I edit with a good TV hooked up, so I have some idea
of how much of the image as seen on the computer monitor
will be missing on a TV. It is always a rough approximation,
even with guide lines in the preview frame (as in Premiere),
since TV pictures are often off-center, rotated, and with
considerable distortion (which often changes with local
brightness, as does the overall image size...), even if
manufacturers agreed on how much should be cut off (the
TV screen shape also affects this - screens with round
corners and curved sides crop differently from ones with
sharply rectangular screens [and tube-types are sometimes
different from projection types in the cropping]). Heck,
just make the image really small and put it in the
center...! ;-) "TV-safe area" is intended to accommodate
the variables of TV framing...

On Thu, 6 Dec 2001 13:58:31 -0600, "Jeff W" wrote:

>Thanks. I use VideoFactory and can choose whether or not
>it will stretch to fit frame.
>Just finished my first project - 33 minutes, I shouldn't have bit off
>so much! Unfortunately some of my stills were "cropped" due
>to the TV-safe area. Can you explain what this is and how to
>best plan for it when making a video?
>Thanks again.

>"Neuman - Ruether" wrote in message
>news:3c0d272f.13981529@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...
>> On Mon, 3 Dec 2001 13:13:09 -0600, "Jeff W"
>> wrote:
>>
>> >What size should still jpgs be for import into a project
>> >to make an avi for DV?

>> Preferably multiples of 640x480, if you want to fill
>> the frame area (including the TV-safe area), and want
>> to maintain the original aspect ratio without blank
>> areas at the sides, or top and bottom. The editor may
>> stretch the images to 720x480 proportion (NTSC) while
>> editing, then return them to 4:3 upon output... If you
>> want to see the whole image area in the video, it would
>> be a good idea to place them on a larger 4:3 background
>> (and this would permit image proportions other than 4:3).