How to Create Scrolling Credits in Kdenlive

Creating scrolling end credits is a fundamental skill for video editors, giving projects a professional, cinematic finish. This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough on how to animate text to scroll vertically like movie credits using Kdenlive, the popular free and open-source video editing software. You will learn how to set up a title clip, format your credit text, and use the Transform effect to achieve a smooth, customizable scroll.

Step 1: Create a Title Clip

To begin, you need to create a title clip that contains all of your credit text.

  1. Open your Kdenlive project.
  2. In the Project Bin, right-click an empty space and select Add Title Clip (or go to Project > Add Title Clip in the top menu).
  3. In the Title Clip editor window, click the Add Text button (indicated by a “T” icon) and click inside the preview area.
  4. Type or paste your credit text.
  5. Use the formatting options on the right side of the window to choose your font, size, color, and alignment. Centered text is standard for movie credits.

Step 2: Set Up the Text Box Size

For scrolling credits, your text will likely be much taller than the actual video frame.

  1. Click and drag the boundaries of the text box to make it wide enough to fit your text, and tall enough to accommodate the entire list of credits.
  2. Position the text box so it is horizontally centered. You can use the alignment buttons in the Title Clip toolbar to center it perfectly.
  3. Click Create Clip (or OK) to save the title clip and add it to your Project Bin.

Step 3: Place the Title Clip on the Timeline

  1. Drag the newly created title clip from the Project Bin onto your timeline, placing it on a video track above your background video or on a black background.
  2. Resize the clip on the timeline by dragging its right edge. The duration of this clip directly dictates the speed of the scroll; a longer clip results in a slower, more readable scroll, while a shorter clip makes the credits scroll faster.

Step 4: Apply and Keyframe the Transform Effect

To animate the text, you will use the Transform effect to move the text box from the bottom of the screen to the top.

  1. Go to the Effects tab and search for Transform.
  2. Drag and drop the Transform effect directly onto your title clip in the timeline.
  3. Select the title clip on the timeline to open the Properties panel for the Transform effect.
  4. Move the timeline playhead to the very first frame of the title clip.
  5. In the Transform settings, change the Y position value so that the text box is pushed completely below the bottom of the visible screen (for example, a large positive number like 1080 or higher, depending on your project resolution).
  6. Click the keyframe clock icon next to the position parameters to activate keyframing. This creates your first keyframe at the start of the clip.
  7. Move the playhead to the very last frame of the title clip.
  8. Click the plus (+) icon in the keyframe ruler to add a new keyframe.
  9. Adjust the Y position value to a negative number until the entire text block has scrolled completely off the top of the screen.

Step 5: Preview and Refine

Play back the timeline to preview the animation. If the credits scroll too quickly, simply stretch the title clip on the timeline to make it longer, and Kdenlive will automatically stretch the keyframes to match the new duration, slowing down the scroll. If the scroll is too slow, shorten the clip duration.