Design

~ ; ...
Although you are probably very conscious of design and slyle when buying clothes
or an automobile, you may beunaware of specific design elements when watching
an opening show title or the living room set of a daytime drama. You may be diluted
by ananimatedtitlethatdoes everything but pop out of the screen, but you're prob-
ablynotmotivatedtoanalyzeIts aestheticqualities.Andyou prob3blyperceivethe
living room in the daytime drama as exactly that- a li ving room-not (arefully placed
scenery and properties. We all know, of course, that all such design element s are
meticulously planned.
Infact.design,orthelackofii, permeateseverythingatelevisionproduction(ompany
shows on the air and off. I t sets the slyle of the video p,esenlalion, if not of the produc-
tion company as a whole. Design includes not only the colors and the leHers of a show
title and the look of a studi o set but also [he production company's stationery, office
furniTUre, hallway artwork, and logo. The CNN logo. for example, suggests up-to date,
nononsense news. SlE 15.1
342
But ahandsomelogodoes no tautomati callycarry it sdesig"q ualiti esoverto the pro-
9 rammingortheon-airgraphicsorscenery_It isimport ant to devel opa designcon-
CINNJ
sci o usnessforeve rythingyoudo;awell-executedtogoismerel ythesymbolfors uch
awareness,notitssa le cause. 15.1 CNN lOGO
Secti on 15. 1, Designingand UsingTelevisi onGraphics, stressesthemajordesignconsid-
erat ionsof te levisiongraphics.Secti on15. 2, Sceneryand Props,looks at majoraspects
oftelevi sio nsceneryand properties_
aliasing Thestep/ikeappearanceofacomputer-generated
diagonal or curved li ne.Al socali edjaggies orSloirSlep5.
.upectralio Thewidth-ta-height proportionsofthestandard
televiSionscreenandtherefor eofallanal ogtel evi si on pic-
lures:4unitswideby3uni tshigh,ForDTV andHDTV,the
aspectral10is16)(9.
characlergeneralor(C.G.) Adedicatedcomputersystemthat
electronkaliyplOdu<esaseriesofletters,numbers,and
simplegraphic. images'Of"videodi splay.Anydeskt opcom-
pulercanbe<omeae.G.with theappropriatesoftware.
col orcompatibility Colorsignal sIhatcanbeperceivedas
black-and-whitepicturesonmonochrometelevisionsets.
Generallyused10meanIhatthecolorKhemehasenough
contrastformonochrome reprod uction wilha
goodgrayscaleconlrast.
essenllalarea Thesect ionofthetelevisionpiclme,(entered
withinthescanni ngarea,that;sseenby thehome
regardlessofmaskingorslightmisalignmentofthere-
ceiver_AlsocaUedsofe/if le ol eoorsafearea.
'\lIal Apreceofstandings.cenery usedasab3ckgrO\.lndOf to
simulate thewallsofaroom.
floorplan A diagramofsceneryandpropert ies drawnonagrid
pallern.Canalsorefer10f/ool planIxmem.
floorplanpattern A planofthestudiofloor,showingIhewall s,
themaindOOf S, thelocation01 thecontrol room, and the
lightinggridOf batten.
graphicsgenerat or Dedicatedcomputeror softwarethat
allowsadesi gnertodraw,color,anim3te,store,3I"ldrefl ieve
imageselectronically_ Anydesktopcomput erwithahigh-
c3pacityRAM 3ndharddrivecanbe<omeagraphics
generatorwiththeuseof2-Dand3-Dsoftware.
grayscale Ascaleindicatingintermedi31estepsfromTV white
toTVblack. Usuallymeasuredwithanine- orseven-slep
scale.
props Shorlfor properties.Furnitureandotherobjects usedfo r
seldecorationandbyactorsorperformers.
scanningareil Pictureareathatisscannedbythecamera
pickupdevice;ingenerat. thepictureareausuallyseenin
thecameraviewflnderaMthe previewmonitor.
343
,
_______4111 __._1__
15.1
Designing and Using
Television Graphics
"''hen watching tel evision you may be Illort'capti vated by
the opening lilIes tha lllhc show ,hat follows.Even when the
progr<lm com..isls of a no -noosense in, t rview' or a si mpk
product demonstration, we seem obliged to have the lit Ie
burst 0010the scene, its dancing IcuefS change shape
and color at least once, and have at least three di fferent
backgrounds moving slowl y underneath il.Such titles are
usually supported l>y high"energy SOllnd efleets.
