Yes, safe area overlays are still relevant.
Originally, safe overlays were to help editors ensure things would be seen on old TVs. CRTs were all built differently and cut off different amounts of picture off the edges.
So guides were developed to show the area that would definitely be shown – which was “action safe”. And then a smaller area was deemed “title safe,” and any text or subtitles were meant to stay inside.
With HDTVs, the safe areas were expanded, since picture wasn’t being cut off in the same way. But some TVs still have overscan turned on and cut off a small part of the edges.
And with tablets and phones of different sizes, some of them zoom in on an image to fill the screen and cut off parts of the frame.
So if you’re editing and want to make sure all the important action and titles will be visible by your viewers, no matter the device, try turning on your safe area guides.
In this video from Film Resolved, you’ll learn about:
- Enabling Safe Area Overlays
- Changing Overlay Settings
Gedaly is the Founder and Lead Educator of DVResolve.com and is Blackmagic Design Certified Master Trainer. He’s edited commercials for major brands and has done color & VFX for independent films. He consults on post-production workflow and creating online education. Gedaly is the co-founder of Working.Actor, a former marketing manager for large brands, and creates original film projects with his production company Razee.