Typewriter Captions

Everything below can be changed without touching the animation. Hand the list to an agent, or edit the values at the bottom of the component file.

• Srt

  srt · string

  Paste an SRT or WebVTT file's text. When it has cues it replaces `words`, and the words inside each cue share its time in proportion to their length. A longer transcript types on for as long as the composition runs, so lengthen the composition to show all of it.

• Words

  words · array

  The transcript as timed words, straight from any transcription tool that exports word timings. Each word types on letter by letter across its own start and end, so a word said slowly types slowly.

  now: 21 items

• Max words

  maxWords · number

  The most words on one screen. A screen also ends at a full stop, a new subtitle cue or a pause longer than 0.6 seconds, and it clears the moment the next one starts. Six words take two lines at 16:9 and two or three on a vertical frame, the earlier lines rolling up as the next one types.

  now: 6

• Emphasis

  emphasis · array

  Words that type in the accent colour and a weight heavier, matched ignoring case and punctuation, so 'nine' also catches 'Nine,'. Give it the figures and names the sentence is about; the heavier weight moves nothing, because every letter is the same width.

  now: 3 items

• Position

  position · "lower" | "center" | "upper"

  Where the caption sits. 'lower' clears the player controls at 16:9, and on a vertical frame stays above the bottom 18% and left of the right-hand 12%, where the platform's own caption and buttons live. The typing line never moves, earlier lines roll up above it.

  now: lower

• Scale

  scale · number

  Type size. 1 sets about 90 px on a 1080p landscape frame and 77 px on a vertical one, sized to be read on a phone. If a word is too long for a line, or a screen needs more lines than fit, the whole transcript is set smaller rather than one screen.

  now: 1

• Blink

  blink · number

  Frames in one caret blink while it waits between words: on for half, off for half, cut on whole frames the way a terminal cursor blinks. The caret stays solid while a word is typing, so short gaps inside a sentence never blink.

  now: 18

• Stage

  stage · boolean

  Draw the stand-in shot behind the caption, a soft-focus study desk with a laptop and notes, so the demo can be judged over real tone. It is set dressing and not part of the caption: switch it off when you lay this over your own video.

  now: true

• Ground

  ground · boolean

  Paint a plain brand ground behind the caption when the stand-in is off. Off by default: this is an overlay, and with both off it renders on an alpha channel that drops straight onto your footage.

  now: false

• Brand

  brand · string

  Brand token id, one of the keys of BRANDS. The caption is set in the brand's mono face on its surface colour, with emphasis in its accent. 'paper' is what the plate and the stand-in desk are drawn for.

  now: paper