-
HDTV 720P
I need to create a design template for a news package to be created in HDTV 720P format. Everything needs to fill the screen in 16:9 but must still be able to be viewed correctly on a 4:3 monitor for those viewers who do not have an HDTV monitor. How would I set up a template in Photoshop to use as a guide in AE?
-
7 Replies
-
Use the NTSC/PAL presets in Photoshop, you can create a black or white solid. Save it as a photoshop PSD file, then import into after effects. Drop this into your 720p comp and hit ctrl-alt-shift-G. Then by adjusting the opacity or clicking the layer visibility on/off, you can gauge what area will be visible in a 4×3.
Alternatively, create another composition using AE NTSC or PAL preset, then add you 720p comp to it, then hit ctrl-alt-shift-G to scale the comp to fit in the vertical space and keep the aspect buy cropping the sides of the image off.Make sure that you account for overscan.
Erik
-
in addition to creating a file or composition that is 4:3 as erik mentioned, i would also include a shape to define title safe for 4:3. i would just create a hole in the sd full frame psd/comp that was at safe title.
once you have that layer in the hd comp and scale it to fit height, set it as a guide layer (layer>guide layer) now the layer won’t render even if it is left on.
as dave said, work with a square pixel hd comp… working with a 720 or 1080 hd comp is debataable. there are some advantages to 1080, it scales nicely to sd (half the verticle frame size of square px sd), but if delivery is 720, your edges will be cleaner if you don’t need to scale the 720 from 1080.
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Erik,
you mean alt-cmd-shift-G? Is this a squeeze to fit vertical scale shortcut? [mac] -
Sorry I’m on PC…so I think everyone else is too.
Command-Option-Shift-G for the mac will fit to the vertical keeping the aspect and losing the sides.
Command-option-shift-H for the mac will fit to the horizontal keeping the aspect and losing the top/bottom (for 4×3 image in 16×9 comp) or letter boxing (for 16×9 image in a 4×3 comp).
Command-option-shift-F will squeeze the whole thing into the frame, but not keeping the aspect…but handy when going from a large 16×9 comp like 1920×1080 to a smaller 16×9 comp like 1280×720 since the aspect is the same.Erik
-
Kevin,
what do you mean by….. the edges will be cleaner? -
well, if you have a hard edge, one that is drawn right along a pixel edge (maybe the edge of a solid use on a title bar) at 1080, if you scale that down to 720, the hard edge will be a little softer… ae will use anti-aliasing to generate the the sub-pixel placement of that edge, and it will just look a little softer…
of course it’s not really the end of the world, and nobody except the designer would even notice… and even he or she will be more upset by all the compression artifacts and posibly color banding that show up by the time the piece gets run through 5 different systems prior to hitting the cable box/satellite receiver.
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Kevin,
Ha ha, you are so right!
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up