is there a way to change the color of the outside of the viewable TV screen area? I hi-lighted it in yellow squares. I want to change it because I want to better see where the viewable area ends. they're both black so it's hard to tell. Yes, I want the black background in the viewable area. I use an ultra wide screen so it looks like that.
Hi,
The short answer is no, or at least I have never seen it.
By viewable TV screen area, do you mean the settings under the top menu, Effects, Movie Effects Settings, TV cropping? If so, what are your settings?
EDIT:Wrong answer above. Assuming that this is what you want, just check the box "Show TV screen area in preview monitor.
If like above (default is 10% all round), then this only affects titles to keep you from going outside of the selected zone for titles when you create a title. However, you can move a title outside of the zone using Size/Position/Rotation. Note that the note says that this is "for playback on CRT screens." I doubt that you are watching your videos on a CRT screen, so why use the limit? The screens that we use now do not cut off any of the image, as far as I know. I use the parameters just to keep my text away from the edge of the screen by default and adjust the text location if I want, anywhere I want, using Size/Position/Rotation (SPR).
For photos and videos, they will fill the entire screen, ignoring the zone unless you change this.
Most users put a title over top of an image, even if the image is a black swatch, so you wouldn't see the other shade for the viewable TV screen anyways.
If this is what you want, I can understand wanting to see the limit when you resize the title using the handles without using SPR. You want to see the limit before the text gets wrapped around, as shown below.
Note: sometimes changing the font size by dragging the corner handles causes the title to go outside of the TV viewing area. Strange.
In any event, I can't see Magix adding this possibility.
A workaround could be to create a solid image the size of your selected TV viewing area or a full screen image size rectangle with an inner rectangle of a different colour and using that as the background temporarily.
For 1920x1080, the inner rectangle for 10% all round, so 1728x972 as shown below.
Importing this and placing text over it shows the limits to where you can move the text box. You can see the dotted text box and I cannot drag it out of the red zone.
Or do you mean the viewable window?
If so, then that is totally different as shown above. You zoom out (or in) the window using the hamburger menu (3 lines) at the top left of the Preview Window as shown above. I have zoomed out the Preview Window to 50%. You should be able to see the viewable window a black and outside that zone as dark grey.
What are the dimensions of your project? See under Project Settings (shortcut E). Mine are 1920x1080, that is 16:9.
John CB
I want to change it because I want to better see where the viewable area ends.
Agree. It's a real pain trying to see the edge of the movie verses the surround.
John it's the blank space around the the actual movie. The space that appears if you go to 75% monitor zoom. It's slightly lighter than black, but not by much. I often peer closely at the screen to find the edge.
Hi Al,
Nope. What you are showing is what I show in the last image (preview monitor zoomed out to 75% in your case), not the TV viewing area as per my first image.
See my first image. It shows a 10% area that restricts where the title can go to. This is within the black image that you are showing - you cannot see it.
Here is what you would see with the double rectangle that I made and the Preview Window zoomed out to 75%.
The grey area is 1920x1080 - the full monitor window that you show. The red is the TV viewing area - when I drag the text box around, I can't go outside of the red zone which is 1728x972. If I remove the double rectangle image. You will not be able to see the edge where the red was.
Also, look at the top of the window in your image. It shows 75%. Look at the top of the window in @nhong-xiong image and there is nothing shown, so the preview monitor is at the default 100%.
John CB
Hi Al,
No again. What you are seeing, the grey, is outside of the project window. What the Op wants is to see the zone that is set under TV cropping to be able to see the limits as to where the text can go without using SPR. This zone is within the project window limits, that is, within the black part. The red zone in the image is the limit for the title due to TV cropping at 10%.
If you make the font bigger, the text will wrap because it has to stay within the red zone.
If I turn off the background image, you can't see where the red zone was - there is no shade of grey. I did not move the text box - it's at the left limit. Can you see a different shade a few pixels to the left of the D where the red box was?
Try playing with different TV cropping parameters and you'll see what I mean.
Watch the video.
John CB
John, OK, I'm reading the situation differently to you.
Al,
That is why I included the two options. I wasn't and am still not sure what the OP means or if the OP knows anything about the TV cropping area or safe area or visible TV area or knows about zooming out the preview monitor. Perhaps the OP thinks that one should see a different shade for the area out side of the text. We will have to wait for more info.
Stop the presses. I just realized that the TV cropping area can be turned on. I should have noticed this before.
The white rectangle in the image is the safe area or so-called visible TV area.
I should have added that the TV cropping area with a title can be turned off/on in the Title Editor under Options, "Only apply visible TV area." If you uncheck it, you can move the title box to the edge of the project window.
If you've never used this, then you may want to see how it works.
I just remembered that with VPX15, I forgot to change the setting to 5% top and bottom.
John CB
Greetings @nhong-xiong
If I've read your post correctly your want to fit a (for example) 16:9 video into an ultra wide screen - which I guess is 21:9
If this is corrects then I do something similar quite often with a 4:3 video in 16:9 to tidy up the black edges.
Create a coloured picture - any colour - in a paint program and insert that into 2023 on Track 1 (you may have to stretch it or trim it etc) - this is because if the picture is on a track below the video then the video will be blanked out.
As I said, I think this is what you want, apologies for wasting your time if it isn't.
AndyW
ps I don't have an Ultra Wide Screen so the demo is on a 16:9 monitor
Andy, there's no need to do that; if you're happy with black bars, just set the movie to 21:9 and plop your 4:3 on the timeline and "do not adjust". It will be centred L-R and full-screen top-bottom.
If you want to colour the sidebars, right-click on the video object, then choose Background Design (JEB told me!).
I want to change it because I want to better see where the viewable area ends.
Agree. It's a real pain trying to see the edge of the movie verses the surround.
John it's the blank space around the the actual movie. The space that appears if you go to 75% monitor zoom. It's slightly lighter than black, but not by much. I often peer closely at the screen to find the edge.
@AAProds You're right, the OP wants to change the colour of the UI background in the preview window so when the image is zoomed in/out or in their case because the preview window is wider than the project on the ultra wide screen, they don't want it to be a 'similar' colour, ie. black on a grey background,
I changed it to green with magic. (Chromakey, a mask, overlayed on a green background )
@Former user
Ok Gid, I'll bite. How did you get the green background?
I still think that it's something else that the OP wants because the image only shows text and the OP uses the term "viewable TV screen area."
So, either the OP is referring to the "visible TV area" that shows in the Title Editor as I pointed out and possible doesn't understand what it really means, or possibly the OP does not understand that the actual viewable area on an LCD screen is right to the edge of the project settings resolution or window. The text shown does not go there. The OP may think that the visible area doesn't include the yellow boxes, but it does. The OP may think that the text itself has a background (black) when it does not, it is transparent. Reason - the OP shows the project monitor at 100%, so the yellow areas are part of the project visible window.
It would be really helpful if you could come back and explain what you really mean.
John CB
@browj2 I think the OP is just using the wrong terms,
This is a 16:9 project but I've stretched my window to show the grey that's on either side (behind)
-----------
How did you get the green background?
That video in the comment above is just a representation of what i think the OP wants but if you're asking how i made the video..
To get the green background I screen captured the MMS UI doing the zoom thing,
Then chromakeyed the grey that i've put red squiggly lines on the picture above, (I used Vegas)
Because a lot of the MMS UI is a similar grey I used a mask the size of the preview window to limit the chromakeying just to the preview window, I used Primatte Studio for the chromakey which has Mocha mask built in to do the limiting, but a B/W mask could be used in MMS,
This is the spline creating a mask in Mocha
I've selected just the mask to show what it is actually creating
------------------
I exported that B/W mask from Vegas & this is it in MMS,
Al,
That is why I included the two options. I wasn't and am still not sure what the OP means or if the OP knows anything about the TV cropping area or safe area or visible TV area or knows about zooming out the preview monitor. Perhaps the OP thinks that one should see a different shade for the area out side of the text. We will have to wait for more info.
Stop the presses. I just realized that the TV cropping area can be turned on. I should have noticed this before.
The white rectangle in the image is the safe area or so-called visible TV area.
I should have added that the TV cropping area with a title can be turned off/on in the Title Editor under Options, "Only apply visible TV area." If you uncheck it, you can move the title box to the edge of the project window.
If you've never used this, then you may want to see how it works.
I just remembered that with VPX15, I forgot to change the setting to 5% top and bottom.
John CB
it's not the TV viewable area as that seems to show the borders for a 4:3 CRT screen? thanks for trying
Greetings @nhong-xiong
If I've read your post correctly your want to fit a (for example) 16:9 video into an ultra wide screen - which I guess is 21:9
If this is corrects then I do something similar quite often with a 4:3 video in 16:9 to tidy up the black edges.
Create a coloured picture - any colour - in a paint program and insert that into 2023 on Track 1 (you may have to stretch it or trim it etc) - this is because if the picture is on a track below the video then the video will be blanked out.
As I said, I think this is what you want, apologies for wasting your time if it isn't.
AndyW
ps I don't have an Ultra Wide Screen so the demo is on a 16:9 monitor
I think this is the solution; how did you turn on the color for the sides (non-viewable area)? or it that part of the viewable area (& your pic is just centered in it)?
I want to change it because I want to better see where the viewable area ends.
Agree. It's a real pain trying to see the edge of the movie verses the surround.
John it's the blank space around the the actual movie. The space that appears if you go to 75% monitor zoom. It's slightly lighter than black, but not by much. I often peer closely at the screen to find the edge.
@AAProds You're right, the OP wants to change the colour of the UI background in the preview window so when the image is zoomed in/out or in their case because the preview window is wider than the project on the ultra wide screen, they don't want it to be a 'similar' colour, ie. black on a grey background,I changed it to green with magic. (Chromakey, a mask, overlayed on a green background )
in your video, when you zoomed out, how was it your non-viewable area was already green? mine is black by default, I want to change it to another color because I actually want a black ground in the video (black on black is hard to see the borders).
@Former user
Ok Gid, I'll bite. How did you get the green background?
I still think that it's something else that the OP wants because the image only shows text and the OP uses the term "viewable TV screen area."
So, either the OP is referring to the "visible TV area" that shows in the Title Editor as I pointed out and possible doesn't understand what it really means, or possibly the OP does not understand that the actual viewable area on an LCD screen is right to the edge of the project settings resolution or window. The text shown does not go there. The OP may think that the visible area doesn't include the yellow boxes, but it does. The OP may think that the text itself has a background (black) when it does not, it is transparent. Reason - the OP shows the project monitor at 100%, so the yellow areas are part of the project visible window.
It would be really helpful if you could come back and explain what you really mean.
John CB
yes I want that green (or any other color than back & dark gray) background as it is the non-viewable area. by default the prog uses a dark gray, which is almost indistinguishable from the default black background of the viewable area. yes I want the viewable background to be black.
@browj2 I think the OP is just using the wrong terms,
This is a 16:9 project but I've stretched my window to show the grey that's on either side (behind)
-----------
How did you get the green background?
That video in the comment above is just a representation of what i think the OP wants but if you're asking how i made the video..
To get the green background I screen captured the MMS UI doing the zoom thing,
Then chromakeyed the grey that i've put red squiggly lines on the picture above, (I used Vegas)
Because a lot of the MMS UI is a similar grey I used a mask the size of the preview window to limit the chromakeying just to the preview window, I used Primatte Studio for the chromakey which has Mocha mask built in to do the limiting, but a B/W mask could be used in MMS,
This is the spline creating a mask in Mocha
I've selected just the mask to show what it is actually creating
------------------
I exported that B/W mask from Vegas & this is it in MMS,
- colour on the top track, no effects
- the video with Chromakey - Colour, the preview window background colour
- B/W mask with Chromakey - Alpha
- the video with no effects,
is there a way to do this just in MS?
@nhong-xiong Hi, sorry but no you can't change the background, as you've discovered I faked it to show what I believed you were looking for & I mentioned in my first comment "I changed it to green with magic. (Chromakey, a mask, overlayed on a green background )"
I hope they change that in the future (or make a patch for current versions).
Hi,
I doubt that they will. Most users who zoom out on the Preview Monitor see the difference ok. I presume that you are aware that if you drag something outside of the viewing window that you don't see the image or the part of the image that is outside of the viewing window anymore, only the outline. Thus, I can't see any need for anything more.
John CB