You may wonder whet her we spend an inordinate
amount of l ime and effort on til" graphi cs compa red wi lh
the program itself. Even if we don' t, co mputer-generated
video gI'lphic. have become a major faClor in pro-
duct ion. Becausecreating such titles require.s highl yspecial-
ized computer skill s, rat her t han (ompt'ten(e in television
production, we limit our discussion (Q the foJlol"ing:
... SPECIFICATIONS OF TELEVISION (jRAPHIC S
'0110. scanning and eHenrial areas. oul o( ospect ,ar,o
glUphU:S.mOl(hjng STY and 0'>PfX1 rollo!, info/marion
density and readabiliry, color. style. and ,ynlhel Ie images
SPECIFICATIONS OF TElEVISION GRAPHICS
"''hen comparing a televi5i on screen with a movie SC reel\,
you will see MO obvious differences: the standard tel evision
(STY) sc reen is much small er and much narrO\"t'r than the
mode scn.cn. Thes.: (\\10 factors have a profound influence
on the design specifications 01 television Even
a large-screen television set is considerably smaller than
the average-si2ed mo ti on picture scree n. The relat ivel y
344
smaU siu tlfthe STY screen limits Ihe amount of wri ting
you can di splay and demands lonls (lctl ering) t hat can
be clearly st:en. The limited screen width in relation 10 it s
height means th"t the titl es do not have as much rOOIll to
play across the screen and therefore mUSt be kept closer to
the center. Otho::r de$ign requirements of television gra ph-
ics are common 10 all graphic design and deal mme with
readabiliry, style, and color.
Th is section la kes a closer look at the fo ll owing
design req uirement s and specifica ti ons: (1)aspec t ratio,
(2) scanning and essenti al areas, (3) out-o(-aspect rat io
graphi cs, (4 ) mat ching STV :lnd HDTV aspec t ratios,
(5) information densi ty and readabilit y, (6) color, (7) style,
and (8) synthetic images.
ASPECT RATIO
Asdi scussed in (h"pter 2,aspect ratio is the relati onship
J.,etween sc reen width aHd screen height - the shape of
t he televisi on frame. The frame and the si ze ofthe screen
ultim:ll ely de te rmine how much informati on you can
place int o the screen and \"here to position it fot maxi
mum impac !. Oecause the aspect ratios of st anda rd and
high-definition television are different , we discuss them
separately whenever necessa ry.
STV aSPQct ratio The aspe<:! rat io of the traditional
television scree n is 4 x3; that is, the ratio of picture widt h
to pict ure height is !.33: I. You may want to remnnber the
ratio as bemg 4 units wide by 3 units high, regard-
less of\"hether the units are inches or feet. Anything that
appears on-screen must obviously fit within thi s aspect
rati o. 5E1.15.1
HOTV aspect ratio The aspe<l r;'lt io of the high-defini-
ti on television .s.crcen is 16 x9, whicn can ,1150 be e:\pressed
as I.78:I.Compared wjth standard television, the HDTV
screen is hori wntally Sl retched, resembl ing mOfC the mo -
lion pi ct ure aspect rati o. SEE n .) .
All graphical in fo rmation must be contained
these aspect (.:I Iim. Recall fwm chapter 14 t hat you
challgt' the aspect ratio of pi ct ures ..,'ithin the tel evi sion
screen through various digital vidCQ eOls (DVE), you
can't change the dlOlens ions of the screen itselr. ' 'j'u can
divide the senell into secondary screens of variouf aspen
rati os, and you can block o ff areas of the s..:reen a nd thus
simulate different aspect r!Hios, but you a(e nevrrtheles...
confined to rhe!>e(aspect fatio of the tel evision screen. !
I. S'fIJl Sow1I1 Mono". 11h e.l. (8d 111, ,"I. Catif.:
Thnnl:;./l ll W.ws,,-onh. 2{)()S). pr. 186-9;' .
Seer/on 15. 1 Designing and Using Tele vision Gr aphics

"uniH

-1-
J
,om
f--+------+---+-I
15.2 STY ASPECT RATIO
The STY (standard television) aspect ratio is .; units wide by
3 uni ts hi9h.
16units
I 1
1 i - T tt+=,
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., --r--'"""'--
+ IT
I 1 I
1nr 1 t tr- -tH-
15.3 HOTV ASPECT RATIO
The HOTV (high-defini tion television) aspect rat io is 16 units
wide by 9 unit s high. Cornp.1red with STY, il is horizootally
stretched.
Un 'ke t he pa inter or still pho tographer, who has full
conI l over how much of the picture shows within t he
fram we cannot be so sure "bout how much of the vi deo
pictu r videotapi."d or broadcast are actually seell on the
home sh een. There is an inevitable picture loss e\'ay time
you mak.e another videotape dub and, especiall y, during
transmission. Also, Il ot all television receivers are as care-
full y adj qsted as the preview monit ors in a control room
or (diting room. Even if you gave the proper
I"hen fra nt ing a dose-up shot in a studio interview, your
shots may have lost most or all the headroom by the ti me
they reach the home receiver. The same is true for titles
AI asentIaIlnIannIaon must
1If<OllUilwclin 1IIh iI6
15.4 SCANNING ANO ESSENTIAL AREAS
The scanning area is what the <arne/a viewfinder and the
preview moni tor Show, The essential, or safe litle. area is what
appears on the home televi sion .!.Creen.
that are framed 100 close to the screen edge. Because the
edge information is often lost, you may end up with in-
compl('te litles or the first and last digits mi ssing from a
tdephone number.
