You can easily create many styles of dramatic scrolling credits with Final Cut Pro, using built-in title presets or by downloading from dozens of options online. Credits at the end of your video not only pay tribute to everyone who helped with your project but also give the audience a sense of grandiose finality.
While there are standard conventions for the way end credits “should” look, we’ve all seen movies with unforgettable, unique credit sequences–so there is definitely room for you to make some creative decisions. Below we’ll walk you through building a credit outro in Final Cut Pro, and highlight some of our top picks for downloadable templates you can find online.
Summary
Part 1: Create Amazing Final Cut Pro Scrolling Credits for Film Projects
In the next 2 steps we’ll walk through creating scrolling credits using FCPX’s built-in Scrolling title. Then, we’ll take our credits to the next level with a cool masking technique that makes it look like your credits are disappearing into the sky.
Step 1: Set Up your Background and Titles
Many productions will use a totally black background for their titles, a classic cinematic finish to any movie. More recently, some films have begun to stylize their end credits by adding a background behind scrolling titles. The following steps can be used to achieve either effect.
- If you haven’t already, create your project by selecting File > New > Project on the top menu bar.
- Import the image or video clip you’d like to use for the background by pressing Command + I or pressing the Import button above the browser.
- Drag the background imagery into the timeline. If you’d prefer a black background, you can skip this step.
- In the Titles browser, find the title called Scrolling and add it to your timeline, above the background image if you have one.
- Adjust the timing of your title and background image by dragging the ends of them in the timeline so that they are the same length.
- Select the purple title in your timeline, then replace and format the text in the Text Inspector.
Step 2: Add an Image Mask
Image masking is an advanced compositing technique that can be used to create cool visual effects by isolating part of the video frame. Here we’ll draw an image mask that covers the landscape of our background so it appears as if the credits are disappearing into the sky.
- In the Effects browser, find the Draw Mask effect and drag it onto your title in the timeline. Make sure your playhead is at the very beginning of your title sequence.
- Select your scrolling title; you should see the text Click to Add a Control Point appear in the viewer.
- With your scrolling title still selected, press V to disable it. Any titles should disappear from the viewer.
- Outline the edge of your mask by adding points wherever there is a corner or curve on the horizon. You may need to zoom in to do this more accurately.
- When you’ve finished outlining the horizon, draw a box around the outside of the image frame that captures the rest of the image foreground.
- In the Video Inspector turn up the Feather control.
- Select the scrolling titles and press V to enable them.
Now hit play and watch your credits magically disappear into the sky! Pretty cool, right? If it’s not just right, try manipulating the Feather control in the Inspector. Sometimes, a negative setting works better.
Part 2: 10 Best Cinematic End Credits for Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro’s built-in Scrolling title preset is a fantastic solution for adding credits to any video project, but it’s not the only option. We’ve scoured the internet in search of the best available credit templates to add to your projects and listed them out below. All of these can be easily downloaded and added to your Final Cut Pro library for use in future projects.
Scrolling Credits
1. Film Credit Pack
This pack of 8 different credit presets comes with several logo placeholders to showcase your brand, partners, or awards. The included credits include different formatting options like centered, right and left justified. There are also a few options that are a good choice for opening credits.
2. Film Credits Kit
This credits kit comes with some cool stylization and formatting. There are 25 totally unique options to choose from, covering 4 different categories. Overall they look very professional and can easily be utilized to produce a blockbuster-esque credits sequence.
3. Film Credit Pro
A dramatic opening and closing credits sequence with 15 editable text placeholders. In addition to dynamic text animations, there are also particle effects for a marvelous effect. Best used with black or dark backgrounds.
4. Film Credits Pack 2
This is a clean and dynamic arrangement of 4 rolling titles which appear alternating between the left, right, and center of the screen, followed by a typical title scroll. You can overlay them atop a background or plain color backdrop and change the formatting & color however you like.
Download Film Credits Pack 2 Now
Cinematic End Credits
1. Cine Credit v.8
These colorful glossy credits are suitable for action-packed titles. You can easily change the colors to fit your project and add your own backgrounds to customize the look and feel of this outro—definitely a cool choice for ending credits.
2. Scifi Credits
Perfect for techy or sci-fi productions, these credits combine text animations, glitch, and blur effects, and formatting to deliver a futuristic end sequence for your next film project. This is a highly stylized template, so it might not work for everything, but it’s definitely unique!
3. Film Credits Pack of 35
With 35 individual title sequences to choose from, this pack lets you mix, match & customize your credit sequence. This template is very cinematic in style and can be used in a large variety of different video productions.
Download Film Credits Pack of 35 Now
4. Film Credits Cine v.7
This credit sequence is a little bit spooky, with eerie text animations and textured lettering for effect. It will be a good match for horror or spoof video productions and can be customized with different colors or text formats.
Download Film Credits Cine v.7 Now
5. Grunge Credit Generator
Retro and cool, these grunge credits offer a unique visual sequence to complement your project with hand-drawn graphic elements and dynamic text animations. There are 16 placeholders to change out whatever text and information you need.
Download Grunge Credit Generator Now
6. Cine Credit V.2
Of all the credits packs shared here, this one is unique in that it uses 3D-style text. It delivers a blockbuster feel that seems like it should be at the end of a summer action flick. With a good splash of color and laid against a plain dark background, this sequence really looks great.
At this point, you’ve probably seen more credit templates than you’ll ever need! Whether you’re creating your own outro using the built-in scrolling titles or downloading a handy template from our list. Final Cut Pro has everything you need to easily create cinema-quality credits to open or close your video.
And if you’d like to power up your Final Cut Pro, even more, head on over to Motion Array. There’s tons of content available to browse and download, including effects, transitions, title templates, and more!
