PP CS6 title question: rule of thumb for displaying informational text on the screen?

[Nicholas Natteau]

I'm making a documentary about the Reichstag fire decree in 1932 and I need to display on screen some of the articles of the Weimar Constitution. Is there a rule of thumb for how many seconds a paragraph of text should remain on screen. Take this 51 word paragraph here for example:

Article 114:
The rights of the individual are inviolable. Individual liberties may be limited or deprived only on the basis of law. Persons have the right to be notified within a day of their arrest or detention as to the authority and reasons for their detention, and be given the opportunity to object.

I know that people read at different speeds, but is there a general rule of thumb in terms of words per second??? So if it's 50 words, how many seconds should I keep it on screen before fading out?

Thanks very much in advance for any feedback.

 

[David Jimerson]

Generally it's "enough for a normal reader to read it three times."

 

[Nicholas Natteau]

Wow, I never thought of that. Thanks David.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Wow, I never thought of that. Thanks David.

I've used the '3 times' for the most part. But in my case I have to factor in that I read phenomenally slow... but that seems to be the industry standard. I think this was determined in the silent film days...

 

[Nicholas Natteau]

Thanks everybody. Instead of a simple fade in / out, what about using the type on animator in After Effects slowly enough so that the reader can read along with the typing animation? Somewhat like a news ticker but more like a slow teleprinter or typewriter. Or do you feel that would be too distracting?

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Thanks everybody. Instead of a simple fade in / out, what about using the type on animator in After Effects slowly enough so that the reader can read along with the typing animation? Somewhat like a news ticker but more like a slow teleprinter or typewriter. Or do you feel that would be too distracting?

For some narrative films, the 'typewriter' style works, but they are usually 'short'... I personally really hate the current popularity of the lower 1/3 screen and the running text below... slow reading... yields many 'couldn't catch that'...

Otherwise the 'short' fadeup/down is the best for 'me'... longer fades often get into problems with 'banding' as the fade passes through the 'intensity' resolution of the screen... same is true for any slow fade or gradient...