Never tried Green Screen ie;Chroma Key

[Chris M]

Looking at the design itself, I question whether the text suits the picture. The train is weight and power. The weather is inclement and visibility is poor. The picture, as a whole, is dark, moody and menacing.

In the first pic I made the Q249 prominent as it's short, mysterious and punchy, as in, the train IS Q249!
The second pic simply moves the text slightly behind the train, making the power and force of the train the most prominent feature.
#1 is the one I'd go with. #2 is a bit 'fussy'.

[handrawn]

only time to give video a quick watch - like the way you enhanced the picture

if you put text along the track you will need to give it perspective [taper it to the distance] same as the tracks, and the train, otherwise it will look clumsy

agree with chris re text - first pic the brain sees what is there immediately, second pic it needs a split second to seperate out the text from the train....

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi Sam, here's a video covering Chris M's & Handrawns points:

VIDEO

[Spectra13]

Apologies for the delay, all. Important family matters came up and I had to tend to them. I greatly appreciate all the tips and information everyone has provided. I will most definitely give the shape tool with the text a try. As far as the images created by Chris M, I would love to know how you did that! It looks amazing! And Egg, unfortunately, I am unable to see the XAR file as we aren't using the same version of Xara, I had an error pop up stating that some assets cannot be loaded due to that issue. I have yet to watch the video provided but I will as soon as I get the chance. Again, thank you all for the help and information.


This was what I ended up using, I neglected to upload it. If anyone wants to see what it looks like or change anything feel free. I removed the name of the game from the image so as to not advertise it here. So if it looks a bit empty or barren that's why.
Q249 Baltimore - Connellsville Autorack-v2.xar

[Chris M]

Chris M, I would love to know how you did that!Q249 Baltimore - Connellsville Autorack-v2.xar

Creating the text effect is actually straight forward. Tricks of the trade and all that.


Select the picture and clone it, (Edit > Clone, or ctrl+k. Don’t move either picture.
Type your text and drag it to the place you want it.
With the text selected, shift+click the picture.
Arrange > Combine Shapes > Slice (cut) Shapes, or ctrl+4
Click the Shadow Tool and choose the Glow Shadow
Open the colour picker
Ctrl click the shadow and use the dropper to select a colour from the picture
Adjust stuff

[Spectra13]

Creating the text effect is actually straight forward. Tricks of the trade and all that.


Select the picture and clone it, (Edit > Clone, or ctrl+k. Don’t move either picture.
Type your text and drag it to the place you want it.
With the text selected, shift+click the picture.
Arrange > Combine Shapes > Slice (cut) Shapes, or ctrl+4
Click the Shadow Tool and choose the Glow Shadow
Open the colour picker
Ctrl click the shadow and use the dropper to select a colour from the picture
Adjust stuff

Thank you very much! I've got it figured out and when I get the chance I'm going to work on it a bit more to iron out some wrinkles then I'll post it here. You guys are amazing and I cant begin to say how much I appreciate all your tips and tricks! Thanks again!

[Spectra13]

Thank you very much! I've got it figured out and when I get the chance I'm going to work on it a bit more to iron out some wrinkles then I'll post it here. You guys are amazing and I cant begin to say how much I appreciate all your tips and tricks! Thanks again!

Hi all, deeply apologize for the lack of response but I got myself locked out and got caught up with editing videos for my dad and I... for six months...
I did get to work out the effect that Chris M showed but I did have one question, I like that font that you showed but I can't seem to find it anywhere, what font was used, please?

BR 193 Vectron_2023-10-09_03-59-34_v0.xar

[Chris M]

The font is from Google and is called Abril Fatface. I probably chose it because Fatface looks like Fartface, and I am a child.

Link to the font >>> Abril Fatface - Google Fonts <<<

[Spectra13]

The font is from Google and is called Abril Fatface. I probably chose it because Fatface looks like Fartface, and I am a child.

Link to the font >>> Abril Fatface - Google Fonts <<<

Oh, you mean like my father! LOL Thanks, I greatly appreciate it, my dad and I spent so much time searching the web and we couldn't find it.

[Chris M]

Obligatory, my opinion only.

Pic 1)
This train is more modern and quite tall, so I went for a modern font. The font is Orbitron and the C, R, and O resemble the shape of the cab. I added more sky, so I could stretch the font until the C had similar dimensions to the cab itself.
The BR 193 may well need making bigger or fatter, or different font altogether, depending on how important it needs to be. I placed it behind the front of the train and off the tracks to give the train an unimpeded run through the picture.

Pic 2)
Font is EurostileTBlaExt, which is a fatter. more squat font that makes the train look taller.
I gave the BR 193 a stretch lengthwise to box in the train and block the tracks to make it look static.

Pic 3)
Probably the one I would use. The image is clean, sharp and simple. I think a single, straight line of text, using a bold font is all it really needs. It also allows the 'PC' logo to be placed in the bottom right corner, where you originally had it.


>>> Spectra Vectron.xar <<<