Text Asset

TextAsset creates static text for titles, labels, lower-thirds, and other overlays. It defines the text and its styling; a Clip controls how long it appears, while Track and Timeline place it in the composition. For speech-synchronized subtitles, use Caption Asset instead.

Create a text overlay

Start with the smallest useful composition: centered white text on a black canvas.

from videodb.editor import Clip, Font, TextAsset, Timeline, Track

timeline = Timeline(conn)
timeline.background = "#000000"
timeline.resolution = "1280x720"

text_asset = TextAsset(
    text="Hello World",
    font=Font(family="Clear Sans", size=48, color="#FFFFFF"),
)

track = Track()
track.add_clip(0, Clip(asset=text_asset, duration=5))
timeline.add_track(track)

stream_url = timeline.generate_stream()

import { Clip, EditorTextAsset, EditorTimeline, Font, Track } from 'videodb';

const timeline = new EditorTimeline(conn);
timeline.background = "#000000";
timeline.resolution = "1280x720";

const textAsset = new EditorTextAsset({
    text: "Hello World",
    font: new Font({ family: "Clear Sans", size: 48, color: "#FFFFFF" }),
});

const track = new Track();
track.addClip(0, new Clip({ asset: textAsset, duration: 5 }));
timeline.addTrack(track);

const streamUrl = await timeline.generateStream();

TextAsset Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`text`	str / string	The text to display
`font`	Font	Font styling (family, size, color, opacity)
`background`	Background	Background box styling
`alignment`	Alignment	Position on screen
`border`	Border	Border styling
`shadow`	Shadow	Shadow styling
`tabsize`	int / number	Tab size for text formatting
`line_spacing` / `lineSpacing`	float / number	Spacing between lines in Python / Node.js
`width`	int / number	Width of text box in pixels
`height`	int / number	Height of text box in pixels

Font

Controls text appearance.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`family`	str / string	`"Clear Sans"`	Font family name
`size`	int / number	`48`	Font size in pixels
`color`	str / string	`"#FFFFFF"`	Text color (hex)
`opacity`	float / number	`1.0`	Text opacity (0.0 to 1.0)

from videodb.editor import Font

font = Font(
    family="Inter",
    size=56,
    color="#FFFFFF"
)

const font = new Font({
    family: "Inter",
    size: 56,
    color: "#FFFFFF"
});

Supported fonts: Sans, Inter, Roboto, Open Sans, Lato, Montserrat, Oswald, Raleway, Poppins, Ubuntu, Clear Sans, Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Georgia, Verdana Node.js also accepts weight in new Font({ ... }). Python’s Font constructor does not take that option.

Background

Controls the background box behind text.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`color`	str / string	`"#000000"`	Background color (hex)
`opacity`	float / number	`1.0`	Background opacity (0.0 to 1.0)
`width`	float / number	`0`	Box width in pixels
`height`	float / number	`0`	Box height in pixels
`border_width` / `borderWidth`	float / number	`0`	Border thickness in Python / Node.js
`text_alignment` / `textAlignment`	TextAlignment	`center`	Text alignment within box in Python / Node.js

from videodb.editor import Background, TextAlignment

background = Background(
    color="#000000",
    width=600,
    height=120,
    border_width=2.0,
    text_alignment=TextAlignment.center
)

const background = new Background({
    color: "#000000",
    width: 600,
    height: 120,
    borderWidth: 2.0,
    textAlignment: TextAlignment.center
});

Border and Shadow

Use Border(color, width) and Shadow(color, x, y) in Python, or new Border({ color, width }) and new Shadow({ color, x, y }) in Node.js. Both are optional TextAsset fields. width, x, and y default to 0; the default color is "#000000".

Multiline Text

Use line_spacing in Python and lineSpacing in Node.js to control the space between lines.

title = TextAsset(
    text="Line One \n Line Two \n Line Three",
    font=Font(family="Clear Sans", size=48, color="#FFFFFF"),
    line_spacing=0.8,
)

const title = new EditorTextAsset({
    text: "Line One \n Line Two \n Line Three",
    font: new Font({ family: "Clear Sans", size: 48, color: "#FFFFFF" }),
    lineSpacing: 0.8,
});

Alignment

Controls where the text appears on screen.

Parameter	Type	Description
`horizontal`	HorizontalAlignment	`left`, `center`, `right`
`vertical`	VerticalAlignment	`top`, `center`, `bottom`

from videodb.editor import (
    Alignment, Border, Clip, Font, HorizontalAlignment,
    TextAsset, Timeline, Track, VerticalAlignment
)

timeline = Timeline(conn)
timeline.background = "#2B2B2B"
timeline.resolution = "1280x720"

positions = [
    (HorizontalAlignment.left, VerticalAlignment.top, "Top-Left"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.center, VerticalAlignment.top, "Top-Center"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.right, VerticalAlignment.top, "Top-Right"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.left, VerticalAlignment.center, "Mid-Left"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.center, VerticalAlignment.center, "Center"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.right, VerticalAlignment.center, "Mid-Right"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.left, VerticalAlignment.bottom, "Bot-Left"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.center, VerticalAlignment.bottom, "Bot-Center"),
    (HorizontalAlignment.right, VerticalAlignment.bottom, "Bot-Right"),
]

