Text

This node lets you add text overlays on your images. You can simply type in the text you want to have displayed or use Tcl expressions or Tcl variables to create a text overlay. Text overlays can also be animated using animation layers in the Groups tab, so that their properties (such as position, size, and color) change over time. These features make the Text node useful, for example, for creating slates or scrolling credits.

Inputs and Controls

Connection Type

Connection Name

Function

Input

unnamed

The image sequence to receive the text overlay.

mask

An optional image to use as a mask. By default, the text is limited to the non-black areas of the mask.

At first, the mask input appears as a triangle on the right side of the node, but when you drag it, it turns into an arrow labeled mask. If you cannot see the mask input, ensure that the mask control is disabled or set to none.

Control (UI)

Knob (Scripting)

Default Value

Function

Text Tab

output

output

rgba

The text only appears in these channels.

If you set this to something other than all or none, you can use the checkboxes on the right to select individual channels.

premult

premult

none

These channels are multiplied by the drawn text, so that they are set to black outside the text shape.

clip to

cliptype

format

Select how to restrict the output image:

no clip - use the entire image.

bbox - restrict the output image to the incoming bounding box.

format - restrict the output image to the incoming format area.

union bbox+format - restrict the output image to the combination of the incoming bounding box and format area.

intersect bbox+format - restrict the output image to the intersection of the incoming bounding box and format area.

replace

replace

disabled

When enabled, the affected channels are cleared to black before drawing on them.

When disabled, the text is drawn on top of the input image.

invert

invert

disabled

Inverts the inside and outside of the text shape.

opacity

opacity

1

Adjusts the opacity of the text. The possible values run from 0 (invisible) to 1 (fully opaque).

mask

 

N/A

disabled

Enables the associated mask channel to the right. Disabling this checkbox is the same as setting the channel to none.

maskChannelInput

none

The channel to use as a mask. By default, the text is limited to the non-black areas of this channel.

inject

inject

disabled

Copies the mask input to the predefined mask.a channel. Injecting the mask allows you to use the same mask further downstream.

invert

invert_mask

disabled

Inverts the use of the mask channel so that the text is limited to the non-white areas of the mask.

message

message

None

Enter the text you want to display, a Tcl expression, a Tcl variable, or a combination of these. Enter Tcl expressions in square brackets, for example, [date]. To begin a new line, press Return.

To display special Unicode characters, such as foreign language characters and copyright signs, you can:

use HTML named entities, such as © to display ©

use hex entities, such as © to display ©

use decimal entities, such as © to display ©

type Unicode characters, such as ©, on your keyboard or cut and paste them from other applications. UTF-8 character encoding is used to store them in the control's value and in the saved Nuke script.

The above only work if the font you are using has the character you want to display in it.

Note:  We recommend using the above entities rather than typing <, for example. This is because future versions of the Text node may interpret HTML mark-up. In HTML, some characters, such as the greater than and less than signs, are reserved. If you used these signs within your text now, future versions could mistake them for HTML mark-up.

See Example Variables and Entities for a list of Tcl expressions, Tcl variables, HMTL named entities, hex entities, and decimal entities you can use in the Text node.

Tip:  To get a list of all the Tcl expressions you can use with date, you can also type X on the Node Graph, set the script command dialog that opens to Tcl, enter date -h, and click OK.

box xyrt (or xywh)

box

N/A

Adjusts the on-screen box that limits the text inside a certain area of the frame:

To define the left boundary of the box, adjust the x field.

To define the bottom boundary of the box, adjust the y field.

To define the right/width boundary of the box, adjust the r field.

To define the top/height boundary of the box, adjust the t field.

You can also move and resize the box in the Viewer. Your text is wrapped inside the box you defined.

justify

xjustify

left

Sets how to align the text horizontally:

left - align the text along the left edge of the on-screen text box. This leaves the right edge of the text ragged.

center - align the text from the center of the on-screen text box. This leaves both edges of the text ragged.

right - align the text along the right edge of the on-screen text box. This leaves the left edge of the text ragged.

justify - align the text both along the left and the right edge of the on-screen text box. This leaves no ragged edges. The justification is done by expanding the spaces between letters. If there are no spaces or the spaces get more than about three times wider than they were, letters are expanded.

yjustify

top

Sets how to align the text vertically:

top - align the text against the top edge of the on-screen text box.

center - align the text from the center of the on-screen text box.

bottom - align the text against the bottom edge of the on-screen text box.

font

font

Utopia

Sets the font to use for the text. This control uses the FreeType library and supports a large number of fonts, including TrueType (.ttf) fonts and PostScript fonts (.pfa and .pfb).

