rbrowser,

I have found that the TV Safe Zone is just a rough guide.

If I were going to attempt what you ae doing I would do a test project using the source material.

1 - Save the project using a unique name.
2 - Split the original footage at a length that would suit for the test. (2 - 3 minutes maybe)
3 - Remove all the rest from the time line so that you only have the 2 - 3 minute clip left.
4 - Copy and paste the clip in the time line a few times. You will use each clip for a different size.
5 - Starting with the first clip within the TV Safe Zone, gradually increase the size of each following clip until you have the last clip the full size of the view screen. Put some kind of separation between the clips to clearly identify each clip. You can also add something to the corners of each clip (one text letter to identify the corner maybe) to see when the picture becomes too big for the screen.
6 - Burn the finished project to a DVD (Rewritable if possible), then watch the final result on a standard TV.

You will see the effects of the various sizes that you used and will then be able to choose the size that you want for your DVDs to best suit you and your TV.

Hope this helps.

Hal


OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube

What a perfect solution, thanks HalCon. Very logical - I'll do a test project with multiple choices, so I can see for myself which size works best.

I don't have a 16:9 here to test results on, I'll try to arrange that ASAP at a friend's house. I'm curious if a 4:3 image going just beyond the top and bottom TV Safe Zone lines will fill a 16:9's vertical space. I understand there'll be black bands on the side, that's fine.

I'm wondering if the size ratio that ends up looking good on 4:3 will fill to the top and bottom of a 16:9 screen, or if the image will be tiny with black on all four sides.--

Experimenting should answer the questions - Thanks, Hal.

rbowser

Have you tried resetting the aspect ratio to 16:9 and seeing if it fits better? Saving the world, one goofy video and meme at a time.

Quote: Have you tried resetting the aspect ratio to 16:9 and seeing if it fits better?

Hi, Kevin - Yes, I was curious how things would look with 16:9 selected. That zooms in, enlarges the image until the width is filled out - and by that time, a huge percentage of the original composition has been lost.

The test DVD I did answered the questions I had. I had 8 copies of the same short clip, each with different dimension setting, and also different FX settings, field order settings etc. I found the formula which suits my needs.

Hal -You're certainly right that the TV Save Zone is only a rough guide. It's too bad TVs aren't more uniform in the way they display the image. Testing on my TV, I found the Safe Zone to be too small. There was quite a bit of extra room on all four sides. So the version in my test where I had the picture much larger than the SZ, but smaller than the default size - that was perfect.

Thanks for the input, Kevin and Hal.

rbowser

rbrowser,

Glad to be of assistance.

Hal
OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube