the complete rundown of how they constructed the effect in this perfect illustration of how titles are more than just text.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template with Beachfront B-Roll

Today's Title Template integrates nicely with this sunrise clip from Beachfront B-Roll.

By taking the sunrise footage (or a shot like it) and placing it on your edit timeline, and then placing the title template on the video track above it, you can give the impression that the title is behind the tree shadow line by choosing a blend mode like 'multiply' for your title.

Download the Beachfront B-Roll sunrise clip here.  Download the Title Template here.

S4T Tip: Start your own typestyle library with a (nearly) clean slate

One great aspect of Premiere Pro's Title Designer is the ability to create your own typestyle libraries.

The issue with starting your own typestyle library is trying to clear out all the typestyles you don't want included in your new typestyle library because you end up having to delete each typestyle you don't want individually...it's sort of a tedious process.

At Style4Type, we build our own typestyle libraries of course.  However, we are too lazy to delete typestyles one-by-one.  It really cuts into the time we've allotted for watching vintage Scooby Doo cartoons and practicing clog-dancing.  Our secret weapon is this (almost) empty typestyle library that we can load through the 'replace typestyle library' command to start with a clean (or...at least spacious and tidy) slate.

If you, or someone you know is trying to create their own Premiere Pro typestyle library...you may find lots of value in having a nearly complete lack of content.  Download your empty typestyle library here.  (And fill the space with your typestyles...)

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template and Effect with footage from Beachfront B-Roll

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Another opportunity to work with some free stock footage from Beachfront B-Roll...

For this title effect, we're using Beachfront B-Roll's Dark Droplets Clip (download link below).

Using today's free Style4Type Title Template, you can create the effect of the reflection "under" the drops.

After downloading the Dark Droplets clip, place the clip on V1 in your Premiere Pro sequence (the clip and the title are 1920x1080 and the clip is 23.976 fps), then put the TG0214-1 Title Template on V2 (as with all title templates, you can simply click on the text object that is the template name and delete it).  The title can use whatever blend mode you choose, but in this case, we changed the blend mode to 'screen' on the title.

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If you want, you can also add the Basic 3D effect the way we did and angle the title clip to appear to be better aligned with the surface the drops are on. (see the screen grab for the effects we applied to the title).


Then, we decided the drops weren't quite obvious enough, so we added the Dark Droplets clip again on V3, and chose 'screen' blend mode to add some edge "punch" in front of the title.

Download the Dark Droplets clip here and check out the rest of Beachfront B-Roll's free stock clips.

Download today's Free S4T Title Template here and experiment with the effect yourself.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: American License Plate

In the United States, our automobiles get their identification tags (or license plates) from the state the owner lives in.

We didn't want to show any bias toward any particular state or state motto (often featured on each state's license plates), so we came up with some filler text that you can replace.

Most states also have a system of monitoring whether a motorist has paid their vehicle license for the year, usually indicated with a sticker applied to the rear plate...like our yellow sticker on our plate.

All text and colors are of course, editable in Premiere Pro's Title Designer, where this template was created.

Download this license plate title template here.

Free S4T Premiere Pro Title Template: Property Tag

There are times when one needs to alert others of our property rights...signs that forbid trespassing on our land...brands in the shape of alphanumeric letters sitting in chairs on bovine behinds...and occasionally our machinery needs to be tagged as well.

You've got just such a tag in this title template.  All you need is a lock-down shot of whatever needs to be tagged and type in the text of your choice.  Change the shape of the tag, move the screws or select them and copy/paste more of them for different shapes or bolt patterns, it's all up to you, and you can do it all inside of Adobe's Title Designer, so no matter how much revision you need to do, you won't have to leave Premiere Pro to do it.

Download this Title Template here and don't forget to download our 45 free typestyles and check out the Style4Type Premium Typestyles and Templates Package.

Inspiration: Art of the Title looks at Black Sails

Art of the Title takes a look at one of those title sequences that just seems to hit the right note in visual tone and sound...pacing and visual content...

Take a look at the title sequence from Black Sails and read Art of the Title's excellent article covering the concept and the creative process behind it.

See the article here.