Text

Overview

Creates an effect that displays text on the display element. The text can appear in any font. It can be static or moving.

String Setup

• Positioning - Determines how the target elements are treated. Either as individual strings or by their actual location in the display preview. Locations is often referred to as whole house, but it can be any form of multiple props. Generally you want Strings when applying to one prop and locations if the target is multiple props.

• Orientation - Controls the orientation of the display area (matrix).

Configuration

• Text Trigger - Controls how the text is triggered to be displayed.

  • None - Uses standard text with no trigger. The text is animated using Direction and Iterations, and Text Layout becomes available.
  • Mark Collection - Uses marks to trigger when each word is shown, taken in order from Text Line(s).
  • Mark Collection - Labels - Uses marks to trigger when each word is shown, using the mark’s own label as the word text instead of Text Line(s).

• Mark Collection - Selects the Mark Collection used to determine when words are displayed. Only shown when Text Trigger is set to Mark Collection or Mark Collection - Labels.

• Text Duration - Adjusts how long each word stays visible: Auto Fit, Mark duration, or User defined. Only shown when Text Trigger is not None.

• Text Fade - Fades each word in or out as it is displayed, choosing between None, In, Out, In/Out. Only shown when Text Trigger is not None.

• Direction - The direction the text moves: Left, Right, Up, Down, Rotate, None, Explode, or Fall. Your choice here determines which options are available under Movement below - each of Rotate, Explode, and Fall unlocks its own dedicated movement curve (Angle, Explode Position, and Fall Speed, respectively), and Left/Right/Up/Down unlock Iterations, Center Stop, and End Stop.

  Left, Right, Up, and Down all share the same panel layout (shown here for Left):

  

• Iterations - The number of times the pattern repeats over the duration of the effect. Only available when Direction is Left, Right, Up, or Down, and is hidden when Direction Per Word is enabled.

• Time Visible Length (ms) - Shows each word for the selected period of time up until the next word. Only shown when Text Trigger is not None and Text Duration is set to User defined.

• Repeat Text - When enabled will repeat the individual words if there are more Marks in the collection than the number of total words. Only shown when Text Trigger is set to Mark Collection.

• Direction Per Word - When enabled will move the text based on Direction over the duration of each displayed word, rather than moving the text as a whole. Only available when Text Trigger is not None and Direction is Left, Right, Up, or Down.

Movement

• Vertical Offset - The vertical offset to help position text vertically on the grid. Hidden when Direction is Up or Down, since the vertical position is already being driven by that movement.

• Horizontal Offset - The horizontal offset to help position text horizontally on the grid. Hidden when Direction is Left or Right, since the horizontal position is already being driven by that movement.

• Angle - Controls the rotation angle of the text over the duration of the effect. Only shown when Direction is set to Rotate.

  

• Explode Position - Adjusts how far each character spreads from the center point over the duration of the effect. Only shown when Direction is set to Explode.

  

• Fall Speed - Adjusts the speed at which characters fall over the duration of the effect. Only shown when Direction is set to Fall.

  

• Center Stop - When enabled, moves the text into view and stops it at the center. Only available when Direction is Left, Right, Up, or Down. Mutually exclusive with End Stop - enabling one disables the other.

• End Stop - When enabled, moves the text into view and stops it at the end of its travel instead of continuing off the grid. Only available when Direction is Left, Right, Up, or Down. Mutually exclusive with Center Stop - enabling one disables the other.

Color

• Text Color Gradients - One or more colors or gradients to be applied to the text. One color will be applied to each line of text.

• Cycle Color - When enabled, cycles the text through the configured Text Color Gradients instead of applying them once per line.

• Cycle Mode - Selects whether Cycle Color advances per Character or per Word (including words displayed from a Mark Collection). Only shown when Cycle Color is enabled.

• Gradient Mode - Specifies how gradients will be applied to the text. There are 8 combinations of direction and how it’s applied.

The gradient can be applied across the letters of the text, or across the whole element group. If it is across the letters, the gradient will stay with the text. If it is across the element, it will appear that the text travels through the colors of the gradient.

The examples below all use the same Text Color Gradients setting - a red-to-blue gradient:

Mode	Across Text	Across Element
Straight
Vertical
Diagonal
Reverse Diagonal

• Use Base Color - If selected, allows you to select a background color to appear behind the text.

• Base Color - The color to use for the background. Only shown when Use Base Color is enabled.

Text

• Text Line(s) - One or more lines of text to display. Hidden when Text Trigger is set to Mark Collection - Labels, since the displayed text comes from the mark labels instead. Blank rows (empty, or containing only spaces or tabs) are treated as a single space when rendering, so they take up one line of vertical space rather than being collapsed or ignored. This lets you add blank rows above, below, or between lines of text to control spacing. This behavior applies to normal text and does not apply when Text Trigger is set to a Mark Collection option.

• Font - Specifies the font, style and size to be used. You may use any font installed on the PC. Note that the fonts used must be installed on any PC where you will transfer this sequence.

• Font Scale - Adjusts the size of the font over the duration of the effect, letting the text grow or shrink independently of the Font size itself.

• Center Text - Centers each line of text instead of left-justifying it.

• Text Layout - The orientation of the letters. When Normal, the text appears normally. When set to Stacked, the letters are stacked vertically. Only shown when Text Trigger is set to None.

Brightness

• Intensity - The overall brightness envelope for the text itself over the duration of the effect.

• Base Color Intensity - The overall brightness envelope for the background color over the duration of the effect. Only shown when Use Base Color is enabled.

Video Tutorial