track = Track()
for horizontal, vertical, label in positions:
    text_asset = TextAsset(
        text=label,
        font=Font(family="Clear Sans", size=60, color="#FFD700"),
        border=Border(color="#000000", width=2.0),
        alignment=Alignment(horizontal=horizontal, vertical=vertical),
    )
    track.add_clip(0, Clip(asset=text_asset, duration=5))
timeline.add_track(track)

import {
    Alignment, Border, Clip, EditorTextAsset, EditorTimeline, Font,
    HorizontalAlignment, Track, VerticalAlignment
} from 'videodb';

const timeline = new EditorTimeline(conn);
timeline.background = "#2B2B2B";
timeline.resolution = "1280x720";

const positions = [
    [HorizontalAlignment.left, VerticalAlignment.top, "Top-Left"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.center, VerticalAlignment.top, "Top-Center"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.right, VerticalAlignment.top, "Top-Right"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.left, VerticalAlignment.center, "Mid-Left"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.center, VerticalAlignment.center, "Center"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.right, VerticalAlignment.center, "Mid-Right"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.left, VerticalAlignment.bottom, "Bot-Left"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.center, VerticalAlignment.bottom, "Bot-Center"],
    [HorizontalAlignment.right, VerticalAlignment.bottom, "Bot-Right"],
];

const track = new Track();
positions.forEach(([horizontal, vertical, label]) => {
    const textAsset = new EditorTextAsset({
        text: label,
        font: new Font({ family: "Clear Sans", size: 60, color: "#FFD700" }),
        border: new Border({ color: "#000000", width: 2.0 }),
        alignment: new Alignment({ horizontal, vertical }),
    });
    track.addClip(0, new Clip({ asset: textAsset, duration: 5 }));
});
timeline.addTrack(track);

Branded Lower-Third

from videodb.editor import (
    Timeline, Track, Clip, VideoAsset, TextAsset,
    Font, Background, Border, Shadow, Alignment,
    HorizontalAlignment, VerticalAlignment, Offset, Transition
)

video_clip = Clip(
    asset=VideoAsset(id=video.id, start=0, volume=0),
    duration=5,
)

lower_third = TextAsset(
    text="Dr. Sarah Chen: Tech Officer",
    font=Font(family="Clear Sans", size=36, color="#FFFFFF", opacity=1.0),
    background=Background(
        width=600,
        height=120,
        color="#1E88E5",
        opacity=0.95,
    ),
    border=Border(color="#FFC107", width=4.0),
    shadow=Shadow(color="#000000", x=3, y=3),
    alignment=Alignment(
        horizontal=HorizontalAlignment.left,
        vertical=VerticalAlignment.bottom,
    ),
)

lower_third_clip = Clip(
    asset=lower_third,
    duration=6,
    offset=Offset(x=0.03, y=-0.05),
    transition=Transition(in_="fade", out="fade", duration=2),
)

timeline = Timeline(conn)
track = Track()
track.add_clip(0, video_clip)
track.add_clip(0, lower_third_clip)

timeline.add_track(track)

stream_url = timeline.generate_stream()

import {
    EditorTimeline, Track, Clip, EditorVideoAsset, EditorTextAsset,
    Font, Background, Border, Shadow, Alignment,
    HorizontalAlignment, VerticalAlignment, Offset, Transition
} from 'videodb';

const videoClip = new Clip({
    asset: new EditorVideoAsset({ id: video.id, start: 0, volume: 0 }),
    duration: 5,
});

const lowerThird = new EditorTextAsset({
    text: "Dr. Sarah Chen: Tech Officer",
    font: new Font({ family: "Clear Sans", size: 36, color: "#FFFFFF", opacity: 1.0 }),
    background: new Background({
        width: 600,
        height: 120,
        color: "#1E88E5",
        opacity: 0.95,
    }),
    border: new Border({ color: "#FFC107", width: 4.0 }),
    shadow: new Shadow({ color: "#000000", x: 3, y: 3 }),
    alignment: new Alignment({
        horizontal: HorizontalAlignment.left,
        vertical: VerticalAlignment.bottom,
    }),
});

const lowerThirdClip = new Clip({
    asset: lowerThird,
    duration: 6,
    offset: new Offset({ x: 0.03, y: -0.05 }),
    transition: new Transition({ in: "fade", out: "fade", duration: 2 }),
});

const timeline = new EditorTimeline(conn);
const track = new Track();
track.addClip(0, videoClip);
track.addClip(0, lowerThirdClip);
timeline.addTrack(track);

const streamUrl = await timeline.generateStream();

Next Steps

Text Asset Titles and Overlays Notebook

Build titles, lower-thirds, multiline overlays, and text styling examples.

CaptionAsset

Auto-generated subtitles synced to speech

Timeline Architecture

Complete guide to the 4-layer editing system

Start Here

Core Concepts

Ingest

Understand

Act

Automate

MCP Server

Open Source Frameworks

Create a text overlay

TextAsset Parameters

Font

Background

Border and Shadow

Multiline Text

Alignment

Branded Lower-Third

Next Steps

Text Asset Titles and Overlays Notebook

CaptionAsset

Timeline Architecture

​Create a text overlay

​TextAsset Parameters

​Font

​Background

​Border and Shadow

​Multiline Text

​Alignment

​Branded Lower-Third

​Next Steps

Text Asset Titles and Overlays Notebook

CaptionAsset

Timeline Architecture

Create a text overlay

TextAsset Parameters

Font

Background

Border and Shadow

Multiline Text

Alignment

Branded Lower-Third

Next Steps