Designing a template

A template is a stack of layers on a canvas: text, images, shapes, tickers, countdowns, lists and scoreboards. The layer list is on the left, the canvas in the middle, and the inspector for the selected layer on the right.

Layers

• Drag layers in the list to change what sits in front of what.
• Select a layer on the canvas to move or resize it; the inspector has exact numbers if you need them.
• Move the whole design at once with the design position controls — useful for shifting a lower third up above a burned-in caption.

Smart text boxes

Long names should never break a design. Each text layer can be told what to do when the copy is too long:

• Shrink to fit — the type scales down until it fits the box. Best inside a fixed-width bar.
• Grow the box — the shape behind the text widens to match. Best for name plates.
• Clip — leave it as designed and cut off the overflow.

Animation

The animation pane works like a slide build: each layer gets an entrance, a delay and a duration, and they play in list order when the graphic comes on air. Set a layer to “with previous” to have two things move together.