Cascade Card Type
This card design was created by CollinHeist, and the design was inspired by this YouTube video by Macho Nacho Productions.
Cards of this style feature a variable number of cascading outlines of text. The color, count, and visual styling of the cascading text can be changed with extras.
Labeled Card Elements
Alternate Text
This card features adjustable text called the "Alternate Text." The following extras all relate to this text.
Coloring
The color of the alternate text can be adjusted with the Alterate Text Color extra. When unspecified, this defaults to match the Episode Text Color; if that is unspecified then the color defaults to match the Font color.
Example
Format
The actual content of the alternate text can be adjusted with the Alternate Text Format extra. This is a format string, meaning all available variables can be used to adjust the text. By default, this text will be the series name.
In order to completely remove the text, this extra can be specified as "".
Example
Cascade Effect
Count
The number of cascading text elements which appear above and below the title text can be adjusted with the Cascade Text Count extra.
To disable the cascading text completely, this extra should be set to 0.
Example
Cropping
How much each part of the cascading text is cropped can be adjusted with the
Cascade Cropping extra. This takes comma-separated numbers (as percentages)
which indicate how much of the text should remain after cropping. For example,
80,40 will leave 80% (cropping out 20%) of the first cascade (the one closest
to the middle of the image); and leave 40% (cropping out 60%) of the second.
Advanced Formula
In addition to being able to specify the exact amount, this extra also
supports more advanced "formulas" to crop in more sophisticated ways. Any of
the crop values can take the form of {operation}{number} - e.g. +30,
/1.3, *3 - and this will apply that operation to all subsequent crops.
See the following example for more information.
Example Formula
The default cropping "formula" is 66,/2. This means the first cascade
will leave 66% uncropped, and all subsequent cascades will be half that.
If the Cascade Text Count was 5, this would be 66, 33,
16.5, 8.25, and 4.125.
100,-20 would crop to 100, 80, 60, etc.
It is important to note that TCM will mark the setting as invalid (and fail to
create the Card) if any cropping value is below 0 or above 100.
Example
Fill Color
The filled color of the cascading text can be adjusted with the Cascade Text
Fill Color extra. By default, the text is not filled in (with the color set to
transparent.)
Example
Outline Color
The outline color of the cascading text can be adjusted with the Cascade Text Outline Color extra.
Example
Outline Width
The width of the cascade text outline can be adjusted with the Cascade Text Outline Width extra.
Although this can be set to 0 - effectively hiding the outline - it is
instead recommended to set the Cascade Text Outline Color to
something like transparent.
Example
Transparency
How transparent each part of the cascading text is can be adjusted with the
Cascade Transparencies extra. This takes comma-separated numbers (as
percentages) which indicate how opaque the text should be. For example, 80,40
will make the first cascade (the one closest to the middle of the image) 80%
opaque (20% see-through), and the second as 40% opaque.
Advanced Formula
In addition to being able to specify the exact amount, this extra also
supports more advanced "formulas" to apply transparency in more
sophisticated ways. Any of the transparencies can take the form of
{operation}{number} - e.g. +30, /1.3, *3 - and this will apply that
operation to all subsequent transparencies. See the following example for
more information.
Example Formula
The default transparency "formula" is 66,/2. This means the first
cascade will be 66% opaque, and all subsequent cascades will be half
that. If the Cascade Text Count was 5, this would be 66,
33, 16.5, 8.25, and 4.125.
100,-20 would scale to 100, 80, 60, etc.
It is important to note that TCM will mark the setting as invalid (and fail to
create the Card) if any transparency value is below 0 or above 100.
Example
Episode Text
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all of the following extras will refer to both the season and episode text. "Episode text" is used for brevity.
Coloring
The color of the episode text can be adjusted with the Episode Text Color extra. If unspecified, this defaults to match the color of the title text.
Example
Kanji
This card supports utilizing an alternate font for the episode text so that Kanji (Japanese) characters can be properly displayed.
This is intended to be used with the Episode Text Format setting set to
{kanji}, and season text hidden, so that TCM adds any translated Kanji text in
place of the episode text.
Example
Size
The size of the season and episode text can be adjusted with the
Episode Text Font Size extra. Like all font sizes, values greater than
1.0 will increase the size of the text, and values less than
1.0 will decrease it.
This will also adjust the size of the Alternate Text.
Example
Glass
This card contains a semi-transparent "glass" element behind all text in order to make the text appear more visible on some images. The following extras all address this element.
Edge Color
The edge of the glass can be adjusted with the Glass Edge Color extra. If you want to make the edge blend with the rest of the glass, this can be set to match the Glass Color.
Example
Fill Color
The filled color of the glass can be adjusted with the Glass Color extra. It is recommended to keep this as an image with some transparency, so that the underlying image is visible beneath.
Example
Toggle
The glass itself can be disabled by setting the Glass Toggle extra to False.
Example
Kanji Text
Kanji text can be added in place of the episode text - this is descibed here.
Mask Images
This card also natively supports mask images. Like all mask images, TCM will automatically search for alongside the input Source Image in the Series' source directory, and apply this atop all other Card effects.
Example
Multi-Line Text
Because of how the cascading text effect is generated, titles which feature multiple lines of text are handled a bit differently than those with one line.
In the case of single-line text (as seen in all previous example images), the top and bottom cascade texts are both generated from the same line of text. However, when there are multiple lines of text the top cascade is generated from the top (first) line, and the bottom cascade from the bottom (last) line.
Example of Multi-Line Text
