How to Format Titles in QuickTime Pro

For the price of an inexpensive upgrade you can turn the QuickTime software that ships with your Mac into a powerful video editor. QuickTime Pro may not be as intuitive as other video creation programs, but it is far more versatile. Not only can you add titles to your QuickTime, you can format them to any font and style available on your system.

Instructions

1. Type your titles into any text editor using the return key to separate titles. Save the file in TXT format. Switch to QuickTime Pro and open the text file and your movie file.

2. Drag the selection sliders to select the entire text movie and copy it to the clipboard. Insert the playback head at the beginning of the movie. Choose "Add to Movie" from the Edit menu. You will see a small black window with your text in white.

3. Choose "Export" from the File Menu and select "Text to Text" as the output format option. Click the Options button and check the "Show Text, Descriptors, and Time" option. QuickTime Pro will write a new text file. Choose "Show Movie Properties" in the Window Menu to delete the old text track.

4. Open the new file in your text editor and locate the descriptor "{QText}." This is where you will place your formatting commands. Each property should be in braces (e.g. "{bold}") and properties with parameters should appear in this format: {property:parameter} (e.g. "{font:arial}" or "{size:14}"). If you want to change the formatting for a later title, simply insert the new descriptor at that point.

5. Queue your MOV file to the point where you want each title to display. Note the time. Type the time into the time stamp listed for the first title in the text file in hours, minutes and seconds (e.g., "00:00:03.00" if you want the title to start 3 seconds in). Repeat for the remaining titles and save the file (still in TXT format).

6. Copy the new text file with formatting and time stamps into the MOV file the same way you did with the original text file. Make sure to play or fast forward through the movie to double check that your cues are correct. If you're content, save the movie file.

Tips & Warnings

• Windows users can download QuickTime for Windows and upgrade to QuickTime Pro as well.

• You can find a complete list of text descriptors at Apple's web site.

• QuickTime Pro spell checks text files as it imports them. If it encounters a series spelling error it may refuse to process the file.

Resources

• Text Track Descriptors.