How can you ensure that the information you send is
actuall y s('el1 on Ihe home screen? Is there a standard that
",ill more or less guarant ee thaI all essential pict ure
m.uion, such as a title or telephone number, will appear
in its enti ret)'?The answer is a quali fied yes. Alt hough not
mathematically prec ise, there are gui delines to help you
keep picture information from getti ng lost during dubbing
or Basi call y, these guidelines tell you to keep
vital information away from t h(' screen edges. Just how far
away you should be from the edge when frami ng it shot is
prescr ihed by the S(",mnitlg and essential areas.
The sC(l nlling (;Irea includes the pi cture you Sl'C in the
camera viewfi nder and on previe\" monitors in the cont rol
room. It is lhe area actually scanned by the ca mera pickup
device (the CeOs). The essential area, also called safe t jrle
area or, si mply, 511f(, (/ft'fl. cent ered withi n the scanning
area . It is the portion seen by the home viewcr, regardless
of the masking of the transmi ssion loss, or slight mis -
adjustmcnt of the receiver. Sf( 15.4
Obviously, informati on such as titles and telephone
Ilumbers shoul d be contai ned withi n the essent ial area.
But just how large is the essent ial area? It is usuall y smaller
than you think-about 70 percent of the total Many
c/ltlracler generators (e.G.s) automatica ll y keep a title
wit hin the essential area. The bell er studio cameras hll\'e
a device tha t electronicall y generates a frame wit hin the
vitwfinder, olltl ining the safe area.
If yo ur e.G. docs not have such a built-in s.1fe ty net ,
you need 10 create your own. Most "'ord-processillg: or
345
346 Choptet /5 DE51GN
Wenowreturntoour Me nowreturntoOUI
regularprogramming.
egular
15.5 TITLE 8EYONO ESSENTIAL AREA
AOnthepreviewmanito(,you can slillsee thecompletetitle. althoughItcomesclose \0theedges.BWhen Viewed onthehome
receiver. theinfo rmation IhoOlt liesoutsidetheessenti al area islost.
dr;lIvi ng programs let you create a rect angle and t hen
reduce itbyaspecificpercentage. You could,forexample,
draw a rectangle that is close to your computer screen
borders.t hen reducethis 100percentaT!?" to:) 70 percenl
olle. These newborders would thenoutline theessential
areaforyOli. YOucoulduse thesamemethodforcreating
theessent ial areil for a 16 X9 forma!."
After rome practice you will be able 10 compensate
in thecamera framing for thepicturelossor placea title
withinIheessell!ialarea wi!houlhdvingtojugglepercent-
ages. The surest way 10 tes t a title is 10 project it on the
preview monitor. Ifthe lett ers comeclose to the edges of
Ihcpreviewmonitor,thetitl eextendsbeyondtheessential
area andwill certainlybecut offwhen seen by the home
viewer. SEE 15.'
OUT- OF -ASPECT- RATIO GRAPHICS
Youwill inevitablyrunintosituationsin whichthepictures
tobe shown do not fit the requirements of the television
aspect ralioandessenli a} area.Most onen you encounter
this problem \vhen someone brings in an out-of-aspect-
ratio chart or poster to pitch an upcomingevent during
a promotional interview or to illustratea point in a sales
meeting. oftenthannot,youmustroversuch meel-
jllgslive-on-Iape..... ilhoUI muchchanceforposlproduction.
M.a nyoversiz('dgraphicsare verticalanddonotadhereto
til " 4x 3,muchlessthe 16 x 9,aspect rati o. Theproblem
wil h an out-of-aspect-ratio graphic is that , when shown
in itsenti rcty,Iht' informationonthegraphicbecomesSO
small(hat ilisnolongerreadable. SEE15.6 BymovingIhe
2. The PhOloshop ;ofl":Jrt'. fnr a aml-' k.leu you IYpe in the
asp,xI area
camera enollghIhat the graphicfilS Iheaspect rat io
ofthe television screen, you inevitablyCUt outimportant
information. SEE 15.1
If theIe- Meringandothervisualinformationaresimple
andboldenough,you ca nmount theentireout-of-aspect-
ralio chart on a larger card lhat is in asp.:ct ralio. You
simply pull back with the camera and frame up on thf
]<lrgecard,ke(-'pi ngtheout-of-aspect-ratioinformationas
screen-centeras possible.On avert icaU}'orit'ntedgraphi c
withuul lenering, you could possibl y (il t up and reveal
the informat ion bitbybit. Ifdonesmoothly, thisgrndu"l
revelationaddsdrama.\"lith lenering,however, suchatilt
does not add dramabut simplymakes the gra phicmore
difticu.h 10 read.
You thesame framingdiffic ult ywhentry-
ingtocoverwritingOil ablackboardorwhit eboardforthe
standard 4 x 3 aspect rati o. (fyou zoomoul all theway
toshowIheentirewhiteboard,thetext isdifficultto read. J
Jf)'OU lOom in to ad ose-up,you canseeonl ypartofIhe/
writ i ng. SEE" ..lhew rrect\\'ayofpresentingwhiteboarJ
informationistodividethewhiteboardinto<I xJor16 , 9
aspect rali o fields andcon1ain thewriting within of
these fields. The camera c?n then get a oVthe
entire1>t'mence. Even whenworki ngin the HDTVispect
ralio, youshould writ e Iht' informalion in blocks rather
than acros.!. thewidthofIhe" 'hiteboard. su,5.9
MATCHING STY AND
HDTV ASPECT RA.TIOS
You may \vonder whydi gi tal television did not maintain
thet raditional<I x3aspecT ratio, muchascomputerscreens
did.Themain reasonforthehorizonlall)'stretched 16 x 9
ratioisthaiitreadilyaccommodatesthewide-screenmovi e
Section 7S.1
Designing and Using Televi$ion Grap hics
347
FashiQns
OPENING THIS
WEEKEND AT THE
15.7 INfORMATION LOSS IN CLOSE-UP
When you try 10 get (I closer VIOl, (III inform(ll iOn outside the
aspen rario 100t.
15.6 OUT-Of-ASPECT-RATIO GRAPHIC
When tryi ng to frame this out-of-aspect-ratio graphic in its
mostof theiolo rJ'l'hltion becomes difficult to le3d if
not tot(lil y Illegibl e.
\I;<; jfOUr Web "'-It e at WI
15.8 ASPECT RATIO PROBLEM
Normal writing on a whi tebodrd can a typical (lspect ratio Pfoblem. The camera [aOOOI show a clO$e-up of a lhilt
spans the lull width of the whiteboard _
I/.e.' -.,r
1,I,..t.. At
V, Sit OUr
Web<;' Ite
wWw'_be
o
web,or3
15.9 PROPER USE OfASPECT RATIO
11 the whltebO<lld IS divided into proper 3speCllati0 fields. the (amera ( In see the ev@nin aclof>{'-up.
348 Chap t er 15
15.10 fUll-fRAME MOVIES ON STV
Making the entile hame or (I wide-screen
mov'e 01 ;010 !he " x 3 aspect rati o of STY re-
sults in empty (bl ack) screen space on the lOP
and the bottom of the screen. The resulting
horizontal aspect ratio is called lenerbo)(.
formal. When showing a wide-s.;reen movie on a trad i-
tional television. either ooln sides of the frame ,He crudely
amputated or the images are displa yed in the "letterbox"
10M shows Ine movie in its ful! wi dth but nccessitates
the black .st ripes at Ihe lOp and Ihe bottom of the screen.
SU 15, 10 Sometimes, Ihe !6 x 9 frame is digi tall y squeezed
into the 4 x 3 (rame, making everything look tallef and
skinni(' r than in the original shot. To avoid such picture
dis tof! ions, some films afe subjected to the fJf'l"-(lnd-mm
process whereby the more imporl<lnl portions of the wide-
screen frame are se\eCled to fit the 4 x } frame. But thi s
ploce:<..s is qui te COMly and does nol mainlain the integrit y
of shot compositions.
"'/heLl shown on the 16 x 9 HDTV screen, movies
only sli gbt picture loss, but we are 11 01-\' faced with
the probl em of showing Ihe standard 4 x J television pro-
grams. We <an either slre!<h or enlarge thO' STV image so
thaI il fi ll s the full width of the H[)TV When we
.'itrel<h the STY image to fill the width of the wide scree!},
everything looks fa l, including the people. When enlargi ng
STY image so that it fill s Ihe 16 x 9 object> and
(X."ople undoubtedly lose some or their headroom-and
sometimes even their heads :lIld feet! You can aho place
the full 4 x 3 fr ame in the <eut er of the 16 x 9 screen,
leaving black stripb, called dead zones or side bars. This is
:>Ol11elirnes called pilintiJOxi'lg. SEE 15.11
Interestingly enough, some programs make a vi rtue
out of this una\'oidabJe handic.ap, You rna}' have seen
MTV present ations or commercials thai <l re JE:1I erboxed,
with black borders at t he lOp ,wd the bolt om of the
screen. This is to imply that Ihey \"t'fe ori ginally shot for
".
DESIGN
15.11 STV PICTURE ON HDTV SCREEN
When 5howing a standard 4 x 3 television on the 16 x 9
screen. there are empty dead zones. Of side bars, on both sides
of the Kreen. This is caned the pillarbox aspect ralio.
\.;< ide- scrcen movie presentation rather than tdcvis ioll
distribution, which lends more prestige to thc
program. Many producers are quile pleased to have this
additional screen space. They consider th( side bars any-
thing but "dead" space and flU it wi th additional program
informati on and advert isements. The si d!.' bars arc also a
limcsaver--often the prc:-vious show's credits ace shown
on a side ba r whill' the new program segmenl is al ready
under way. We as viewers seem to accept quite readi ly the
slretc.hil1g or fatteni ng effOCI of digital manipulation.
