lower third theology

[Darby Edelen]

Theology made this sound like it was going to be a much more spiritual experience =)

Lower thirds are a matter of taste, sometimes I actually prefer an upper third! =O Generally I feel like they should be around long enough to get the point across, and not distract from the video. Basically it’s my belief that the video content should have everything that is required for the project and the lower third should be considered something of a footnote (‘for further information see: lower third’).

Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA

[Mark Landman]

Here are a few things to keep in mind for broadcast lower-thirds:

Keep all text inside the safe title area.

Avoid fonts with thin serifs – generally stick with sans serif fonts.

Avoid highly saturated reds – NTSC HATES reds.

Keep your whites to around 235-235-235. 100% white may cause audio problems.

Avoid all caps unless it’s for very short bits of text.

Keep your lower thirds short. Don’t take five words to say something if you can say it clearly with two.

Mark Landman
PM Productions
Champaign, IL

[Steve Roberts]

And don’t use a lot of animation in lower thirds. It distracts the eye from the text.

… but if they were paying me extra to do it, I’d say “sure, where do you want the bouncing helicopter?” 🙂

[Darby Edelen]

[Mark Landman] “Keep your whites to around 235-235-235. 100% white may cause audio problems.”

This isn’t an absolute when you take the entire workflow into account. Final Cut Pro, for example, will automatically scale RGB data from an RGB codec to fit within the legal range when it converts it to Y’CbCr (16-235 for luma and 16-240 for chroma).

If you have CS3 it wouldn’t hurt to use the SDTV color profile as your Working Space, but broadcast legalization should probably take place in whatever NLE you’re using to print to tape.

Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA

[David Bogie]

[Mark Joseph] “My point is he always hides behind
“that is what is done on
television”
can anyone point me toward any literature, o”

There were some generally accepted standards a long time ago but they’ve all been thrown away. I still try to keep my lower thirds up for 7 seconds so the audience has time to read “Claude van deBoughenflamman, Vice President of Aerial Text Display Operations and Software Boobie, Santa Monica Typography Deployment Division, Laureate Industrial Development and Skywriting Corporation, LLC.”

I love Apple’s LiveType animation presets to get text on and off the screen but the assembly and dissolution times must be added to the 7 seconds. But it’s really hard these days to find a shot that lasts 7 seconds.

We also use plenty of animated backgrounds. The days of the static “pill” are long gone and I say good riddance.

“Distraction” is often confused with “refocussing.” If your lower thirds contain valid or crucial information, anything you can do to pull attention to them is fair.

Your best bet is to ask this client of yours to record or capture examples that he wishes you to use as models. He may be watching some lame reality show and you may be watching some lame local news.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”