The frame guides setting on Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera lets
you display overlays on the camera's LCD and HDMI output
Frame Guides
On Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, you can choose from several different frame guides to
display on the LCD screen and HDMI output. On Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera, frame
guides can be viewed on the HDMI output or the composite output. Frame guides include
aspect ratios for various cinema, television and online standards, plus a rule of thirds
composition grid. Use the 'frame guides' setting arrow icons to select your desired frame guide.
Frame guide settings can be found under the 'monitoring' section.
HDTV: Displays action and title safe regions of your image within a 1.78:1 aspect ratio
compatible with 16:9 HD television and computer screens.
4:3: Displays the 4:3 aspect ratio compatible with SD television screens, or to help
frame shots when using 2x anamorphic adapters.
2.35:1, 2.39:1 and 2.40:1: Displays the broad widescreen aspect ratio compatible with
anamorphic or flat widescreen cinema presentation. The three widescreen settings
differ slightly based on the changing cinema standards over time. 2.39:1 is one of the
most prominent standards in use today.
1.85:1: Displays another common flat widescreen cinema aspect ratio. This ratio is
slightly wider than HDTV 1.78:1 but not as wide as 2.39:1.
Thirds: Displays a grid with two vertical and horizontal lines placed in each third of the
image. Thirds are an extremely powerful tool to help compose your shots. For example,
the human eye typically looks for action near the points where the lines intersect, so it's
helpful to frame key points of interest in these zones. An actor's eyeline is commonly
framed along the top third of the screen, so you can use the top horizontal third to
guide your framing. Thirds are also useful to maintain framing consistency
between shots.
Guide Opacity: Aspect ratios are displayed as mattes on the top and bottom of your LCD
display. You can adjust the opacity of the matte by adjusting the 'guide opacity' setting.
For example, if you prefer to view your guides as solid mattes, select 100%. Alternatively,
if you would like to view guides at maximum transparency, set the guide opacity to 25%.
Scroll the menu to reveal
more Display settings.
Menu Settings
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