INFORMATION DENSITY
AND READABILITY
Taking a cue from overcrowded Web pages, there is a ten-
dency to load the screen with a greal amount of informa-
tion. And in our quesl to squeeze as much information 1a
possible on the relativel y small tetc-vision screen, Ihl' prin
used for on-the-ai r cop)' gets smaller and smaller .
Information density There is some juslificatio ry for
c(Qwdi ng Ih(' screen if thc data simultaneously di sp\ayed
arc rel ated and add re!evant information. For exam.'ple, if
in a home-shopping show you show a dose-up of item
and simultaneously display the ret ail prict': , the $ale price,
and the te!epholle number to call, you afe providing the
vie\ver with a valuable servi ce. On the other hand. if >ou
show J newscaster readi ng the news in one cornl'r of the
screen, display the weather report in another, l"Illl stock
market numbers and sports scores across the top and the
bottom, and sno\.;< station logos and ads all at the same
- -
Si'ction 15.1 Deligning and Using Televisran Graphics 349
,5.'2 SCREEN CLUTTER
Thisscreen w mochumelatedinformalion thaiilisdiffi wll
to makesenseofit ami dthe visual d utter.
n, llJlIl''..
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, 5.'3 PROPERSTRUaUREOF MULTIPLE SCREEN ELEMENTS
The arrangementofthesemultiple screensand informati onar-
easmak.es iI feliltively e3$y10seek. oott he desiredinformation.
ti m!:,youruntheriskofinformationove rload inaddition
,10 excessive scre ' ndUller. SlE15.12
Irthe elements are propt' rl yarranged according to
I"eprinciples ofcomposition, such addilional
in1\-Jrmati oncanaddsignifi ca ntl ytothehasiccommuniCiI-
When these miniscreensarethoughtfull yarranged
the oasic televi sion fr ame,we at eless Ii.kely to be
andcanpickandchooseamongtheinforma-
tion pr\sented. SEE 15. 13
In tel cvision graphics readau;lity means
thatyoushould beabletoread thewordsthat appearon-
screen. ;\ sobvious as lhis statement is, it seems 10 have
duded graphicanist. Someti mestitlesex pl odeonto
anddisa ppear fromtilescreeIIso quickl ythatonlyvideo
gamecha mpsandpeoplewithsuperiorperceptiveabi lities
canaCluallyseeandmakesenseoutofthem;orthelellers
aresosmall anddetailed that youcan'tread them without
amagnifying glass.
Suchreadability problemsoccur regularlywhe n1110-
tionpiclUf('credit s,lr('shownonatraditional4x3screen.
Fi rst, as already pointed out, the titles generally (' xtend
beyond the esscntitll area, so yo u can see onl y partsof
them.S('cond,rhecreditlinesan:sosmallthaitheyareusu-
all yimpossible to readonthelow-resolution STVscreell.
Third,theletters arenot bold enoughtoshow
upwellontelevision,especiall yifthebackground isbusy.
Theseproblemsaregreatl yminimizedona 16x9HDTV
screen;but in c;onsidN.llion of the mll nyviewers watch-
inf!. standard lelevision.youneedtoaim forahighdq; ree
ofreadabilit y. \'\(hat, then,makes for optimalreadability?
Haearesomerecommendations:
Keepall written informati onwit hintheessentialarea.
Choose fonts (letters ofa parti cular size and slyle)
thathaveabold,c\(>3ncontour.Thelimi tedresolutionof
thetelevi sion image does notreproducethin-lined font5,
whose fi ne slrokes and serifsare susceptible to breakup
whenkc>'ed.Sometimesevenbold,sa nsseriffontscanget
losl in lhe background and need to be reinforced with a
dropshadoworcoloroutli ne.
Limil theamountofinformation. Thelessinfofl1lt\-
lionthat appearson-screen,theeasierilistocomprehend.
Sometelevisionexpert ssuggest.. ofsevenlines
per tit le. II is more sensible to prepare a series of titles
on .$ ever,,!CG."pages,"each displaying d small amount
of text, than a single p;\ge wilh an overabund.mce of
information.
Format"lI leHeri ng into blocksforeasilyperceivable
graphi ca luni ts. SEE15. 14 Thi sblocklayout is often used
inwell-designed\..,rebpages.Ifthetitlesacescattered, thcy
lookunbal anced andare hard toread. SEE15. 15 Scatte red
informat ionisatypicalcharacteriSlicofapoorly
Webpage.
Do not key lettering into 100 busyabAckground.If
you must add letter ing over a busybackground- such
asscores and namesof playersOVfT the li ve picture ofa
football asimple,bold fonL SEE 15. 16
Till' sa me principlesappl y,"" hen you ani mat ea ti tle
usingspecialeffects. In fa(l,ifthetitletwistsand tumbles
aro und the screen. the leitersmustbe e\'en morelegible
thanif(heywereusedforastalic,straight forward tit le.
