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Filed under: Motion Graphics •Post Production •

The Hi-Def Checklist

The Widescreen Format

Once you get these technical issues under control, then you need to move onto the aesthetic ones. Hi-def has a different aspect ratio than standard-def: 16:9 versus 4:3. What are you going to do with that extra real estate to the sides? More importantly, what is your client going to do with it?

If you are creating separate standard-def and hi-def versions, you can take one of two initial paths: scale the standard-def design so that its left and right edges match up with the high-def frame and cut off the excess on the top and bottom, or scale it up so the top and bottom edges match and add imagery to fill out the left and right edges. Ask the client which they prefer. More often than not, the second path is going to be the way to go. Remember that most hi-def sets are larger than standard-def sets; therefore, if an object appears relatively smaller in a hi-def frame, it will still be viewed at the same size or larger in the real world.

The set of figures below show an excellent example of this issue. The LePrevost Corporation was asked to update the logo for Buena Vista Television, which resolves to a blue rectangle in a field of white. They did the standard-def version first, and later to do a hi-def version. The best solution ended up being a compromise between the “match the sides” and “match the tops” solutions.

What’s the best way to scale this 4:3 logo (top left) to fill a 16:9 aspect screen – stretch it to fill the full width (top right), or fit the height and pad out the sides (above left)? The latter is often better; best is to choose a compromise inbetween (above right). Courtesy The LePrevost Corporation and Buena Vista Television.

In reality, it is a luxury to be able to create separate standard-def and hi-def versions. As a designer, you would prefer to do two versions, as it gives you a chance to optimize the design for the different aspects and resolutions. However, more of often than not, the hi-def version will also be used for the standard-def broadcast. Therefore, the last item on your checklist of questions to ask the client is: How are they going to go from the hi-def version to standard-def? Are they going to letterbox it, or perform a “center cut” where the fill out the top and bottom, and chop off the left and right sides? It’s probably going to be the latter – and that has huge design implications.

The darker areas to the left and right of these images show what happens when a 16:9 image is “center cut” to create a 4:3 version. Make sure information such as lower thirds survive this cut (top). You can have action extend beyond this center-cut area; just make sure it resolves to the center (above). Images courtesy Belief and HGTV.

At a minimum, you need to make sure all of your important visual information resides in or resolves to the center of the screen (see above). Make yourself an overlay template that shows you were a 4:3 frame falls in the middle of the 16:9 frame, and treat this as your new action and title safe areas. However, you still need to fill the area outside the center cut with interesting imagery. In the case of KUSA-9 in Denver, they created a widescreen “wallpaper” to place behind images (shown below) – especially important when the source material has a 4:3 aspect, such as is the case with most news footage today.

KUSA-9, NBC’s affiliate in Denver, has created “wallpaper” (which subtly uses NBC’s peacock) that fills out a 16:9 frame when they have to inset a 4:3 image.

Hopefully this brief primer has given you an idea of what questions to ask and what issues to watch out for as you start to tackle hi-def jobs. You don’t need to be afraid, but you do need to be very aware – and don’t be shocked if you know more than you clients, as many are just now entering this brave new world.

The content contained in our books, videos, blogs, and articles for other sites are all copyright Crish Design, except where otherwise attributed.

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