The recent Fantastic Beasts tutorial from Dylan Higginbotham (owner of Stupid Raisins) was very popular. He's back with the task of recreating another movie title look. This time it's Rogue One from the Star Wars franchise. There is also a link to the free template!
This week the new Star Wars movie Rogue One comes out; a story about the Rebels who steal the Death Star plans. The trailer shows an exciting adventure capped with a simple stone title animation.
I love pushing and testing Final Cut Pro X to see what I can make with it. So I set out to recreate the Rogue One titles in FCP and I'm blown away with the results! My title looks like the real one!
I think you'll love it so I turned it into a free FCPX template you can download and use. All you have to do is enter your own text and you're good to go!
Maybe you want to build the title yourself and become a Jedi master. No worries young padawan! Let's recreate the Rogue One title in Final Cut by following the steps below.
Aren't you a little short for a video editor?
This is what you'll make. What you don't believe me? I find your lack of faith disturbing. Just follow the steps in the tutorial video or below and you'll be a scruffy-looking Nerf herder in no time!
This is the tutorial you're looking for...
You can watch how to create the title in this video or read below for step by step instructions. You'll need this Fade Effect to complete the tutorial.
No. I am your font.
Rogue One uses the Trajan font. It looks great but it's not free so we'll use Cinzel. Download and install Cinzel and Star Jedi fonts.
Once that's installed start up FCPX and add the trailer or a screenshot of the trailer title to your timeline. You'll use this as a reference image as you build the title.
Next, go to the Generators and under Textures add the Stars generator to the beginning of your timeline. Change the duration to 7 seconds and add the Letterbox and Fade effects. In the Video Inspector change the Letterbox Aspect Ratio to 2.35:1 and leave fade in and out at 20.
Go the beginning of the timeline and add a 3 second gap by pressing Alt+W.
Now I am the 3D master.
Next, go to the Titles and under the 3D section add Fade 3D template to your timeline above your reference image. Set the duration to 7 seconds and go to the Published Parameters in the Title Inspector. Set Speed In & Out to Ease Both, Spread In & Out to 100 and Fade Duration In & Out to 80.
Go to the Text Inspector and change the text to "ROGUE ONE", set the font to Cinzel, Size to 145 and Tracking to 14%.
Go to the 3D Text section and set Depth to 7, Weight to 1, Front Edge to Round, Front Edge Size to 2 and Inside Corners to Round.
Under Lighting Environment set type to Squares.
Under the Material section select Travertine under the Stone category. Line up with reference image.
3D borders ain't like dusting crops, farm boy.
To make the 3D border you're gonna have to use Jedi mind tricks. That's fancy talk for 3D text, special characters and masks.
Duplicate the Rogue One clip and set Fade Duration In & Out to 0 under the Published Parameters on the Title Inspector tab. Go to the Text Inspector and select the "ROGUE ONE" text. Open Emojis and Symbols by pressing Control+Command+Spacebar.
In the search box type "rectangle". Double click on the white rectangle to add it to the text box. In the text box, select the rectangle, copy it and paste it 3 times so you have 4 rectangles.
Set the Size to 419 and tracking to -20%. Under 3D Text set the Weight to -.02. Now align the border with the reference border.
Add a Shape Mask to the Border clip and go to the Video Inspector. In the Shape Mask settings, set X Radius to 536, Y Radius to 73, Curvature to 0%, enable Invert Mask and set Feather to 0. Now using the Y position parameter under Transform adjust the mask position so that it cuts out the center vertical sides of the rectangles.
Select the border clip and press command+V. You'll use it for later. Turn the clip into a Compound Clip by pressing ALT+G.
Press Shift+Command+V to paste effects. Paste only the Shape Mask.
Set the X Radius to 238, the Y Radius to 47 and Y Position to -62. This will create the gap at the bottom for the subtitles. Add Fade Effect and set In to 45, Out to 30, Start Offset to 4 and End Offset to 5.
IT'S A SUBTITLE!
Next, you'll create the "A Star Wars Story" subtitle. Go to Title and select the Custom template under Build In & Out. Drag and drop it to your timeline above your reference image and change the duration to 7 seconds.
In the Text Inspector type "A" and set Font Type to Cinzel. Set Size to 30 and under Face select Gradient. Make the first tag white and the second grey.
Line "A" up with your reference image and duplicate the title clip. Change the text to "STORY" and line it up with your reference image.
Duplicate the STORY title and change the text to "STaR waRS". Set the Font to Star Jedi, Size to 46 and line it up with the reference image.
Select all 3 subtitle clips in the timeline and turn them into a compound clip. Select Border compound clip and copy. Select Subtitle compound clip and press Shift+Command+V to paste the Fade Effect.
Keyframe. Or keyframe not. There is no try.
Select Rogue One title, Subtitle and Border compound clips. Turn them into a compound clip and add the Vignette Effect. Set the Size to 1.22 and Falloff to .33.
Next make the title move slowly towards the camera. You can get this effect by making the the title grow over time.
Set a Scale keyframe at the beginning for 100%. Then, set another keyframe at the end for 105%.
(Right click for larger images)
Help me Obi-Wan Decibels, you're my only hope.
The movie trailer uses a variation of the main theme music. However, I came across a chillingly cool song on Free Music Archives that would be perfect for your version of the movie title.
I think this song fits the story. Rogue One is about the rebels who steal the Death Star plans and in Star Wars IV they talk about the lives lost getting the plans. I have a feeling that a lot of the characters in Rogue One are going to die. In addition, they're up against a giant. They're all alone and this song sounds like lonely space. However, you can use whatever you want. ;)
Add the song to your timeline and set it so the beginning lines up with the title after the gap at the beginning.
Go to the Audio sidebar and search for "space ship" under Sound Effects. Add "Space Ship Interior" to your timeline and trim the silence at the beginning. Set the level to -5 dB. Set audio fade out to about 3 seconds for both audio clips.
May the force be with you!
There you have it! You've created a killer looking title that looks just as good as the Hollywood trailer title. You used several advanced techniques including 3D text to create a border, masks and gradients on text. Nice job!
Remember, if you don't want to do all the work, just download the Rogue One template for free.
Have a great weekend and "Stay on target"!
Dylan Higginbotham