Tip:  You can liimit the Text node to only use the fonts that ship with Nuke by navigating to Project Settings > Font and disabling include system fonts.

index

Regular

Sets the font style to use for the text. The options available in this control depend on the font selected.

global font scale

global_font_scale

1

Sets the scale used to multiply the font size for all characters in the message field.

font size

font_size

100

Adjusts the size of the font. When leading is set to 0, this parameter also controls the spacing between each line of text.

When rendering the font, the size parameter controls the font hinting used. Font hinting adjusts which pixels are interpolated to more clearly render a font. At small sizes and on low resolution output devices, it has a big impact on the legibility of the font. For best results, you should use this parameter (rather than the scale parameter on the Transform tab) to control the size of the font and keep scale set to 1.

font width

font_width

100

Sets the width of the font, as a percentage of the font size.

font height

font_height

100

Sets the height of the font, as a percentage of the font size.

kerning

kerning

0

Sets the spacing between the currently selected character and the previous character. Negative values move the character closer to the previous character and vice versa.

Note:  Kerning has no effect on multiple selections or the first character in a string.

tracking

tracking

0

Sets the spacing between each character and the previous character. Negative values move characters closer to each other and vice versa.

Note:  Tracking has no effect on the last character in a string.

baseline shift

baseline_shift

0

Sets the height above the font baseline for the currently selected characters. Negative values lower the characters and vice versa.

leading

leading

0

Sets the spacing between lines of text. Negative values decrease the spacing and vice versa.

Groups Tab - the controls on this tab only affect groups in the animation layers table.

translate xy

translate

0, 0

Translates the text on the x and y axes.

rotate

rotate

0

Rotates the text by degrees. Negative values produce anti-clockwise rotation.

scale

scale

1

Scales the text. Scale width and height are ganged by default.

skew X

skewX

0

Skews the text on the x axis.

skew Y skewY 0

Skews the text on the y axis.

skew order

skew_order

XY

Sets the order in which skew X and skew Y are applied:

XY - skew X is applied before skew Y.

YX - skew Y is applied before skew X.

center xy

center

N/A

Sets the center of rotation and scaling. You can also move it using Ctrl/Cmd+drag.

animation layers

group_animation

N/A

Displays groups created from the text in the message field, allowing you to animate the required characters using the transform controls.

Select the required text in the Viewer or message field and then click the + button to create an animation layer. Select the group and apply the required transforms using the controls on the Group tab.

Color Tab

ramp

ramp

none

Select whether to create a color gradient across the text:

none - don’t create a color gradient.

linear - the ramp changes linearly from one color into another.

smooth0 - the ramp color gradually eases into the point 0 end. This means colors in the point 0 end are spread wider than colors in the point 1 end.

smooth1 - the ramp color eases into the point 1 end. This means colors in the point 1 end are spread wider than colors in the point 0 end.

smooth - the ramp color gradually eases into both ends. This means colors in the point 0 and point 1 ends are spread wider than colors in the center of the ramp.

color

color

1

Sets the color for the text.

If ramp is set to anything other than none, this is the color for the ramp at the point 1 end (by default, the top end).

The following controls are only available if ramp is set to anything other than none.

point 1

p1

100, 400

Sets the position of the point 1 indicator. This allows you to adjust the spread and angle of the ramp.

color 0

color0

0

Sets the color for the ramp at the point 0 end (by default, the bottom end).

point 0

p0

100, 100

Sets the position of the point 0 indicator. This allows you to adjust the spread and angle of the ramp.

Shadows Tab

enable drop shadows

enable_shadows

disabled

When enabled, drop shadows are applied to the text.

When disabled, all other controls on this tab are also disabled.

inherit input color

shadow_inherit_input_color

disabled

When enabled, shadows inherit their color from the text's input color.

When disabled, the color controls are enabled, allowing you to set the shadow color independently.

color

color

0,0,0,1

Sets the color of the drop shadow when inherit input color is disabled.

opacity

opacity

0.7

Sets the opacity of any drop shadow applied to the text, where 0 is totally transparent and 1 is totally opaque.

angle

angle

225

Sets the cast angle for drop shadows relative to the text, in degrees, where 0 is left to right.

distance

distance

5

Sets the seperation distance between the text and the drop shadow.

softness

softness

0

Sets the softness, or blur, of any drop shadow applied to the text. Higher values produce greater blur.

shrink/expand

shrink/expand

0

Sets the thickness of drop shadows relative to the text. Negative values produce thinner shadows and vice versa.

Step-by-Step Guides

Creating Text Overlays