Bea rinmi ndtoal wOeneveryouuse printed material
as on-ai r graphics, including reproductions of fa mous
paintings, professional photogrll phs, iUustrated books,
350 Ch apr er 15 DE51GN
15. 14 BLOCK ORGANIZATION OF TITlES
When are arranged in blocks. ,elated information i:; graphically o rganized fOI easy pt'rceplion.
Tl'rry {:raig Ray \Iuscal
:\Iark Cummings Hir Panizo
\'il' ,ollt'S Susan Tyler
TOllY KI{,IlH'i1s \VayrH' \Vl'eks
Frank Logan Ben Wong
Al Howells
15.15 SCATTEREO TITlES
When til les are sca tt ered, the informilti on is diffi cult to fe3d,
and similar matter, you must obtain <opyrighl clearance.
Jf you have subscribed to a compuler image service, your
copyright limits depend on the amount of user fees you pay.
COLOR
Because color is an important design element , you need
to know something aboUl its attri but es and components.
Mosl important, you must familiari ze with the
aest hetics of color- that is, how I'ari ous colors go together
nne! how the televisio n system react s t o rhem.
Color attributes As explained in chapler 3, color is
determined by Ihr( e rae.IOTs, called attributes: hue. salura-
tion, and bright ness. Hlle refers 10 the color itself- that
is, whether il is blue. green, red. o r yell o....,. Sal rmlliol'
(sometimes call ed chroma) indicates the colnr strength-a
strong or pale red, a washed-alit or ri ch green. Brightness,

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15. 16 BOLD LETTERS OVER ABUSY BACKGROUNO
This tit le we ll despite the busy background. The
leiters afe bold and differ sufficiently in from the
b<lckground.
or lumillallce, indica tes how li ght or dark a color appears.
Most high-end digital editing equipment and graphk s!
programs attributes as important factors for (07';
ma ni pulation.
Grayscale The relati ve brightness of a color UH J illl y
measured by how much light it re(l e(ls. The Ielevisioh sys-
lem is not capable of reproducing pure while ( 100 percent
reflectance) or purl;' black (0 percent refl ectance); best it
(an reproduce an off-while (about 70 percent rej)ectall ce
fur monochrome and onl y ahout 60 percent for
color) and an orf .. black (abmll :3 perce nt reAect ance). We
call these brighl nessextremes T V wll jle and '[ V black. If you
divide the brightness range between TV white and TV black
into d isti nct steps, you have the television grayscale.
T he mQ!>1 co mmon number of l>rig ht nc5s steps
bet\veen TV whit e and TV black on oil grayscale is nine,
T
Section J S. J Designing ond Using Television Gr aphics
351
rVwhite:
70C11a feftt<tan(!
(60%for color)
TV black:3%
15. 17 NINE-STEP GRAYSCALE
The ni ne-step grayscaleShow$ninedifferentgrays.ranging
fromTV whi teon the left toTVblack on the right.
TVwhite TV black
15.18 SEVEN-IlEPGRAY5(AlE
Most STVsel$ reproduce seven diStinct grays. from TVwhite 10
TVblack.
although you will nnd that by the t ime t hl1' signal arrives
,a l your home re<eiver. you can be lucky 10 measure seven
Lteps. SEE 15. 17 A gr3yscale o( seven steps is t herefore more
listie for monochrome television. SEE 15. " The new
H TV system.s, however, not only produce superi or reso-
lUl i n( picture sharpne!.S) but also extend the grayscal e.
Such nextended grayscal e is nessary for achie d ng the
" fi lm k" of HDTV. Like fi lm, HDTVcan display many
more s bt le slepsof gray between TVwhite and TVblack.
Note 11\ t the n1iddieVil luc orlhe Stilyscale is nOI 30 percent
but 18 I rC{'IlL Tlus means Ih31 yo u need comiderably
more lig t 10 get from the ver y bright step 3 to an (' veil
bri ght er s'l ep 2 than when moving from the darker 8 to the
sli ghtly li ghler 7.
Compatible color Tl! chll ica lly, color compat ibility
means thai the graph ic is equall y readable on a black-
and- whi te television set as on a color one. In product ion it
simply means that a color pict ure shows up well and with
cnough bri ghtness cont rast on a black-and-whitt' television
set. For ti tles there should bea he.1lt hy brightness contr-ast.
Whcn you usc exd usively high-energy colors for a tit le,
such as red letteri ng on a green or blue background. the
difference in hue is so obvi o us that you might be: ICmpt ed
to neglect the grayscale difference. As di fferent as the),
seem on a color moni tor, if they have the same bright -
ness they are unreadable on a monoch rome monit or (see
figure 3.28) .
Even if the colors YOLI use are not intended for repro-
duct ion on a black-and-white tel evision set, goodbri gh t-
ness cont rast is also important for a color rendi ti on. It
aids the picture's resolution and three-dimensionali ty and
helps separate the various colors (see fi gUfl' 3.29) . With a
littl e experience you wiU find that just by squint ing your
eyes while looking at the set, you can determi ne f;I irly well
whether two colors have enough contrast to
ensure co mpat ibility.
