Yes! I finally did it! After hours of research and trial, I was finally able to create a successful scene of a movie involving the same scrolling text used in the Star Wars movies. How did I do it? Here's how:
Some people will tell you to use FreeHand 10, but it's a complete waste of time. You will, however, need both Photoshop and Adobe After Effects 5.x.
First, open Photoshop. Use the text tool and type whatever in the hell you want, as long as you want, and save it. Make sure you make the text the color you want, the font you want, etc, before leaving Photoshop. Save your document as a Photoshop document (do not flatten the image).
Open up After Effects 5.x (or later), open up a new composition, then go to IMPORT and import a file. Find your Photoshop document and open it. Choose the layer (there will be a list) and hit enter. Your text will be available. Now, drag the text (from the "imported files" window) and put it into the timeline, thus putting the text on the composition screen. If you cannot see your text (i.e. its the same color as the background), go to one of the menus to find an option called "background color." Change the background.
Go to the timeline window, an somewhere along the line you'll see a cube with an empty box underneath. Click on the box to enable 3D layering. Once you do that, you'll see a little axis on your screen. Go to your tools, click on the ROTATE tool and put the cursor over the right tip of the arrow of the axis. It should say "X". Click and hold it, then drag it downwards, shaping the text. Also, go to your tools and click on the standard pointer. Go to the axis and find "Z" and play with that too. Eventually you'll get a shape that you're satisfied with. To see how it scrolls, find "Y" on the axis and drag it back and forth. When you're ready, drag your entire script to the bottom of the composition screen, so when it pops out, it'll come from the bottom.
Now, go to your timeline. Click on your text layer and press "p". A position thigamajig should pop up. Check it, then (while still in the timeline) go to the time scroller and drag it to the end. Now, what you do is go to your image, go to the "Y" part of the axis and drag it to where you want it to end up.
Now export your text. Contact me if you have trouble and/or you want to add a picture in the background or something.
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