ok I did try changing the setting in the video - preferences tab.
It was set to 10%.

The problem I feel is that when it's set to 10% the bottom is right on the money so if I reduce this number to 7 then my bottom line will be truly out of the viewing area on my TV.

Is there a way of offestting this? perhaps manual guides of a type?

also will it disply the same on all widescreen TV's.

Auggy

All safe zones tell you is this:

On most TVs what's inside the zone will hopefully be seen.
What's outside the safe zone will maybe not be seen.

TVs can and are adjusted in all manner of ways. No one can predict what the viewer or broadcaster will do. No one can predict even how a cinema will set their masking.

These issues can bring even the pros unstuck.

Simple example. Broadcast video caries data in line 21, not seen on 4:3 TVs, you can only see it on a monitor that's in underscan. Never been a problem until recently with the switch to 16:9.
So the video goes out looking fine off DVB on a 16:9 set.
On a 4:3 set though when it's letterboxed the viewer can see that line 21 dancing around and starts ringing up to complain about how distracting it is.

The good thing about Vegas is it shows you everything in the entire frame, I believe FCP doesn't. Don't assume that your viewer will see all of the frame (10% safe area is a pretty safe bet) never assume they will not see things outside that safe area.

This was a good trick used years ago to fool the censor by the way. The naughty bits were right at the bottom of the frame that the producers knew would be masked off in the censors projection system. The cineama's projectionists knew to adjust the masking so the public got to see those extra bits.

Bob.

ok not all TV's "overscan" areas are the same and they all differ.
Thus it's sort of like web building in my mind. You must set it up so the page happens to appear good in all resolutions.

If I have a small cube up in the right corner with a phone number in it then to me the obvious fix is to make sure the phone number is in the safe zone with the cube extending beyond it. But what if the cube then looks rectangular becuase its cut off? I assume its not critical to the video since its not a still and most video watch the moving subjects.

the next fix I thought of is to make a Black masked border that runs up next to my images so that I MAKE ALL VIDEO TRACKS BEHIND THE BLACK OUTSIDE BORDER so it doesnt show though?

Any advice will sure be appreciated.

Auggybendoggy

Masking out unwanted bits of the frame is a logical solution.
I use it all the time when working with material captured from analogue sources.
When viewed on a computer pretty well ALL the frame that you see in Vegas is visible. On a TV anything is possible. Traditional glass TVs will mask a variable amount depending on how the TV is setup.
LCD / Plasmas seem to reveal more of the frame.

The small cube with a phone number in it worries me for other reasons. It'll most likely be fine on a PC but on a TV small text doesn't fare too well and may not be readable, not a good way to get viewers to call you.

The official (from SMPTE) standards for standard definition safe action/safe title areas are 5% and 10% respectively. The default for Vegas tend to be very conservative.

Mike

If I set it for 5%, I think it would be out of the boudries of my TV.

Does anyone ever use like 7 or 8?

Aug

As I said, the standards are 5% (safe action area) & 10% (safe title area) to compensate for differing TV sets. I have seen TVs though where you would need to stay within almost a 20% safe area to see the whole thing :-)
Bottom line is to set these markings where it works for you.
Understand though that what works on your set may not (and probably won't) work on someone else's set. That's why there are standards.

Mike

I usually just stick with the Vegas defaults.
It doesn't matter. The more conservative you are the safer you, it's not like politics. The one, the only thing you need to remember is just because it's outside the safe area doesn't mean it will not be seen.

And I think the SMPTE standard might refer to the area within the picture essential area which is already a ways inside the frame Vegas shows you.

Keep in mind also there's no one SMPTE safe area either. For example if you're shooting widescreen it's quite likely your image may get centre cutout in which case the safe area is narrower than it is taller relatively.