Creating a logo for a hardsubbed Video

[gixo]

Do you guys know a good side which explains how to create a logo for my Video? If a similar thread already exists I am sorry, I haven't seen it in the techdiscussion, tech support or the "ressources for fansubbers" thread.

All I know is that I have to have a black background and have to stitch out my logo somehow. But how do I do that?

[khmai_kandi22]

For me,

I open up microsoft word and experiment around with fonts for the logos. For D-Fansubs logo, I used different fonts for the first two words. Then, I use the highlight brush or something to make the background black. Then you highlight it again, and change the text color to white.

Now all you do is hightlight the word, copy, and paste it onto paint. You then crop the size, and save it as jpeg or bitmap. There you go, you can load it in virtualdub.

Hope that helps

*Edited: You don't have to stick to one font style for the entire logo, u can always change each letters with different font styles. It'll look fancy and nice.

[Felguard]

Adobe Photoshop.

[groink]

Here's the idea:

1. Create the logo with whatever tool you have available, such as Adobe Photoshop, or just about any other paint program. Someone even mentioned using a word processor. It is highly recommended that the logo is white. Using any other color may complicate the result. It is best to save the logo as bitmap because any compression methods like JPEG might cause problems in the video.

2. When creating the image, make sure the logo is placed on a black background. This is necessary because the black act as the "overlay" color. The overlay color will be invisible when shown in the video. You've probably seen this overlay technique used before in TV news programs where the reporter will be in front of a green or blue background, and the green/blue color is replaced with video.

3. In VirtualDub, use the logo filter. In the filter, you will actually specify the logo file twice: Once in the logo image path, and once in the alpha image path. The alpha image is simply a complete opposite of the logo image. What the filter will do is take the alpha image, reverse the image, and then use it in the overlay process. You will then select the opacity setting, which measure how much you want the logo to become opaque. Opacity is the process of allowing some of the video to show through the logo.

4. In the logo filter settings, put checkmarks on all three checkboxes: "Enable", "Use premultiplied alpha" and "Use gray channel". And then select the general placement of the logo (TL or top left, TC or top center, BR or bottom right, etc.) and then fine-tune the placement using the X/Y offset setting.

--- groink

[gixo]

thanks for all your help.

One more question. I actually don't have to stitch out the logo off of the black background? I just have to create a logo with a black background and the alpha channel will do the rest for me?

hmmm... I was actully thinking about using a light pink for our logo. Why do problems appears when I use a coloured logo? Because of the reverse image effect?

[groink]

thanks for all your help.

One more question. I actually don't have to stitch out the logo off of the black background? I just have to create a logo with a black background and the alpha channel will do the rest for me?

hmmm... I was actully thinking about using a light pink for our logo. Why do problems appears when I use a coloured logo? Because of the reverse image effect?

Correct, the alpha channel will do it for you. As for using colors other than white, there are basically two issues you may run into:

1. The color white in light contains red, blue and green. So the white will still show up well when placed on top of anything. Keep in mind that in the video, the background will constantly change. If you used a color that is close to either red, blue or green, it may not show up as nice as you'd like. For example, if you use pink, video where the background is red or similar (orange, or even pink itself) may not show the logo that clearly.

2. If you want your logo to look smooth, it is best to use anti-aliasing. You can do this in Adobe Photoshop. In anti-aliasing, the edges of the graphic will blend in with the background. If you use a color other than white on top of black, the anti-aliasing may not look good when adjusting the opacity within the logo filter.

Go ahead and play around and see what results you get.

--- groink