Aesthetics of color The recognit ion and t he appli ca -
tion of color harmony ca nnot be explained in a short
paragraph; they require experience, practi ce. sensiti\'iry,
and taste. Rather Ihan try to dictate whi ch colors go wi lh
what other colors, you can more easil y divide the colors
inlo " high-energy" and " low-energy" and Ihen match
t heir energies.
The high -e nergy colo rs i ncl ude br ight , hi ghl y
saturared hues, such as rich reds, yellows, and blues. Th('
IOI...-energy group cont ains mor{'-50btle hues with a low
degr("t' of saturation, such as pastel colors. Normall y, you
should kt'ep rhe colors of th{' b.1ckground low-energy dll d
the foreground hi gh-energy. In " St:t (as in your home),
t he background (\",alls) is usuaUy less colorful than the s'l
pi eces and d ressings, such as rugs, sofas, piCl ures. and pil -
lows. SU lS.19AHD 15..20 Tides work. on t he same principle:
you will find that an easily readable t itle has high-t' nergy
lettering on a low-energy background.
Ofcourse, the colors must also be appropri at e for the
event. For example, if the titles are intended to an no un ce
a high-energ)' show, .<;uch as a vi vacious dance number,
hi gh-energy colors for both the t itle and the background
are fitting. Jf, however, you use t he sa me high-ene rgy
colors to int roduce a discussion on t he latest budget de(I'
cil , the choice is inappropri ate, even i( the t itle has good
readabilit y.
Independent of aesthetics, only top-of- the-line televi -
sion cameras can handle highly saturated reds. Unl ess thcre
is an abundanc!' of basdight, the video camera "sees red"
352 Cnapter 15 DESIGN
, .;..
Ii/j -
n 1
15.19 HIGH-ENERGYCOLORS
The energy of iI color is determined mainly by its saturation. High-energy colors are highly saturated hues, usually at the red and
yellow end of the spectrum. They ale especially effective when set against a low-e-nergy b<\CkgfOUnd.
\\l''.
' _ , }t ' "
,
15.20 LOWENERGY COLORS
low-energy (olors are desatur ated hues. Most pastel il re low-energy.
when looking <it red-at best, distorting the red color or,
ill sOllie (,Ises, making red areas in t\le shot vibrate (exces-
sive" vi deQ noi se) or bleed into adjacent areas. This color
bJct'di ng is not unlike rhe bleeding of one sound track into
another. \'Vhen workin g wjlh prosumer ", nd lesser-quality
Ca meras, suggest that the talent not wear hi ghl y sal ur,lIed
red cloth ing and that scene designers not paint large areas
with sat urated reds. This problem becomes \!s pecially
notice-ablc in EFP, where you generally wo rk in less-than-
optimal ligtlli ng COnditions.
STYLE
Style, like la nguage, is animate and lIonstali..:. It changes
according to the specific aesthetic demands of a given lo-
cati on and time. To ignore il means to communicate less
effectivdr. You learn style not from a book but primarily
through being sensiti ve 10 your envi ronment-by experi
encing life with open eyes and ears and, especiall y, an o pen
heart . Thc way you dre56 now compared with the way you
dressed ten years ago is an exampl e of a change in style .
Some people not onl y sellse the prevaili ng style but also
manage to enhance It with a pers.onJI, distincti ve flair.
Someti mes it is Ihe development of television equip-
ment thaI infl uences presentJli on styles more 111<111 pason,ll
creativity or social need. As emphasized in chapter l<l, DYE
equipment contributed not onl y to a new grilphical aware-
but also to an. abuse of styl e. Oflcn animated titles are
gt.' nerated not to reflect 1he prevailing aest hetic taSte or to
signa! the n:Hure of the upcoming show but simpl ybecause
if is fun to see leners dana- onscreen. Although fl ashy
graphics in news may be tol eratt' d they express and
intensify the urgency of the mess<lge, they art' inappropriate
for shows that explore a nalu ral disaster or plays Ihal delve
illl o an intense relationship between rwo people.
You may have noticed that contemporary lelevisi o
graphics are imitating the colors ilnd layout of compu er
VJcb pages. Some tel evision graphics even parrot he
shortcomings of U1C computer image, such as the lias-
illg ("j aggies") of diagonals or curves in lines aud I . treTS,
differentl y colored hori zont al slrips that contain Ic.Hering
and small product icons, or the scattering of tiny seconciarr
l>Jindows on the main televisioll screen (see figur e 15. 12).
One oftbe reasons for such emularion is 10 be hip and on
the cutti ng edge. More often than not, hml'evcr, such screen
dull er reflects more the had taste of the graphic designer
than i:l new trend.
Regardless of whether you are a trendsett er. YOU snoul d
try to match the of the artwork with that of the show.
