Safe Area?

Dan Sherman wrote on 12/2/2005, 10:26 AM
The scene,---a reception of 400 plus high tech and manufacturing types.
And a great chance to impress with the 5 minute promotional video of the region our company had worked so hard to perfect.
Event stager tells me it will be shown on a half dozen large screen TVs throughout the hall.
I arrive to find one large projection screen on a wall that not everyone could clearly see.
Responsibility for the video has been handed off to the guy doing sound for the jazz band.
My DVD is in a laptop sitting on a chair beside the band.
The lights dim and my masterpiece opens with all the periferal flaws I thought were safely hidden outside of the "safe area" cause it was going to be shown on TVs!
Images were poor,---substandard projector.
Sound was poor.
A nightmare in never want to relive!
My responsibility in this project was to deliver the proeject,---and nothing more.
It was a mediocre showing to polite applause,---but could have been so much better.
What do we learn.
Do no more projects like this without complete control over staging.
Also,---safe area really means nothing if a finished project is going to be viewed on a computer and not a stand alone DVD player,---right?

Comments

DavidMcKnight wrote on 12/2/2005, 10:39 AM
Man, I feel for you in regards to the display of your work. When we don't have full control and something goes wrong, the only one who looks bad is you even if it wasn't your fault.

re: safe area, I think it's best to think of safe area the opposite way. ie, text or action should happen inside the area, but outside the area "may" be shown. What kind of flaws did you have? If there were flubs or stray data at the outer edges of program material, remember that in the best case scenario, those will be shown. Title safe and action safe are for the worst case, where the edges aren't shown.
Dan Sherman wrote on 12/2/2005, 11:32 AM
Show started with s series of ariel shots. These were stills. 30 second pan/crop flyover simulation. And that is where the white borders turned up now and then. Just enough to be distracting. When screened on NTSC monitor no problem, and it was to be shown on NTSC monitors.
But Murphy intervened,----hense the change.
So the thing is, you never know what device someone may use to view a project.
My advice and my lesson learned is fill the entire preview window when using stills.
Make sure they are well within the safe action area,---and apply match output aspect ratio.
Assume that projects will sooner or later be viewed on a laptop or desktop,---and those things you thought were safely tucked out of sight will be there for all to see.
I waited in the parking lot shadows the "sound guy".
He didn't show.
Got tired of waiting.
And for any Quakers using this forum,----just kidding.
I'm a non-violent guy,---honest.
But some things push you to the brink.
riredale wrote on 12/2/2005, 2:59 PM
I cheat a little and use a 4% cookie cutter black mask for everything. TV sets have much more than this, typically 7-10%, so your mask is never seen. But on a PC running programs such as WinDVD or PowerDVD, no mask is applied, so my 4% mask shows.

Why do I use a mask at all? To insure that any artifacts from DeShaker are covered.
Dan Sherman wrote on 12/2/2005, 4:02 PM
Brilliant!
Just tried that with a Sony Border, trimmed way back to the action safe area dotted line.
Brilliant!
Grazie wrote on 12/3/2005, 1:50 AM


Sherman, I also read your post on the COW site. The Cookie Cutter thing is an excellent way out.

Now, the other thing I picked up on from you, was more of a project management, contractual and "testing" issue.

I do small, short-run, soft-corporate work. And I am at risk from how and the equipment that my "product" is going to be shown/displayed on. My "contract" is with the client who has commissioned me to do the video NOT with the people who will be presenting it. I make this clear from the outset with the client. I make sure the client is sees my work on my equipment, is happy and "signs-off" on the work I've done before handing over. I'm now done. . . If there is a possibility to have my work trailed prior to the event on the equipment, all to the better. But any issues that come on the day I make sure I'm not responsible and build into the project safeguards for myself. It is the only way.

I've had:

* VHS being projected which the "house" techie didn't want to adjust the settings on the over head. This ment that not only mine but another presentation was not what was expected.

* Side, break out rooms did not have the links to be able for the thing to be seen.

* An IT suite supposedly having the best equipment to allow a client to see my work wasn't setup - I did have and did brought my own - just to be on the safe side!

* A HUGE multimedia booth that was to project my taped 30 minute piece was out of synch and they then needed to patch the audio through the HOUSE circuits to get the synch back!

What is my approach with this stuff? Keep the communications open; make clear what it is I am delivering; keep clear and unequivocal emails of my responsibilities and if needed recorded delivery snail mail of what is to be done and echo back to the client that which I am expected to do.

This may sound "hard-bottomed", but I don't know of another way.

The other "bottom-line" here is that: My work will be seen by strangers and potential further clients; it will be seen in a manner that I might not have wished; set up by people who have not received the training needed to deal with multi-media and generally I wont be around to inform, tweak, advise and control the situation.

.. oh yes .. and finally I had one piece that was being "sound-controlled" by a chap who purely listened to the booth loudspeaker. He hadn't gone into the auditorium and did a ear-on sound check. So when the video played it was overstretched and hot to the point of critical and stood there - IN MY SUIT at the back of the auditorium - and motioned what I thought he SHOULD be doing! . .. . ugghhh.... As I was right at the back and the media booth was some 8 feet above me he could see me, but no other member so of the audience could see me.

We put our stuff out there .. we need to cross and dot as many "i" and "t" we can .. then .. then get on with the next job. If I get one! Huh!

You ain't alone .. peace!

Grazie