mandlar / retropoweruplowerthirdsgenerator

Retro Power Up Lower Thirds Generator

Retro Power Up's Lower Thirds Generator

This is the generator I use to create lower thirds for my YouTube channel, Retro Power Up

Example of a generated lower third:

How to use

Run the executable LowerThirdsGenerator.exe with the following options:

-r, -read
Input file to be processed
Required

-t, -template
Template vector file to be used
Optional
Defaults to lt_Template.svg

-o, -overwrite
Overwrites existing SVG and PNG files
Optional
Defaults to false

-v, -verbose
Prints all messages to standard output
Optional
Defaults to false

LowerThirdsGenerator.exe -r input.txt -t lt_Template.svg -o True -v True

Input file format

Each lower third consists of up to three lines of text.

The text file can have one to three lines of text per lower third, followed by an empty text line to separate each lower third

Example input:

BUGS BUNNY: CRAZY CASTLE 3
KEMCO/NINTENDO | JAN 1999
PAID: $5

RISK/BATTLESHIP/CLUE
GRAVITY I/DESTINATION SOFTWARE | AUG 21, 2005
PAID: $5

MONSTER TRUCKS
SKYWORKS TECHNOLOGIES/MAJESCO | NOV 11, 2004
PAID: $5

STAR WARS: FLIGHT OF THE FALCON
POCKET STUDIOS/THQ | NOV 18, 2003
PAID: $5

SW TRILOGY: APPRENTICE OF THE FORCE
UBISOFT | SEPT 24, 2004
PAID: $5

TOMB RAIDER III
CORE DESIGN/EIDOS | NOV 20, 1998
PAID: $1.50

STREET FIGHTER EX PLUS ALPHA
ARIKA/CAPCOM | SEPT 30, 1997
PAID: $1.50

SLED STORM
EA | JULY 31, 1999
PAID: $1.50

TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER
NEVERSOFT/ACTIVISION | AUG 31, 1999
PAID: $1.50

RUSHDOWN
CANAL+ MULTIMEDIA/EA | FEB 28, 1999
PAID: $1.50

NFL 2K1
SEGA SPORTS | SEPT 7, 2000
PAID: $1.50

You can also force empty lines by entering three dashes for a line. This special case is to handle if you want the first and/or second line to be empty lines, but not the second and/or third lines.

Example input:

FINAL FANTASY XV: COMPLETE OFFICIAL GUIDE
---
PAID: $24

---
---
PAID: $20

The program will warn you if it thinks one of the lines of text will be cut off if it is too long

Template SVG file format

The only requirement of the SVG file is that it must have [LINE1], [LINE2] and [LINE3] placeholders within the file in order for them to be replaced with values from the input file

<text
    xml:space="preserve"
    style="font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:0%;font-family:sans-serif;letter-spacing:0px;word-spacing:0px;fill:#000000;fill-opacity:1;stroke:none"
    x="254.28572"
    y="898.07648"
    id="text3812">
        <tspan
             sodipodi:role="line"
             id="tspan3814"
             x="254.28572"
             y="898.07648"
             style="font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:80px;line-height:1.25;font-family:Lato;-inkscape-font-specification:Lato;fill:#ffffff">
                 [LINE ONE]
        </tspan>
</text>

retropoweruplowerthirdsgenerator's Issues

SVG library is not using the correct font when converting to PNG

Should be exporting as Lato font, but it doesn't appear to be even using it.

Might be because the SVG has Inkscape parameters in it still?

Handle if any part of the lower thirds are too long