I
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Section 15. 1 Designing and Using Tele vi si on Gr aphi cs 353
15.21 ANIMATED 3-0RENDERING
High-powereddigitalsoftware(aogenerateandanimate
realistiC- lookiog
But do not go overboard and Identify your guest from
Chi n"withChineselett eringoryour stor yaboutthe
del";lStatingflood withtitlesthatbobacrossthescrew.Do
not abandongood taste for effect. In a successful design,
all imagesandobjectsinterrelateandharmonize wilt!one
another-fromthelargest,suchasthebackgroundscener y,
tothesmaUe-st,such as the- fruitbowlon the- table.Good
designdispl aysaconlinuiryand coherenceofstyle.
SYNTHETIC IMAG"E_S
SYlllhf:licimnge5refer to pictures thatarecreatedcllIircly
wi ththecomputer. Mostdesktopimagingsoftwareoffers
thousa ndsofdifferent hues, thi nand thicklines.shapes.
and varioliS brushstrokesand textures for creatingelec-
tronic an. Atdevi sio!1 wcathercast is a goodexampleof
the manycapabilitiesofa large-scale gmphicsgeneratur.
The bask territorial map, temperature high- and
low-pressure zones, symbols for sunshine and forms
ofprecipitation, letl ering, moving douds, and various
temperature numbers-<l Uare generated by the digital
graphi csg<,oerator.
D<,pending on Storage capac it y and software so-
phistication, youcancreateandstorec.omplex graphical
such as animatedthree-dimensional tit les that
unfold within anotheranimatrd 3-D t'nvironmem, or
multil ayered mattes that n-vist withina 3-D video 5pace.
J
515.21- 1' .23
Somecomputer programs,based oncomplex math
.. marie-al formulas, aHow you 10 paint irregular shapes.
calledImctals, whichi1rc use-d tocreaterealist icandfantasy
landscapesand countlessabstracf patterns. SI"(15.14
3. a ft !"! Vid..,1.al> J.O ... number of 2-D 30 animated
rtnJerlllgs. rOil ("a nwntr(ltintrrdcl;,cly.
15.23 DIGITAl RENDERING: THE VATICAN
This animatednyby sequence ShOW5 thePia12i1 San Pielfoin Vatican Ci ly from various poinl 5ofview.
354 Chapter 15
15.24 FRAGAlLANDSCAPE
paintingsoftw,lreallowsyou10'paint "Irregular images
using mat hematicalformulas.
_
Oesignis anoverall(onceptthatincludessuchele ments
asthefont sforlilles, thestationlogo,thelookofthe news
set, andevent heofficefurniwre.
Themajor purposesoftelevisiongraphicsaletogiVE'you
specificinformat ion.totellyousomethingaboutthena-
tureof theevent.and10grabyour,mention.
The standardtelevision(STV) 3Spectratiois4)(3.which
m&lnsthatIhescreenis4unitswideby3unitshigh.
Wide-Kl eenhl gh-deflnitiontelevision(HOTV)hasawider
aspect ratioof16x9.Theaspectratiosalealsoexpressed
as 1.33:1 forSTYand1.78: 1fOI HDTV.Thehori tontally
DESIGN
st retchedHOTVscreenformatilccommodateswide-screen
movies.
Thescanni ngareaiswhatthecamera viewfinderandthe
preview monitorshow.Theessent ial.or safet it le.area
thepo!""tion seenbytheviewer.regardlessof t ransmission
1055 or slightmisadjustmentofthereceivE'(.
OU1-ofaspect- ratiographicsneedspecialconsiderationto
makethemfil theSTYorHOTVtelevisionscreen.
To showInl'full widthofmoviesorHDTVon t he3)(4STV
screen.letterboxing(leavingbl ackstripesontnl'topand
t hebottomofthe frame) isnecessary.WhenSTYpr09rams
ME' shownonwidescreenHOlY,blackstripes,tailedde(ld
woes orsidebars.ilreusedonbothsidesofthescreen.a
process(ailed
Toavoidinfor llUtion overloadwhenshowingunrelated
informationsimult anMUSIyonasi nglescreen.arrangE' the
element sineasy-l a-readmini-screensortextbloch.
Goodreadabilityresultswhenthewritteninformationis
wit hintheessentialarea.thelettersarerelat rvelylargeand
haveiIcleancontour. t hebackgroundisnOltoobusy. and
therE' isgood(olorilndbright nesscontrastbetweenthe
lett eringandthebackground.
(olorcompati bil itymeansthatthecolorimagetranslates
inl Odi st inctbrightnessvalues(grayscalest eps) whensel'n
onamonochromerecei ver. Most televisionsystemsrepro-
duceatbeStnineseparatebrightness st eps.The!> ' steps.
r<l nging fromTVwhite(1)toTV black.(9).makl'upthe
telt'Visiongrayscale.
Syntheti cim<lge$aregeneratedent irelybycomputer
graphics.Theycan bestilloranimated.
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