how to make names of footage show up over video?

[Steve Roberts]

You can make a text layer, and for its source property, use an expression that refers to the name of the relevant footage layer:
thisComp.layer(“whatever.mov”).name
… where whatever.mov is the name of the footage layer.

Or you could use:
thisComp.layer(index+1).name
… assuming that the footage layer is immediately below the text layer. The text layer may be layer 5 (index), while the footage layer would have to be layer 6 (index + 1).

If that doesn’t suit your needs, let us know …

[Jeremy Webb]

thanks steve, that second one is almost exactly what i need, now is there a way so that it will look at any layer below it? (not just the one directly below it. for example i bring in a fcp timeline through automatic duck, then i want to add a text layer above all of layers and have it display each clip as they come up? is there a way to make this work?

[Jeremy Webb]

the reason i want this, is that i want to export a quicktime with the names in it for other people to use as a reference. there will only be one layer on at a time as it is more of an edit than a layered comp.

[Steve Roberts]

Ah. I can’t think of a way to use one text layer that will use the name of the currently visible layer as a source. You could, however, use a text layer for each footage layer (with just the one expression), then adjust the text layer’s in/out points to match that of the footage layer below.

[Dan Ebberts]

This expression (for a text layer’s source text) gives the name of the source of the current active layer (if it has no source it gives the layer name). Apply to a text layer at the top of the layer stack.

txt = “”;
for (j = 1; j <= thisComp.numLayers; j++){ if (j == index) continue; L = thisComp.layer(j); if (! (L.hasVideo && L.active)) continue; if (time >= L.inPoint && time < L.outPoint){ try{ txt = L.source.name; }catch(err1){ txt = L.name } break; } } txt Dan

[Jeremy Webb]

thanks dan, that was exactly what i needed. i owe you a beer